The Travels of Lao Can

The Travels of Lao Can is a novel by Liu E (1857-1909). Thinly disguising his own views in those of the physician hero, Liu describes the rise of the Boxers in the countryside, the decay of the Yellow River control system, and the hypocritical incompetence of the bureaucracy. The novel, a social satire that showed the limits of the old elite and officialdom, was an immediate success. The novel serves as an in-depth look into the every-day lives of peasantry in the late Qing period.