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The Book of Swindles, a seventeenth-century story collection, offers a panoramic guide to the art of deception. Ostensibly a manual for self-protection, it presents a tableau of criminal ingenuity in late Ming China. Each story comes with commentary by the author, who expounds a moral lesson while also speaking as a connoisseur of the swindle.
List of contents
Maps
Translators' Introduction
Type 1: Misdirection and TheftStealing Silk with a Decoy Horse
Handing Over Silver Before Running Off with It
A Clever Trick on a Pig Seller
Pilfering Green Cloth by Pretending to Steal a Goose
Type 2: The Bag DropDropping a Bag by the Roadside to Set Up a Switcheroo
Type 3: Money ChangingA Daoist in a Boat Exchanges Some Gold
Type 4: MisrepresentationForged Letters from the Education Intendant Report Auspicious Dreams
Using Broom Handles to Play a Joke on Sedan Bearers
Type 5: False RelationsInciting a Friend to Commit Adultery and Swindling Away His Land
Type 6: BrokersA Conniving Broker Takes Paper and Ends Up Paying with His Daughter
A Destitute Broker Takes Some Wax to Pay Off Old Debts
Type 7: Enticement to GamblingA Stern Warning to a Gambler Provokes Others to Entice Him to Relapse
Type 8: Showing Off WealthImpersonating the Son of an Official to Steal a Merchant's Silver
Flashy Clothing Incites Larceny
Type 9: Scheming for WealthStealing a Business Partner's Riches Only to Lose One's Own
Haughtiness Leads to a Lawsuit That Harms Wealth and Health
Type 10: RobberyRobbing a Pawnshop by Pretending to Leave Goods There
Type 11: ViolenceSticking a Plaster in the Eyes to Steal a Silver Ingot
Type 12: On BoatsBringing Mirrors Aboard a Boat Invites a Nefarious Plot
Porters Run Off with Cargo from a Boat
Type 13: PoetrySwindling the Salt Commissioner While Disguised as Daoists
Chen Quan Scams His Way Into the Arms of a Famous Courtesan
Type 14: Fake SilverPlanting a Fake Ingot to Swindle a Farmer
Type 15: Government UnderlingsSwindled on the Way Out of a Court Hearing
An Officer Reprimands a Captured Criminal in Order to Halve His Flogging
Type 16: MarriageMarrying a Street Cleaner and Provoking His Death
Taking a Concubine from Another Province Leads to a Disastrous Lawsuit
Type 17: Illicit PassionA Geomancer Uses His Wife to Steal a Good Seed
Type 18: WomenCoaxing a Sister-in-Law Into Adultery to Scam Oil and Meat
Three Women Ride Off on Three Horses
A Buddhist Nun Scatters Prayer Beads to Lure a Woman Into Adultery
Type 19: KidnappingA Eunuch Cooks Boys to Make a Tonic of Male Essence
Type 20: Corruption in EducationPretending to Present Silver to an Education Commissioner
Affixing Seals in a Functionary's Chambers
Silver with Sham Seals Is Switched for Bricks
Robbed by a Gang While Sealing Silver in an Unoccupied Room
A Fake Freeloader Takes Over a Con
Money Stashed with an Innkeeper Is Burgled
Type 21: Monks and PriestsA Buddhist Monk Identifies a Cow as His Mother
Eating Human Fetuses to Fake Fasting
Type 22: AlchemyTrusting in Alchemy Harms an Entire Family
A Foiled Alchemy Scam Leads to a Poisoning
Type 23: SorceryUsing Dream Sorcery to Rob a Family
Type 24: PanderingA Father Searching for His Wastrel Son Himself Falls Into Whoring
Appendix 1: Preface to A New Book for Foiling Swindlers: Strange Tales from the Rivers and Lakes (1617), by Xiong Zhenji
Appendix 2: Story Finding List
Bibliography
About the author
Zhang Yingyu. Translated by Christopher Rea and Bruce Rusk.
