From the literature of scholars to the literature of academics

Author: Chen Pingyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-06-01
Features: During the May Fourth New Culture Movement, Chen Duxiu declared that "classical Chinese" was dead and "vernacular Chinese" was alive, listing the eighteen classical Chinese writers as the "Eighteen Demons." Chen Pingyuan, while teaching a graduate elective course "Eighteen Masters of Ming-Qing Prose" at Peking University, can also be seen as "cleaning up the battlefield" of the May Fourth New Culture Movement, presenting another aspect of the "Ming-Qing literature" that was hastily dismissed as filth. Through the works of these eighteen masters, he hopes to present the general trajectory of Chinese prose development over three centuries (from the mid-16th to the mid-19th century) and spark interest in this ancient literary form. This book is derived from classroom lectures, but it has been reduced from eighteen to nine masters: Li Zhi, Chen Jiru, Yuan Hongdao, Zhang Dai, Huang Zongxi, Gu Yanwu, Quanzuwang, Yao Nai, and Wang Zhong. By taking these scholars and writers as case studies, the book analyzes their creative characteristics and stylistic approaches, not only emphasizing "knowing the person to understand the times" but also striving for "befriending the ancients." This course emphasizes personal insights while reading, problem awareness in research, and textual analysis in narrative and commentary. Even within the "Lecture Platform" series, the original casual essays and interjections are retained. By adopting a paradigm that combines internal and external research, it highlights the life trajectories and literary worlds of these nine prose masters while also outlining the literary history and its features. At the same time, it provides insightful descriptions or interpretations of factors that influence and constrain literary development, such as literary production, social background, and urban life. In the author's view, since Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang, the late Ming prose miniatures that are still widely admired today are typical "literati literature," expressing individual spirit, light yet elegant. In contrast, the less favored Qing Dynasty prose is mostly "scholarly literature," emphasizing conventions, simple yet grand.