Illustrated History of Suzhou Literature (4 Volumes)

Author: Fan Peisong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-05-01
Features: This book is a comprehensive literary history of Suzhou that spans from ancient times to the late 1980s, covering over 2,540 years. It is divided into four volumes, organized into six sections: Pre-Qin to the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Tang Dynasty, Song and Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, and Modern and Contemporary Literature. The book consists of over 1.5 million words, tracing Suzhou literature from the Pre-Qin period to modern times. It also features 100 selected illustrations with high documentary and cultural value. This book can be considered a monumental literary history that explicitly labels itself as an "illustrated edition" while highlighting its local focus, since the publication of Zheng Zhenduo's "Illustrated History of Chinese Literature" in 1932. Since the founding of Wu Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period, Suzhou has a history of over 2,500 years, with a rich cultural heritage and a tradition of outstanding scholars. Reflecting this long and diverse literary journey in a comprehensive, in-depth, and systematic manner is a significant challenge. However, the "Comprehensive History" confronts this challenge with a broad perspective, updating and expanding literary historiography methods, and successfully achieves this goal both macroscopically and microscopically. This attempt is highly beneficial.
From the perspective of literary historiography, the innovative significance and value orientation of this monograph far transcend the geographical and literary boundaries of Suzhou.
First, the book pioneers a dual-track, complementary, and mutually advancing historiographical structure focusing on Suzhou writers and Suzhou works. Historically, Suzhou writers have continuously moved across the country, while non-Suzhou writers have also increasingly settled in Suzhou, creating a complex and intricate dynamic. To accurately reflect this frequent bidirectional flow, the book scientifically defines the concepts of "Suzhou writers" and "Suzhou works." From this logical starting point, the editors include three Suzhou poets—Wei Yingwu, Bai Juyi, and Liu Yuxi—who wrote many Suzhou-themed works during their official postings in the Tang Dynasty (all non-Suzhou natives) as Suzhou writers. At the same time, they extensively collect influential masterpieces written by non-Suzhou authors that have had a significant impact on Suzhou, organizing them into a Suzhou works series in chronological order. This unique works series, in addition to dedicated sections on "masterpieces and outstanding works with Suzhou sentiments" for each historical period, includes distinctive chapters such as "Tang Dynasty Poets Ode to Tiger Hill," "The Receiving History of 'Night Mooring by the Maple Bridge'," "Zhang Xu, the Sage of Calligraphy, in the Focus of Tang Dynasty Poetry and Prose," "Wu Style: Song Ci and Suzhou," and "Glimpses of Suzhou in Yuan Qu Dialectic." The dual-track structure of writers and works, with a focus on writers, reflects the editors' creative and methodological integration based on historical facts, demonstrating a pioneering approach that challenges traditional literary historiography.
Second, the book boldly explores the frontier of marginal literature, which can be seen as another major achievement. Historically, Suzhou's literary and artistic scene has been exceptionally flourishing. Since the Song and Ming Dynasties, literature, gardens, painting, and opera have successively led the nation; correspondingly, cultural phenomena such as the emergence of scholars and masters have also flourished. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, figures like the "Four Masters of Wu," the "Four Talented Scholars of Wu," the "Wumen Painting School," and the "Wujiang School of Opera" either coexisted or succeeded one another. They were all versatile scholars with poetic and literary talents. The successors of the Wumen Painting School were also skilled in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, forming a continuous "scholarly family." Many opera masters were also well-versed in multiple arts, some even serving as garden designers. Based on this, the "Comprehensive History" pioneers the inclusion of marginal literature into the scope of literary history, presenting a combined view of literature and other arts such as opera, gardens, painting, calligraphy, and Pingtan. Specifically, it introduces micro-literary forms such as garden inscriptions, poems on gardens, poems on paintings, and couplets into the academic framework of literary history, setting a precedent for cross-disciplinary literary historiography. For instance, the chapter on "Poetry and Prose of the Wumen Painting School" reveals how figures like Shen Zhou, Tang Bohu, Wen Zhengming, and Zhu Yunming combined poetry, calligraphy, painting, and literature to pioneer new literary frontiers.
The "Comprehensive History" also pays attention to the vertical development of Suzhou literature over time, tracing the origins and influences of Suzhou writers and works. Dedicated sections are devoted to exploring the reception history, impact history, and even the formation history of works such as Zhang Ji's "Night Mooring by the Maple Bridge," Bai Juyi's "Memories of the South," and Feng Menglong's popular literature. Moreover, countless other works are discussed without dedicated sections, many of which offer unique insights. This cross-temporal and cross-spatial construction undoubtedly holds methodological significance for literary historiography.
Hans Robert Jauss, one of the founders of reception aesthetics, once stated, "Only when the continuity of a work is no longer considered solely from the perspective of the producer but also from that of the consumer can one write a history of literature and art." While this statement may be exaggerated, it holds a certain degree of truth. The "Comprehensive History" updates literary historiography methods with new disciplines such as reception aesthetics, which benefits academic research.
The book also reflects an integrated structure of literary history, literary theory, and literary appreciation and criticism, with a focus on literary history. Generally, literary studies include literary theory, literary history, and literary appreciation and criticism, which are organically interconnected. However, many current literary history monographs are either too theoretical or too brief in their critiques, lacking focused, detailed, and in-depth analyses. Wallace and Warren's "Theory of Literature" pointed out, "It is hard to imagine a literary history without literary theory and literary criticism." Suzhou, a historically vibrant city with rich literary traditions and picturesque gardens, has summarized eight laws based on its literary history: the law of historical progression, the law of landscape inspiration, the law of (poetry and landscape mutual enrichment), the law of resonance and reception, the law of cross-disciplinary interaction, the law of collective function, the law of alternating strength and gentleness, and the law of nurturing excellence. These unique discoveries are not only universally applicable but also deeply rooted in Suzhou's specific historical practices, embodying distinct local characteristics. For example, the law of (poetry and landscape mutual enrichment) reveals the aesthetic principle that "literature is inspired by landscapes, and landscapes are enhanced by literature," derived from the historical interplay between scenery and poetry in Suzhou's numerous scenic spots like Tiger Hill, Maple Bridge, and Canglang Pavilion. The law of collective function not only summarizes the success of literary schools and associations in Suzhou's history, including the Wumen Painting School, but also offers an innovative interpretation of the concept of "group" in Confucius's "Xing, Guan, Qun, Yuan," enriching the theory of artistic function. The law of alternating strength and gentleness dialectically captures the rhythmic alternation of dominant styles in Suzhou literature. The law of nurturing excellence explores why Suzhou has historically produced so many outstanding talents, a phenomenon as vibrant as clouds and mist, which remains an urgent topic for talent studies.
Summarizing the historical laws of literary development is one of the important goals of literary historiography, yet some monographs overlook this aspect. The "Comprehensive History" emphasizes this content, thereby deepening its theoretical depth and historical insights.
The "Comprehensive History" blends historical analysis with appreciation. For example, it offers multi-faceted critiques and appreciations of the "Art of War," a classic of military strategy and prose, analyzing its profound insights, rigorous logic, dynamic beauty, vivid imagery, and poetic expression. It also compares the prose of the "Art of War" with that of the Pre-Qin philosophers, placing it on the stage of the "Hundred Schools Contending" in the history of Pre-Qin prose. Lu Wenfu, renowned for his portrayal of Suzhou's customs and folk life in his alleyway literature, is dissected by the "Comprehensive History" from the unique perspective of Wu culture, revealing his persistent expression, tolerant critique, meticulous craftsmanship, humorous sensibility, and folk awareness, offering readers profound and lasting insights.
In summary, the "Comprehensive History" provides unique interpretive perspectives that enrich appreciation and enjoyment, another of its distinctive features.
The "Comprehensive History" also offers methodological inspiration for academic research by skillfully intertwining the concepts of literature and culture, making the book a literary history that is both culturally broad and intellectually fresh and profound. The intersection of cultural studies and historiography through literature is another successful attempt in the methodology of literary historiography.
Of course, as there are no existing precedents for municipal-level local literary histories, the book inevitably has some shortcomings. For instance, the analysis of non-Suzhou works by Suzhou writers may slightly dilute the "Wu flavor." However, overall, these flaws do not overshadow the book's merits.