SOURCE: Wang, An‐chi. “Ching‐hua yuan.” In Gulliver's Travels and Ching‐hua yuan Revisited: A Menippean Approach, pp. 77‐100. New York: Peter Lang, 1995.

In the following excerpt, Wang contends that Li Ju‐chen's novel, like Swift's Gulliver's Travels, should be considered a work of Menippean satire.

In Chinese literature, Ching‐hua yuan is most celebrated for the story of T'ang Ao and his adventurous travels to the bizarre and exotic overseas countries in ancient legends (chapters 7‐40). This part makes Ching‐hua yuan a Chinese counterpart of Gulliver's Travels, and has become the focus of many affinity studies in comparative literature. To re‐evaluate the significance of their striking resemblance is the project of my study. But I wish to go beyond studying the adventure and satiric themes; I would like to focus on their literary and cultural background, and to include their other common features such as the...