Ancient China is ... brought to life in these [short stories based on] folk tales, legends, and stories of historical figures that routinely rank alongside such Japanese literary classics as Rashomon by Ryunosuke Akutagawa and Kokoro by Natsume Soseki. When they first appeared in Japanese periodicals in 1942 and 1943, they sparked a potentially rich and long career for author Atsushi Nakajima, who tragically died of asthma complicated by severe pneumonia shortly thereafter"--Publisher marketing.