The Scholar and the State

"[Ge’s] readings allow him to explore ways in which vernacular fiction replaced the homogenous voice of intellectual orthodox in the early modern era with a heterogeneous and multi-vocal one. . . . This extended and thoughtful essay, filled with much insight and creative reading, should be read by early modern historians and the students they teach."

-- R. Kent Guy * American Historical Review *

"Ge is probably the first student of Chinese vernacular fiction who attempts to explain the rise of this important literary genre and many of its features from a new “political” perspective. Students of Chinese intellectual and political histories would have much to learn from this ostensibly literary study because its author has successfully brought so much to bear upon the important historical question of the complex relationship between state and scholars from a very unique angle—how these novelists were able to engage the issues associated with this question in a narrative genre with the kind of freedom and imagination they could never had had if they had chosen to confront similar issues in formal political discourse."

-- Martin W. Huang * Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR) - Modern *

"What makes his study worth reading is the way he finds surprisingly original readings within this central frame-work. . . . Ge breathes life into his overarching theme by contextualizing the central literary works with a rich and historically-informed set of other texts. . . . In putting the relationship between scholar and state at the heart of vernacular fiction, Ge has provided us with a strong account some of the classics of the late-imperial novel. . . . Ge offers a reading that escapes narrow-minded literary criticism as a purely aesthetic pursuit."

-- Paize Keulemans * The China Quarterly *

"Liangyan Ge’s new book deals with a topic of great significance and urgency. Ge’s study is an important new contribution to the field and a timely reminder of the challenges and rewards attending a rigorous historicization of traditional Chinese fiction. The book’s broad scope and remarkable clarity of style make its rich material particularly suitable for classroom use."

-- Maria Franca Sibau * Journal of the American Oriental Socie