 Cover of a 1931 edition of The Travels of Lao Can | |
| Author | Liu E |
|---|---|
| Original title | 老殘遊記 |
| Language | Chinese |
| Publication place | Late Qing Dynasty |
Original text | 老殘遊記 at Chinese Wikisource |
The Travels of Lao Can (simplified Chinese: 老残游记; traditional Chinese: 老殘遊記; pinyin: Lǎo Cán Yóujì) is a novel by Liu E (1857-1909), written between 1903 and 1904[1] and published in 1907 to wide acclaim. Thinly disguising his own views in those of Lao Can, the physician hero, Liu describes the rise of the Boxers in the countryside, the decay of the Yellow River control system, and the hypocritical incompetence of the bureaucracy. Its social satire[2] showed the limits of the old elite and officialdom and gave an in-depth look into everyday life in the countryside in the late Qing period.[3]