The Scholars (novel)

The Scholars

Cover of an early 20th-century edition of The Scholars from the Fudan University
Author	Wu Jingzi
Original title	儒林外史
Language	Written vernacular Chinese
Genre	Historical fiction
Set in	China, early 16th century AD
Publication date	1750
Publication place	Qing China
Media type	Print
Dewey Decimal	895.1348
LC Class	PL2732.U22 J813

The Scholars (Chinese: 儒林外史; pinyin: Rúlín Wàishǐ), also translated as The Unofficial History of the Scholars,^{[note 1]} is a Chinese novel written by Wu Jingzi and published in 1750 during the Qing dynasty. It is considered one of the great "Classic Chinese Novels",^[1] and is distinguished for its unusual narrative structure^[2] and acerbic wit.

Set in the Ming period, The Scholars describes and often satirizes academic scholars. The first and last chapters portray recluses, but most of the loosely connected plotlines that form the bulk of the novel are didactic stories, on the one hand holding up exemplary Confucian behavior, but on the other ridiculing over-ambitious scholars and the imperial examination system.

Promoting naturalistic attitudes over belief in the supernatural, the author rejects the popular belief in retribution: his bad characters suffer no punishment. The characters in these stories are intellectuals, perhaps based on the author's friends and contemporaries. Although the novel's tone is highly caustic, a major incident in the novel is the main character Du Shaoqing's attempt to renovate his family's ancestral temple, suggesting the author shared with Du a belief in the importance of Confucianism in life in spite of his criticism.

The Scholars was one of the first major novels to popularize a vernacular style now called baihua. Classical phrases (wenyan) appear occasionally, but only in the speech of elite characters. Language reformers in the early 20th century New Culture Movement used the novel to support their view that wenyan was a form of snobbery.^[3]

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