Tales of Magistrate Bao and His Valiant Lieutenants

This collection of related stories tells of the intelligence, wit and kindly nature of one of China's (folk) heroes. The translations read well and are obviously done by a person who is not only familiar with the historical subject matter, but can make a translation read as if it were written English. Highly recommended.

'Tales of Magistrate Bao and His Valiant Lieutenants' contains excerpts from the novel 'Three Heroes and Five Gallants' (Sanxia wuyi) which the author states "is a remarkably successful synthesis of three diverse genres of fiction: the historical narrative; the detective story; chivalric literature...They were selected precisely because they demonstrate the happy synthesis of the three fictional genres that Shi Yukun, the storyteller to whom the narrative is attributed, performed for the delight of his audiences."The episodes contained are:Chapter 1 - The Wild-Cat Caper: A Skinned Wild-Cat Is Exchanged for the New-Born-Heir-Apparent; Imperial Mother Li Suffers PersecutionChapters 9-11 - The Pig-Head Purchase: Headless Corpses and Corpseless Heads - Nine Lives Lost over Lust for LucreChapters 11-15 - The Passion-Potion Plot: Pan Yu, Evil and Lascivious Son of the Grand Tutor, Loses His Head under Magistrate Bao's Dragon-Blade GuillotineChapters 15-19 - The Mother-Son Reunion: Emperor Renzong Recognizes His Birth Mother, Persecuted Empress Li, and Restores Her to Her Rightful Palace PostChapters 23-27 - The Yin-Yang Mix-Up: Scholar Fan and His Family Meet Disaster on the Road to the Capital; A Talking Back Ass and a Magic Mirror Save the DayChapters 32-39 - The Hero-Test Tale: Bai Yutang Recognizes a Superior Man in Yan Chasan; Future MagistrateChapters 81-83, 86-94 - The Drunken-Hero Debacle: Hu Overcomes His Lust Liquor and Risks Losing Four Limbs to Trap a TraitorChapters 100-106 - The Brass-Trap Tragedy: The Perils of Pride and the Death of a GallantAs reviewer, Erik Pihl, noted in his review, the translations read well although they could have benefited from additional editing to correct a number of misspellings and grammar errors.Additionally, I think most readers will find the lengthy introduction of value. It provides historical/cultural context and details the stories' evolution from an oral narrative which the author likens to libretti in opera, with alternating spoken and sung sections. While this book unfortunately does not contain a bibliography, the footnotes include references to several books/articles for further reading and/or research.One final consideration, Blader mentions Yu Yue's  The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants (Panda Series)  a number of times in the introduction. She indicates "the version revised from Three Heroes according to standards of written literature, shortened by twenty chapters and published in 1889 by the well-known Qing scholar Yu Yue...was republished in China with a long introduction explaining its historical and literary development." "Yu Yue, the southern scholar who revised Sanxia in 1889, changed the title to 'Seven Heroes and Five Gallants' (Qixia wuyi). In Yu's estimation, there were, in actual fact, seven functioning xia in the narrative who played significant roles." For those wanting a more complete version of Shi Yukun's tales of Magistrate Bao, I anticipate Yu Yue's version may be preferable to the one reviewed above.

An in interesting book coming from the past, written by a Chinese novelist who gives a clear idea of the Chinese culture

I like it as it mirrors Chinese culture and thinking.