Abstract
Qian Qianyi (Muzhai, 1582-1664) was undoubtedly one of the most gifted writers of the Ming-Qing dynastic transition. Qian was, however, disdained by many in the public as a political opportunist who turned his allegiance to the conquering Qing as the Ming dynasty crumbled. In a culture which prized morality and integrity, Qian’s path to glory was difficult and thorny. When posthumous editions of Qian’s previously unpublished or partially published works appeared, the people who helped compile and publish these works always had to explain why it was worth publishing the works of a reportedly morally controversial person, and explain to the readership how Qian should be understood. From the reminiscences of his contemporaries and successive prefaces and postscripts to his posthumous books of varying dates, there emerges a collective discourse on Qian that led to his eventual canonization in the late Qing. This paper gives a systematic account of the laborious and difficult processes involved in publishing and canonizing Qian, spanning the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries.