Wandering between the refined and the popular--A study of fictionalized colloquial narrative in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties

Author: Song Ruoyun / Country:
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Chinese fiction, though long-standing and once abundant, has been regarded as a minor art form, not worthy of the grand stage for centuries. The study of "nihuaben" (a genre of narrative fiction) was naturally out of the question. After the introduction of Western learning to China in modern times, the status of fiction improved. By the 1920s and 1930s, thanks to the efforts of a group of learned scholars in Chinese academia, the study of fiction flourished, achieving unprecedented success. The specialized study of "nihuaben" also truly began at this time: the term "nihuaben" was proposed as an independent category. And Zheng Zhenduo's 1931 article "Collected Works of Pinghua from the Ming and Qing Dynasties" published in Story Monthly was a bibliographic survey on "nihuaben" fiction, holding pioneering value and marking the beginning of "nihuaben" studies. Due to the suppression of fiction across dynasties, the destruction of wars, and the casual discarding of fiction as leisure reading, countless works have been lost or destroyed. Furthermore, private and public collectors, bound by traditional notions, often regarded fiction as a trivial pursuit, rarely preserving it. As a result, only a handful of works have survived the myriad hardships, and most are incomplete. Therefore, modern research on "nihuaben" fiction began with the collection of historical materials. This collection involves two aspects: the identification and organization of domestic heritage, and the search for foreign fiction. The latter has played a pivotal role in advancing the study of fiction, particularly "nihuaben." The pioneering work in this regard was done by Dong Kang. Dong Kang, a former Qing dynasty scholar-official and later a holder of key positions in the Republic of China, visited Japan multiple times and explored public and private libraries, compiling Discussions on Books from the Ship of the Sea. The Chinese fiction recorded and introduced in this work, especially "huaben" and "nihuaben," holds great significance. Even scholars as erudite as Lu Xun and Hu Shi, in the early 1920s, were unaware of the existence of important Ming dynasty "nihuaben" works such as "San Yan" and "Er Pai." The severe loss of these works was remedied by Dong Kang's research. Dong Kang cited the catalog of fiction held by the Imperial Household Library in Japan, which included several "huaben" and "nihuaben" works: the Yuan edition of Complete Illustrated Pinghua (15 volumes), the Ming Jiajing edition of Qingping Mountain Hall (15 types), Feng Menglong's Ancient and Modern Stories (40 volumes), Worldly Wisdom (40 volumes), and Clarifying the World (24 volumes), Ling Mengchu's Surprise at the Table (39 volumes), as well as the Song Gongming's Lantern Festival (1 volume), Second Surprise at the Table, Jin Mu's Dust-Free Palms (4 sets, 40 chapters), Zhou Ji's West Lake Stories (34 volumes), and Xiong Longfeng's Zhang Sheng and Cai Lan's Lantern and Su Chang's and Zhang Tai's Love Story, Feng Boyu's Love and Longing, and Kong Shufang's Twin Fish Fans (each one volume). He also quoted the titles of several "huaben" collections, such as Ancient and Modern Stories, Worldly Wisdom, Clarifying the World, Second Surprise at the Table, and Dust-Free Palms, along with annotations. Under the entry for Dust-Free Palms, he wrote: "Each volume tells a single story, though it is a love story, it still criticizes society." Though brief, it helps readers understand the content of this Ming dynasty "huaben" collection, which had never been previously encountered. At that time, the young Japanese sinologist Kishibe Mokichi obtained the Ming Jian Shan Tang edition of Worldly Wisdom, and Dong Kang borrowed it to quote its titles. He also discovered differences between this version and another edition of Worldly Wisdom published in Japan's Journal of Literary Culture. For example, Kishibe's edition included "Le Xiao She Pingsheng Miou Ou," while Journal of Literary Culture listed "Zhu Wenjun Hui Yan Shi Xiangru"; Kishibe's edition had "Jingyang Palace's Iron Tree Exorcism," while Journal of Literary Culture wrote "Ye's Master's Magic Seal Exorcism." Regarding variations in editions, Dong Kang also copied the titles of a different edition of Second Surprise at the Table from Saltgane Onuma, which he had photographed in Paris. This was actually a separate edition of Xingshi Yan, providing valuable information for further research. P34-35