Thirty Three Happy Moments by Jin Shengtan (1608–1661) — The digression that became a classic

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present a complete translation of a short inserted essay that left an unexpected mark on the history of literature and has not lost its impact to this day. Written by a renowned literatus (wenren 文人) of his time, Jin Shengtan 金 聖歎 (1608–1661), it became known under the conventional name of the refrain “Is that not a delight!” (bu yi kuai zai 不亦快哉). In the first part of the article, the personality and world view of the author are examined as well as on his place in the history of Chinese literature, in particular as a literary critic who worked in the genre of “critical comments” (ping dian 評點). The second part focuses on the history of the text that was first created as part of the ping dian commentary on Romance of the Western Chamber. Over time, this piece came to be recognized and reproduced as an independent essay in the vein of leisure literature of the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties. It also gave rise to the continuation and interpretation of the little joys of life by classic and popular writers of the 20th–21st centuries.