Li Yu, 1610-1680, was a brilliant comic writer and entertainer,
a thoroughgoing professional whose life was in his work-plays,
stories, a novel, criticism, essays, and poems. Patrick Hanan
places him in the society of his day, where even his precarious
livelihood, his constant search for patronage, did not dampen his
versatility, his irreverent wit, or his jocund spirit. Li was also
an epicure, an inventor, a pundit, and a designer of houses and
gardens. He was an exceptional figure in Chinese culture for two
reasons: his disregard of the authority of tradition, and his
dedication to the cause of comedy.
Hanan uses the term "invention" in his title in several ways:
Li Yu's invention of himself, his public image-his originality and
inventiveness in a multitude of fields and the literary products of
his inventiveness. With expert and entertaining translations Hanan
explores the key features of Li Yu's work, summarizing, describing,
and quoting extensively to convey Li's virtuosity, his
unconventionality, his irreverence, his ribaldry. This is a
splendid introduction to the art and persona of a Chinese master of
style and ingenuity.
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