{"product_id":"lu-da-the-rebel-monk-valentin-saric-9798247590866","title":"Lu Da, the Rebel Monk: A 1912 European Retelling of a Chinese Classic","description":"\u003cp\u003eA forgotten early European encounter with one of China's greatest epics - restored to English for the first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePublished in Finland in 1912, The Rebel Lu Da is a rare literary artifact: a condensed European adaptation of the Chinese classic Water Margin, focusing on one of its most vivid and beloved figures - the fierce, impulsive warrior Lu Da, later known as the monk Lu Zhishen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRather than attempting to translate the full epic, this early 20th-century retelling isolates Lu Da's arc and reshapes it into a fast-moving, comic, and often brutal adventure narrative. We follow him as a soldier, a rebel, a reluctant monk, and a law-breaking hero whose strength and moral instinct place him perpetually at odds with authority, vows, and social order.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWritten at a time when Western knowledge of Chinese literature was fragmentary and exoticized, this adaptation offers a fascinating historical lens: a pre-modern European reading of Chinese storytelling, humor, violence, and heroism - decades before standardized sinological translations became common.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis English edition is translated from the original 1912 Finnish publication and presented as a literary and historical curiosity, not a replacement for the complete Chinese epic. It is intended for readers interested in: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- early Western receptions of Chinese literature\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- character-driven adventure tales\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- rogue heroes and rebel figures\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e- the cultural history of translation\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConcise, energetic, and unmistakably shaped by its time, The Rebel Lu Da stands at the crossroads of Chinese epic tradition and early 20th-century European literary taste - a small but vivid bridge between worlds.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Valentin Saric,Shi Nai'an\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798247590866\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Independently Published\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/09\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 98\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.31lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.20d","brand":"Valentin Saric","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48997475320063,"sku":"9798247590866","price":6.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/lu-da-the-rebel-monk-valentin-saric-9798247590866","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}