Eighty-One Dreams/八十一梦

"""Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School"" & Representative Bestsellers of Republican China

鸳鸯蝴蝶派代表作品

Written during the Chongqing bombings, this surreal satire uses 81 dream allegories (only 14 published) to expose wartime corruption. Blending traditional ghost stories with Kafkaesque bureaucracy, it became known as ""China's first political fantasy"".

《八十一梦》是张恨水创作于抗战时期的社会讽刺寓言集，完成于1941年重庆大轰炸期间。作品借梦境叙事，以81个荒诞故事（实际仅发表14梦）影射战时陪都的腐败乱象，被誉为""民国版《聊斋》""。

This book was the most influential and popular novel by Mr. Zhang Henshui during the Anti Japanese War, and also the best-selling novel in the rear area. The author employs the technique of ""Nineteen Fables in Dreams"", with vivid brushstrokes and unrestrained splashing. The entire book is filled with mysterious and fantastical suspense, spanning from ancient to modern times, weaving together the issues that indirectly contribute to the victory of the Anti Japanese War and the expressions that directly harm it. The book is illuminated by candlelight and subjected to severe punishment, thus possessing high literary value.

该书是张恨水先生在抗战期闻影响最大、最受欢迎，也是大后方最畅销的长篇小说。作者用"寓言十九托之于梦"的手法，笔酣墨畅，恣意泼洒，全书充满了诡谲玄幻的悬念，上下古今，纵横捭阖，把那些间接有助于抗战胜利的问题，那些直接有害于抗战的表现，燃烛犀照，痛加鞭笞，因而该书具有很高的文学价值。