Accounts of cannibalism from local gazetteers and histori­cal records in China are generally linked to the desperation of famine victims. But in its literary representation in Ming-Qing fiction, cannibalism has a wide variety of types ranging from self sacrifice (not involving victimization) to aggressive and cruel devouring of innocent victims. Analyzed as a literary construct rather than an anthropological phenomenon or a historical event, cannibalism yields rich meanings in ethical, allegorical, metaphorical, and sometimes parodic aspects. This paper is a preliminary exploration of how cannibalistic portrayals problematize the issue of morality. The literary portrayals of anthropophagy related to famine, revenge, ritual, medicine, or disordered appetite, serve mainly as powerful symbols in the authors’ discourse on morality and critique of society and humanity. Some authors depict gegu (割股) cannibalism and its variations as exemplary, showing an extreme form of martyrdom. Others portray the gormandizing of human flesh as heinous violation of morality. Using cannibalism as a moralistic metaphor, the authors connect the physical body, the body politic, and the cosmos in an ethical chain, thereby manipulating this topics for didactic and satirical purposes. Because cannibalism is so excessively atro­cious, it lends itself well to explorations of moral questions and reflections on traditional morality.