The third publication was called Xingshi hengyan (醒世恒言) (Stories to Awaken the World), and was published in 1627.
These three collections, often referred to as Sanyan (三言, "Three Words") because of the character yan (言) found at the end of each title, each contain 40 stories.
Ling Mengchu, under the direct influence of Sanyan, wrote 2 more collections under the same format, known as Erpai (二拍).
It was not until a scholar from China visiting Japan in the 1930s discovered an original copy of the collection did Jingshi Tongyan becomes popular again.
The scholar had taken pictures of each page of the book and brought back to China, where it was republished again.