The Book of Swindles, a seventeenth-century story collection, offers a panoramic guide to the art of deception. Ostensibly a manual for self-protection, it presents a tableau of criminal ingenuity in late Ming China. Each story comes with commentary by the author, who expounds a moral lesson while also speaking as a connoisseur of the swindle.

MapsTranslators' IntroductionType 1: Misdirection and TheftStealing Silk with a Decoy HorseHanding Over Silver Before Running Off with ItA Clever Trick on a Pig SellerPilfering Green Cloth by Pretending to Steal a GooseType 2: The Bag DropDropping a Bag by the Roadside to Set Up a SwitcherooType 3: Money ChangingA Daoist in a Boat Exchanges Some GoldType 4: MisrepresentationForged Letters from the Education Intendant Report Auspicious DreamsUsing Broom Handles to Play a Joke on Sedan BearersType 5: False RelationsInciting a Friend to Commit Adultery and Swindling Away His LandType 6: BrokersA Conniving Broker Takes Paper and Ends Up Paying with His DaughterA Destitute Broker Takes Some Wax to Pay Off Old DebtsType 7: Enticement to GamblingA Stern Warning to a Gambler Provokes Others to Entice Him to RelapseType 8: Showing Off WealthImpersonating the Son of an Official to Steal a Merchant's SilverFlashy Clothing Incites LarcenyType 9: Scheming for WealthStealing a Business Partner's Riches Only to Lose One's OwnHaughtiness Leads to a Lawsuit That Harms Wealth and HealthType 10: RobberyRobbing a Pawnshop by Pretending to Leave Goods ThereType 11: ViolenceSticking a Plaster in the Eyes to Steal a Silver IngotType 12: On BoatsBringing Mirrors Aboard a Boat Invites a Nefarious PlotPorters Run Off with Cargo from a BoatType 13: PoetrySwindling the Salt Commissioner While Disguised as DaoistsChen Quan Scams His Way Into the Arms of a Famous CourtesanType 14: Fake SilverPlanting a Fake Ingot to Swindle a FarmerType 15: Government UnderlingsSwindled on the Way Out of a Court HearingAn Officer Reprimands a Captured Criminal in Order to Halve His FloggingType 16: MarriageMarrying a Street Cleaner and Provoking His DeathTaking a Concubine from Another Province Leads to a Disastrous LawsuitType 17: Illicit PassionA Geomancer Uses His Wife to Steal a Good SeedType 18: WomenCoaxing a Sister-in-Law Into Adultery to Scam Oil and MeatThree Women Ride Off on Three HorsesA Buddhist Nun Scatters Prayer Beads to Lure a Woman Into AdulteryType 19: KidnappingA Eunuch Cooks Boys to Make a Tonic of Male EssenceType 20: Corruption in EducationPretending to Present Silver to an Education CommissionerAffixing Seals in a Functionary's ChambersSilver with Sham Seals Is Switched for BricksRobbed by a Gang While Sealing Silver in an Unoccupied RoomA Fake Freeloader Takes Over a ConMoney Stashed with an Innkeeper Is BurgledType 21: Monks and PriestsA Buddhist Monk Identifies a Cow as His MotherEating Human Fetuses to Fake FastingType 22: AlchemyTrusting in Alchemy Harms an Entire FamilyA Foiled Alchemy Scam Leads to a PoisoningType 23: SorceryUsing Dream Sorcery to Rob a FamilyType 24: PanderingA Father Searching for His Wastrel Son Himself Falls Into WhoringAppendix 1: Preface to A New Book for Foiling Swindlers: Strange Tales from the Rivers and Lakes (1617), by Xiong ZhenjiAppendix 2: Story Finding ListBibliography