Xu Zhonglin (; 1567 - c. 1619 or 1620) was a Chinese writer who lived in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. He is best known as the author of the 16th century semi-mythical novel ''

Investiture of the Gods ''The Investiture of the Gods'', also known by its Chinese names () and is a 16th-century Chinese novel and one of the major vernacular Chinese works in the gods and demons (''shenmo'') genre written during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Cons ...

'' (). He was born in

Yingtian Prefecture Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, present-day Nanjing. An original copy of ''Investiture of the Gods'' is held in the Japanese Library of the Grand Secretariat, printed by Shu Zaiyang. The second section of the book is inscribed with the words "edited by Xu Zhonglin, the Old Recluse of Mount Zhong." This is likely the source of his possible

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Zhongshan Yisou" (), which literally means "a carefree old man living in Mount Zhong". Some say that Xu wrote the novel for a

trousseau Trousseau may refer to: *A dowry *The wardrobe of a bride, including the wedding dress or similar clothing *A hope chest, glory box or its contents *Trousseau (grape), a wine grape also known as Bastardo ** Trousseau Gris, a white mutation of the ...

for his daughter.

References

Ming dynasty novelists Investiture of the Gods Chinese fantasy writers Writers from Nanjing Chinese male novelists {{China-writer-stub 1567 births

See also

References