A unique compilation of stories written by the best Chinese writers are to be published in a new book.

An Anthology of Chinese Short Short Stories, is a collection of the works by Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which have been translated by Harry J. Huang.

Published by the Foreign Languages Press, the amusing short short stories thrill and shock readers. Each story is also a window on Chinese culture.

They also feature a supplement of seven essays and comments, two of which examine the origins and recent development of Chinese short short story genre.

A biographical sketch of each author is included together with a brief glossary of special Chinese terms. A list of easy-to-pronounce pinyin, using the Wade system is also included. Readers across the world can enjoy the books.

Liu Haitao, one of the contributors, said Chinese short short story writing reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911). However, the genre did not gain official recognition until the 1990s, according to Yang Xiaomin who is another contributor and also editor-in-chief of the monthly Selected Chinese Short Short Stories magazine.

Last year, more than 400 books of Chinese short short stories were published. They are more significantly, included in university and college studies. But the form is little known outside of China.

"I intend to introduce the Chinese short short story to the English reader," Huang writes in the preface. The Toronto-based writer has spent 20 years researching the history of the form. These 121 stories, including 10 ancient tales, were selected from a pool of more than 20,000." The 10 ancient stories are not intended to represent the different periods or writers of various dynasties, but merely as a glimpse at this form of narrative literature in ancient China," he writes.

The average length of each story is about 1,500 Chinese characters, approximately translated into 900 English words. Coming to Life, the shortest, consists of 91 Chinese characters. A few pieces, such as My Wife's Hands, exceed 2,000 Chinese characters.

"I wanted to include stories that demonstrate Chinese culture which readers of different levels may enjoy," he writes." I would feel honoured if each story could impact the readers in some way by either thrilling, amusing, enlightening, saddening them or just raise curiosity and strike a chord in their heart with this unforgettable artistry," Huang writes.

(China Daily December 24, 2004)