This is an age of deception. Con men ply the roadways. Bogus alchemists pretend to turn one piece of silver into three. Devious nuns entice young women into adultery. Sorcerers use charmed talismans for mind control and murder. A pair of dubious monks extorts money from a powerful official and then spends it on whoring. A rich student tries to bribe the chief examiner, only to hand his money to an imposter. A eunuch kidnaps boys and consumes their "essence" in an attempt to regrow his penis. These are just a few of the entertaining and surprising tales to be found in this seventeenth-century work, said to be the earliest Chinese collection of swindle stories.The Book of Swindles, compiled by an obscure writer from southern China, presents a fascinating tableau of criminal ingenuity. The flourishing economy of the late Ming period created overnight fortunes for merchants-and gave rise to a host of smooth operators, charlatans, forgers, and imposters seeking to siphon off some of the new wealth. The Book of Swindles, which was ostensibly written as a manual for self-protection in this shifting and unstable world, also offers an expert guide to the art of deception. Each story comes with commentary by the author, Zhang Yingyu, who expounds a moral lesson while also speaking as a connoisseur of the swindle. This volume, which contains annotated translations of just over half of the eighty-odd stories in Zhang's original collection, provides a wealth of detail on social life during the late Ming and offers words of warning for a world in peril.

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