Index: xstream/src/test/com/thoughtworks/xstream/io/json/JsonHierarchicalStreamDriverTest.java
===================================================================
--- xstream/src/test/com/thoughtworks/xstream/io/json/JsonHierarchicalStreamDriverTest.java	(revision 1584)
+++ xstream/src/test/com/thoughtworks/xstream/io/json/JsonHierarchicalStreamDriverTest.java	(working copy)
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@
 
     public void testCanMarshalSimpleTypes() {
 
-        String expected = ("{'innerMessage': {\n"
+        String expected = ("{\n"
             + "  'long1': 5,\n"
             + "  'long2': 42,\n"
             + "  'greeting': 'hello',\n"
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@
             + "    'bool': false,\n"
             + "    'char1': '\\u0000'\n"
             + "  }\n"
-            + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+            + "}").replace('\'', '"');
 
         xstream.alias("innerMessage", Message.class);
 
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@
     }
 
     String expectedMenuStart = ""
-        + "{'menu': {\n"
+        + "{\n"
         + "  'id': 'file',\n"
         + "  'value': 'File:',\n"
         + "  'popup': {\n"
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@
         + "        'value': 'Close',\n"
         + "        'onclick': 'CloseDoc()'\n"
         + "      }";
-    String expectedMenuEnd = "" + "    ]\n" + "  }\n" + "}}";
+    String expectedMenuEnd = "" + "    ]\n" + "  }\n" + "}";
     String expected = (expectedMenuStart
         + "\n"
         + expectedNew
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@
 
         // This also from http://www.expected.org/example.html
 
-        String expected = ("{'widget': {\n"
+        String expected = ("{\n"
             + "  'debug': 'on',\n"
             + "  'window': {\n"
             + "    'title': 'Sample Konfabulator Widget',\n"
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@
             + "    'alignment': 'center',\n"
             + "    'onMouseUp': 'sun1.opacity = (sun1.opacity / 100) * 90;'\n"
             + "  }\n"
-            + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+            + "}").replace('\'', '"');
 
         xstream.alias("widget", Widget.class);
         xstream.alias("window", Window.class);
@@ -339,12 +339,12 @@
         boolean isHeadless = Boolean.valueOf(System.getProperty("java.awt.headless", "false")).booleanValue();
         if (!isHeadless || JVM.is15()) {
             Color color = Color.black;
-            String expected = ("{'awt-color': {\n"
+            String expected = ("{\n"
                 + "  'red': 0,\n"
                 + "  'green': 0,\n"
                 + "  'blue': 0,\n"
                 + "  'alpha': 255\n"
-                + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+                + "}").replace('\'', '"');
             assertEquals(expected, xstream.toXML(color));
         }
     }
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@
         String[] strings = new String[]{
             "last\"", "\"first", "\"between\"", "around \"\" it", "back\\slash",};
         String expected = (""
-            + "{#string-array#: [\n"
+            + "{[\n"
             + "  #last\\\"#,\n"
             + "  #\\\"first#,\n"
             + "  #\\\"between\\\"#,\n"
@@ -371,10 +371,10 @@
         xstream.alias("innerMessage", Msg.class);
 
         String expected = (""
-            + "{'innerMessage': {\n"
+            + "{\n"
             + "  'greeting': 'hello',\n"
             + "  'innerMessage': {}\n"
-            + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+            + "}").replace('\'', '"');
         assertEquals(expected, xstream.toXML(message));
     }
 
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@
     public void testCanMarshalElementWithEmptyArray() {
         xstream.alias("element", ElementWithEmptyArray.class);
 
-        String expected = ("" + "{'element': {\n" + "  'array': [\n" + "  ]\n" + "}}").replace(
+        String expected = ("" + "{\n" + "  'array': [\n" + "  ]\n" + "}").replace(
             '\'', '"');
         assertEquals(expected, xstream.toXML(new ElementWithEmptyArray()));
     }
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@
         int idx2 = actual.indexOf("two");
 
         String expected = (""
-            + "{'map': [\n"
+            + "{[\n"
             + ((idx1 < idx2 ? entry1 : entry2) + ",\n")
             + ((idx1 < idx2 ? entry2 : entry1) + "\n") // no comma
         + "]}").replace('\'', '"');
@@ -446,7 +446,7 @@
         int idx2 = actual.indexOf("two");
 
         String expected = (""
-            + "{'properties': [\n"
+            + "{[\n"
             + ((idx1 < idx2 ? entry1 : entry2) + ",\n")
             + ((idx1 < idx2 ? entry2 : entry1) + "\n") // no comma
         + "]}").replace('\'', '"');
@@ -478,12 +478,12 @@
         int idx2 = actual.indexOf("two");
 
         String expected = (""
-            + "{'holder': {\n"
+            + "{\n"
             + "  'map': [\n"
             + ((idx1 < idx2 ? entry1 : entry2) + ",\n")
             + ((idx1 < idx2 ? entry2 : entry1) + "\n")
             + "  ]\n" // no comma
-        + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+        + "}").replace('\'', '"');
         assertEquals(expected, actual);
     }
 
@@ -494,12 +494,12 @@
     public void testIgnoresAttributeForCollectionMember() {
         xstream.alias("keeper", CollectionKeeper.class);
         String expected = ("" //
-            + "{'keeper': {\n"
+            + "{\n"
             + "  'coll': [\n"
             + "    'one',\n"
             + "    'two'\n"
             + "  ]\n"
-            + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+            + "}").replace('\'', '"');
 
         final CollectionKeeper holder = new CollectionKeeper();
         holder.coll.add("one");
@@ -513,11 +513,11 @@
         xstream.useAttributeFor("width", int.class);
         xstream.useAttributeFor("height", int.class);
         String expected = (""
-            + "{'window': {\n"
+            + "{\n"
             + "  '@width': '500',\n"
             + "  '@height': '500',\n"
             + "  'title': 'JUnit'\n"
-            + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+            + "}").replace('\'', '"');
 
         final Window window = new Window();
         window.title = "JUnit";
@@ -535,7 +535,7 @@
     public void testCanWriteEmbeddedCalendar() {
         xstream.alias("person", Person.class);
         String expected = (""
-            + "{'list': [\n"
+            + "{[\n"
             + "  {\n"
             + "    'firstName': 'Joe',\n"
             + "    'lastName': 'Walnes',\n"
@@ -566,10 +566,22 @@
     }
 
     public void testDoesEscapeValuesAccordingRfc4627() {
-        String expected = "{'string': '\\u0000\\u0001\\u001f \uffee'}".replace('\'', '"');
+        String expected = "{'\\u0000\\u0001\\u001f \uffee'}".replace('\'', '"');
         assertEquals(expected, xstream.toXML("\u0000\u0001\u001f\u0020\uffee"));
     }
 
+    public void testSimpleInt() {
+        assertEquals("{123}", xstream.toXML(123));
+    }
+
+    public void testBracesAndSquareBracketsAreNotEscaped() {
+        assertEquals("{\"..{}[]..\"}", xstream.toXML("..{}[].."));
+    }
+
+    public void testQuoteIsEscaped() {
+        assertEquals("{\"..\\\"..\"}", xstream.toXML("..\".."));
+    }
+
     static class SingleValue {
         long l;
         URL url;
@@ -578,10 +590,10 @@
     public void testSupportsAllConvertersWithASingleValue() throws MalformedURLException {
         xstream.alias("sv", SingleValue.class);
         String expected = (""
-            + "{'sv': {\n"
+            + "{\n"
             + "  'l': 4711,\n"
             + "  'url': 'http://localhost:8888'\n"
-            + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+            + "}").replace('\'', '"');
 
         SingleValue value = new SingleValue();
         value.l = 4711;
@@ -606,7 +618,7 @@
         sa.original = new Original("hello world");
 
         String expected = (""
-                + "{'sa': {\n"
+                + "{\n"
                 + "  'name': 'joe',\n"
                 + "  'charSeq': {\n"
                 + "    '@class': 'string',\n"
@@ -616,7 +628,7 @@
                 + "    '@resolves-to': 'replaced',\n"
                 + "    'replacedValue': 'HELLO WORLD'\n"
                 + "  }\n"
-                + "}}").replace('\'', '"');
+                + "}").replace('\'', '"');
 
         assertEquals(expected, xstream.toXML(sa));
     }
Index: xstream/src/java/com/thoughtworks/xstream/io/json/JsonHierarchicalStreamWriter.java
===================================================================
--- xstream/src/java/com/thoughtworks/xstream/io/json/JsonHierarchicalStreamWriter.java	(revision 1584)
+++ xstream/src/java/com/thoughtworks/xstream/io/json/JsonHierarchicalStreamWriter.java	(working copy)
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
     private boolean readyForNewLine;
     private boolean tagIsEmpty;
     private String newLine;
+    private boolean firstChar = true;
 
     public JsonHierarchicalStreamWriter(Writer writer, char[] lineIndenter, String newLine) {
         this.writer = new QuickWriter(writer);
@@ -73,11 +74,11 @@
 
     public void startNode(String name, Class clazz) {
         Node currNode = (Node)elementStack.peek();
-        if (currNode == null) {
-            writer.write("{");
+        if (currNode == null && (depth > 0 || isCollection(clazz))) {
+            write("{");
         }
         if (currNode != null && currNode.fieldAlready) {
-            writer.write(",");
+            write(",");
             readyForNewLine = true;
         }
         tagIsEmpty = false;
@@ -86,16 +87,18 @@
             || currNode.clazz == null
             || (currNode.clazz != null && !currNode.isCollection)) {
             if (currNode != null && !currNode.fieldAlready) {
-                writer.write("{");
+                write("{");
                 readyForNewLine = true;
                 finishTag();
             }
-            writer.write("\"");
-            writer.write(name);
-            writer.write("\": ");
+            if (depth > 0) {
+                write("\"");
+                write(name);
+                write("\": ");
+            }
         }
         if (isCollection(clazz)) {
-            writer.write("[");
+            write("[");
             readyForNewLine = true;
         }
         if (currNode != null) {
@@ -106,6 +109,30 @@
         tagIsEmpty = true;
     }
 
+    private void write(String string) {
+        if (firstChar && string.charAt(0) != '{') {
+            writer.write('{');
+        }
+        firstChar = false;
+        writer.write(string);
+    }
+
+    private void write(char chr) {
+        if (firstChar && chr != '{') {
+            writer.write('{');
+        }
+        firstChar = false;
+        writer.write(chr);
+    }
+
+    private void write(char[] chars) {
+        if (firstChar && chars[0] != '{') {
+            writer.write('{');
+        }
+        firstChar = false;
+        writer.write(chars);
+    }
+
     public class Node {
         public final String name;
         public final Class clazz;
@@ -156,7 +183,7 @@
 
     private void writeText(String text, Class clazz) {
         if (needsQuotes(clazz)) {
-            writer.write("\"");
+            write("\"");
         }
         if ((clazz == Character.class || clazz == Character.TYPE) && "".equals(text)) {
             text = "\0";
@@ -167,24 +194,24 @@
             char c = text.charAt(i);
             switch (c) {
             case '"':
-                this.writer.write("\\\"");
+                write("\\\"");
                 break;
             case '\\':
-                this.writer.write("\\\\");
+                write("\\\\");
                 break;
             default:
                 if (c > 0x1f) {
-                    this.writer.write(c);
+                    write(c);
                 } else {
-                    this.writer.write("\\u");
+                    write("\\u");
                     String hex = "000" + Integer.toHexString(c);
-                    this.writer.write(hex.substring(hex.length() - 4));
+                    write(hex.substring(hex.length() - 4));
                 }
             }
         }
 
         if (needsQuotes(clazz)) {
-            writer.write("\"");
+            write("\"");
         }
     }
 
@@ -208,21 +235,21 @@
                 readyForNewLine = true;
             }
             finishTag();
-            writer.write("]");
+            write("]");
         } else if (tagIsEmpty) {
             readyForNewLine = false;
-            writer.write("{}");
+            write("{}");
             finishTag();
         } else {
             finishTag();
-            if (node.fieldAlready) {
-                writer.write("}");
+            if (node.fieldAlready && depth > 0) {
+                write("}");
             }
         }
         readyForNewLine = true;
         if (depth == 0) {
-            writer.write("}");
-            writer.flush();
+            write("}");
+            flush();
         }
     }
 
@@ -235,9 +262,9 @@
     }
 
     protected void endOfLine() {
-        writer.write(newLine);
+        write(newLine);
         for (int i = 0; i < depth; i++ ) {
-            writer.write(lineIndenter);
+            write(lineIndenter);
         }
     }