The “Three Words and Two Slaps” is the combined name for Yushi mingyan (Illustrious words to instruct the world), Jingshi tongyan (Comprehensive words to caution the world), Xingshi hengyan (Constant words to awaken the world), Chuke pai’an jingqi (Slap the table in amazement, first collection), and Erke pai’an jingqi (Slap the table in amazement, second collection). Each collection contains forty short stories, however, two have been lost and only 198 stories are extant. The compiler of the Three Words Feng Menglong (1574–1646) based many of the stories on the huaben (storytellers’ scripts) of the Song (960–1279), Yuan (1271–1368), and Ming (1368–1644) dynasties. On account of their adaption from these scripts, the tales show a strong storyteller influence. These professionals knew how to use action and dialogue to display the rich inner world of their characters and how vividly to describe them. Close attention was also paid to the lively plotting and story details. Simple but lively language was used. The Three Words was a best-seller and book dealers were eager to cash-in on the book’s popularity. They implored Ling Mengchu (1580–1644), the compiler of the latter two collections mentioned above, to compose more stories. Based on previous writers’ notes, dramas, and operas, he created the Two Slaps. He also used the opportunity to express his personal ideas and artistic insights by focusing on the description of ordinary people, and thus indirectly reflected the social crisis of the late Ming dynasty. The stories in the Two Slaps closely follow the tradition of storyteller scripts; however, they are clearly the creation of a literatus who voices his opinions and makes the stories more artful than a storyteller would. “Three Words and Two Slaps,” are the most famous exemplars of the genre known as imitation huaben and had an enormous influence on similar works in later periods.                  

Themes such as the vicissitudes of marriage and love, the lives of merchants and their business affairs, the imperial examination and the situation of intellectuals, among others, are common subjects in these works. The authors also describe various members of officialdom, the snobbish ways of the world and the lack of public morals.

Novels went through different stages in the Ming and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties from storytellers adapting previous works to original creations by the literati. In the late Ming dynasty, new and old moral standards fiercely collided, especially with regard to marriages. During that time, arranged marriages where the parents or a match-maker were the order of the day. It was important that the two families match socially as well. However, with the rapid development of a commodity economy and the growing power of commoners, dogma (such as “preserve heavenly principles and eradicate human desires” as propounded by the Song Ruists) was seriously questioned. Young people boldly pursued the freedom to love, and some even secretly tasted the “forbidden fruit.” Their parents were forced either to accept their behavior, or strongly to inhibit it; the latter might eventually lead to tragedy.

When merchants traveled on business, they often visited brothels (poetically described as “roving among the flowers and willows”). Some even established two household, one in each city. It was common for the wives who stayed home while their husbands traveled to commit adultery. Marital relationships in all their myriad forms are rather realistically described in “Three Words and Two Slaps.”

Beginning after the middle of the Ming dynasty, the court, facing financial difficulties, adopted the practice of accepting candidates into the Imperial College in return for “donations.” Later, the court also implemented the practice of appointing people to official posts in exchange for monetary contributions. Previously, admission to the Imperial College and the assignment of official postings were based on success in the imperial examinations; by the time these stories were written, that tradition had already been lost. Inherent social values had collapsed. Studying day and night, students found it hard to resist the lure of silver; originally, their studies focused on books by sages and wise men as they sought to pass the imperial examinations. Now, however, they also began to seek money making opportunities. It was felt that if one adhered to one’s own duty and never strayed beyond what was proper, one could only be submissive and patient in adversity and accept what arrangements fate had determined. “Three Words and Two Slaps” vividly describes all of the situations mentioned above.

In the early years of the Ming dynasty, the turmoil of war caused merchants to lose status and fall to the bottom level of society, where their status was almost equal to that of prostitutes, actors and actresses, government runners. Commerce was vital to that state and after more than one-hundred years of struggle, merchants built up their economic strength; this also enabled them to increase their political power. Merchants were gradually able to place spokesmen at both the court and in local administration. Some even played two roles—official and merchant. Although, the expansion of merchants’ power had played a positive role in recent history, the authors, when writing their stories in which people ran at the beck and call of rich merchants, clearly had a bitter and resentful tone towards them.

When reading the “Three Words and Two Slaps,” one seems to have actually entered the cities, towns, streets, and alleys in the late Ming dynasty and can see not only the leisurely and unambitious lives of ordinary people but also see busy traders in bustling cities. At night, the eye is caught by lively brothels and gambling houses. In such a scenario, the various characters appear one after another, and their intricate and bizarre stories gradually unfold. Since these stories depict the social panorama of the Ming dynasty, and realistically describe the people’s life at that time, “Three Words and Two Slaps” is sometimes known as the stories of ordinary people. 

The late Ming short-story writers Feng Menglong and Ling Mengchu cherished the simple and honest society of the past. But during their lifetimes, a society gradually formed where money and power became the center of everything. For the sake of money, even the closest of relatives (such as fathers and sons, husbands and wives, elder and younger brothers) would fight with one another, or even commit murder. Some supposedly respectable people, such as court officials, would allow their greed for money and power to guide their conduct. Everyone felt the fickleness of the world, but it also seemed that everyone was forced to follow these lower standards. In their descriptions of society, both authors revealed their strong dissatisfaction and helplessness.