Mirage

Set in the prosperous merchant city of Guangzhou towards the end of the Ming Dynasty though first published in 1804, this little-known novel takes as its primary subject the journey from (relative) innocence to experience of Jishi, the teenage son of a Hong merchant – the Guangzhou traders licensed to conduct business with foreigners in the port. However, the domestic concerns of Jishi's adolescence are set in counterpoint to the story of a dramatic and bloody rebellion in rural Guangdong which periodically interrupts the main narrative, and sits in distinct stylistic contrast to it.