Slapping the Table in Amazement

Slapping the Table in Amazement (Chinese: 初刻拍案驚奇) is a collection of vernacular short stories, written by Ling Mengchu (1580–1644). It was composed in the middle of the 17th century during the end of Ming Dynasty. It involves 78 stories in all and is divided into two parts: the first and the second (Er Pai for short) Chinese: 二拍. There are forty stories in each part. Slapping the Table in Amazement contains many different stories, such as folk legends, romances and unofficial history.

Thanks to the prosperity of commodity economy and social progress. Er Pai expresses mercantilism, and open values of love and marriage. At the same time, there are many out dated ideas in this book, such as feudalism and superstition, and ideas of fatalism, along with some explicit love scenes. Moreover, the author attacked the peasant uprisings toward the end of Qing Dynasty in some articles.The novel is remarkable not only for its stunning storylines, but also for its precise and detailed observation of the life and social structures typical of 17th-century Chinese aristocracy.

Er Pai together with the three masterpieces of Feng Menglong (1574–1645; a Chinese vernacular writer and poet of the late Ming Dynasty) is called San Yan Er Pai. They are representative works of the stories of Ming Dynasty. San Yan is distinguished by its strong artistic charm, while Er Pai vividly describes public life and expresses civil consciousness.

The original copy of this volume has been lost, however the earliest and most complete print copy (尚友堂刊本, missing the 23rd episode) is safely treasured at a temple in Japan (日本栃木県日光市輪王寺慈眼堂). Amazing Tales-Second series, urged by Ling’s publican and published after completion in 1932, contains 39 stand-alone short stories (1 from Chunqiu Time, 14 from Song Dynasty, 3 from Yuan Dynasty, 19 from Ming Dynasty, and the final 2 remained unknown) and 1 performance script (Zaju, a type of performance originated in Tang Dynasty) . Due to the loss of the 23rd episode in the first volume, modern publicans replaced it with the same numeric numbered episode from the second volume, when combined, the two volumes together contain a total of 78 short stories plus 1 performance script. Note that the English publicans only translated a few so-found the greatest-hit episodes in each volume, and their commercial release is not a complete collection of the Er Pai.

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