Notes of the Thatched Study of Close Scrutiny was written by Ji Xiaolan of the Qing dynasty.
Tips
history
纪昀 (1724–1805), better known as 纪晓岚, chief editor of the 四库全书, wrote its 1,200-odd short pieces in his last years, from 1789 to 1798, and named the collection after his study in Beijing.
culture
Unlike the richly told tales of 蒲松龄's 聊斋志异, its stories are terse and plain, and most end with a moral. It is the source cited for the idiom 悬崖勒马 'to rein in at the edge of the cliff'.
