杜騙新書 by active 16th century-17th century Yingyu Zhang
"杜騙新書" by Yingyu Zhang is a collection of tales focused on the theme of deception, likely written during the late 16th to early 17th century. This work reflects on various schemes of trickery and fraud practiced by clever rogues in society, featuring numerous characters who employ wit and cunning to outsmart others. Each story reveals the intricate and often humorous methods used by the deceivers, as well as the misfortunes befalling their
victims. The opening of the text introduces a series of scams, starting with a deceptive horse sale involving a character named Chen, who is tricked by a con artist while trying to sell his horse. The con artist feigns interest in buying the horse, only to leave Chen waiting while he escapes with stolen silk. This sets the tone for the subsequent stories, which explore various forms of fraud, such as pickpocketing, fake exchanges, and manipulations that lead to significant losses for the unsuspecting. As the reader moves through these initial tales, they are invited to consider the cleverness of the scammers while also feeling sympathy for their gullible victims, highlighting the complex interactions between trust and deceit in human relationships. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
