Jin Shengtan (金聖歎, pinyin: Jīn Shèngtàn) (1608-1661) was a Chinese editor, writer and critic, who has been called the champion of the bai hua (vernacular) Chinese literature. He was considered an eccentric and fixed what he called the Six Works of Genius : the Li Sao, the Shiji of Sima Qian, Du Fu's poems, Record of the West Room and Water Margin, where highly classical works, like Li Sao and Du Fu's, are mixed with novels in vernacular Chinese that were, at this time, considered by his peers as "entertainement." Pinyin (拼音, pīnyīn) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to Hànyǔ Pīnyīn (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration to roman script) for Standard Mandarin used in the... Events March 18 - Sissinios formally crowned Emperor of Ethiopia July 3 - Quebec City founded by Samuel de Champlain. ... Events January 6 - The fifth monarchy men unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London. ... Vernacular Chinese (白话 [白話]; in pinyin: b , literal meaning: Plain Language) is a style of written Chinese which is based on Standard Mandarin. ... Li Sao (Chinese:離騷; Pinyin: Lí São) is one of the most famous poems in Chinese history. ... The Records of the Grand Historian or the Records of the Grand Historian of China was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the mythical Yellow Emperor until his own time. ... Sima Qian (circa 145—90 BC) was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes (太史令) of the Han Dynasty. ... There are no contemporaneous portraits of Du Fu; this is a later artists impression Du Fu or Tu Fu (杜甫; pinyin: Dù Fǔ; Wade-Giles: Tu⁴ Fu³), also known as Dù Shàolíng (杜少陵) or Dù Gōngbù (杜工部) (712–770) was a prominent Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty. ... Water Margin or Outlaws of the Marsh (Traditional Chinese: 水滸傳; Simplified Chinese: 水浒传; pinyin: Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn), sometimes also translated as All Men Are Brothers, is one of the most famous works of classical Chinese literature. ...

From 1940s to 1970s in Mainland China, Jin was regarded as a person who did not appreciate the peasant revolutions in the books he edited. Centuries: 19th century - 20th century - 21st century Decades: 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s - 1940s - 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s Years: 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Events and trends Technology First nuclear bomb First cruise missile, the V1 flying bomb and the first ballistic missile, the... Events and trends Although in the United States and in many other Western societies the 1970s are often seen as a period of transition between the turbulent 1960s and the more conservative 1980s and 1990s, many of the trends that are associated widely with the Sixties, from the Sexual Revolution... In this map of China, the light-coloured areas represent Mainland China, while yellow coloured area refers to Taiwan. ...

Birth family name: Zhang (張 Zhāng)

Birth given name: Cai (采 Cǎi)

Changed family name: Jin (金 Jīn)

Changed given name: Kui (喟 Kuì)

Zi (字): Shengtan (聖歎 Shèngtàn)

Jin edited, commented on, and added introductions and interlinear notes to the popular novels: Shui hu zhuan (《水滸傳》 Water Margin), San guo yanyi (《三國演義》 Romance of the Three Kingdoms), and Xi xiang ji (《西廂記》 Record of the West Room). A Chinese surname, also called a clan name or family name (姓, pinyin: x ng; or 氏, shi), is one of the over seven hundred family names used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups. ... A Chinese surname, also called a clan name or family name (姓, pinyin: x ng; or 氏, shi), is one of the over seven hundred family names used by Han Chinese and Sinicized Chinese ethnic groups. ... A Chinese courtesy name, sometimes also known as a style name, was a pseudonym that was used in place of a given name by educated Chinese up until the 20th century. ... Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Simplified Chinese: 三国演义; Traditional Chinese: 三國演義, Pinyin: sān guó yǎn yì), written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century, is a Chinese historical novel about the turbulent period often referred to as the Three Kingdoms (220-280). ...

Falsely accused, Jin Shengtan was guillotined at the age of 54 with 18 of his friends. This incident is called "Weeping for the Temples" (哭廟案). His last words were: Public guillotining in Lons-le-Saunier, 1878 Badische Guillotine Portrait of Dr. Guillotin The guillotine is a machine used for the application of capital punishment by decapitation. ...

"Beheading, an excruciating thing; drinking, an exhilarating thing. To drink before to be beheaded, very excruciatingly exhilarating. Very."

「割頭，痛事也；飲酒，快事也。割頭而先飲酒，痛快痛快。」

Note: to be "painfully happy" in Chinese does not have any pain-related connotation, it merely means "happy without restraint".

It is said that before his death, he asked a letter to be sent home. The official was, however, suspicious of Jin defaming him or the royalty, so he opened it after the Jin was guillotined, discovering two sentences:

"If you eat salty vegetable with yellow beans (soybeans), somehow it tastes eerily like walnut. If this recipe is spread around, I have died without any regret."

「鹽菜與黃豆同吃，大有胡桃滋味。此法一傳，我無遺憾矣。」