The Wallet of Kai Lung

The Wallet of Kai Lung, published in 1900, is Ernest Bramah's first and best-known book. Set in an imaginary China of timeless antiquity, it follows the itinerant storyteller Kai Lung as he relates tales of cunning merchants, lovelorn scholars, and scheming officials, all rendered in a gloriously florid prose style that parodies classical Chinese literary convention while creating something entirely original. Admired by Hilaire Belloc, who wrote an enthusiastic introduction, the book established Bramah as a comic stylist of rare distinction and launched a series that would span four decades.