Reported by Yuqing Wang, Class of 2025

On April 16th, Duke Kunshan University had the pleasure of hosting Professor Jiayi Chen from Washington University in St. Louis for a lecture titled Gambling and Early Modern Vernacular Stories: Feng Menglong and Li Yu. Held in CCT E1012, the event attracted around 30 students and faculty members from various disciplines, creating a lively and engaged atmosphere.

Professor Jiayi Chen focused on two vernacular short stories—“A Trifling Quarrel Over a Penny Leads to an Extraordinary Tragedy” by Feng Menglong and “A Living Person Pays the Gambling Debt for a Ghost” by Li Yu—to explore how gambling functions as a key narrative device. She argued that in the literary context of late Ming and early Qing China, gambling was more than a recreational activity—it became a symbolic structure through which writers explored moral tension, social risk, and the unpredictability of fate. Following the format of simple coin-flipping gamble, a single wager in these stories could lead to dramatic consequences, prompting deeper reflection on opportunity and agency while refraining from giving clear moral teachings.

In addition to textual analysis, Professor Chen introduced various forms of gambling practiced in premodern China, such as dice games, treasure guessing, and betting rituals. These historical examples helped bridge the gap between literary imagination and lived cultural practices, enriching the audience’s understanding of both.

The Q&A session was dynamic and intellectually stimulating. Students raised thoughtful questions about narrative structure, gender representation, and symbolic meaning. Many commented that the lecture helped them see early vernacular fiction—and the role of “games” in literature—in a completely new light. Overall, the lecture offered a nuanced and engaging perspective on how literature and cultural practice intersect, highlighting the complexity and richness of early Chinese storytelling.