Draft on the Discussion of Danzi Novels by Female Writers in the Qing Dynasty

Author: Bao Zhenpei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-10-01
Features: The Study on Qing Dynasty Female Writers and Tanzi Novels is the author's recent research (research achievements) under the guidance of Professor Chen Hong, a Ming-Qing literature expert at Nankai University, while pursuing a doctoral degree in the History of Chinese Literary Criticism. The selection of the topic is based on the author's knowledge structure and academic interests. Previously, she has published monographs such as The History of Chinese Quyi Art and The Love Tree of the (Peking Opera), accumulating expertise in the study of quyi literature. In 1995, she participated in the NGO Forum of the Fourth World Conference on Women organized by the United Nations, delivering a speech titled The Outdated Views on Women by Some Contemporary Male Writers, which was a practical application of feminist literary criticism. Recently, her doctoral dissertation, The Study on Qing Dynasty Female Writers and Tanzi, has been unanimously praised by renowned scholars from Peking University, Fudan University, and others, who believe this research fills a gap and holds academic value.
First, it fills the gaps in the study of the history of novels and the history of women's literature. In the history of Chinese literature, tanzi has always been studied as a form of "poetic recitation" narrative literature, and it has no place in the history of novels. The study of female writers' tanzi is also a case study of a few works and authors, lacking a comprehensive and systematic examination. In the study of women's literature in China, there is more focus on contemporary and modern works, with less attention to ancient women's literature, and even then, it is often centered on poetry. In the history of Chinese novels, female writers are even rarer. The author's examination of over 3,000,000 words of long tanzi novels by 38 female writers during the Qing Dynasty can be considered the first comprehensive and systematic (organization) of Qing Dynasty female writers' tanzi creation. With her unique female perspective, she argues for its position in the practice of ancient Chinese women's literary activities. The author draws on previous views that divide tanzi into sung scripts (for listening), similar to northern Pingshu, and written scripts (for reading). Through examples of female writers' tanzi, she establishes its characteristics as individual written creation, long and grand narrative focused on reading, and aimed at an "elite" audience. By comparing it with chaptered novels, she clarifies its elegant and refined style, its closeness to natural reading, and its blend of rhyming and prose, ultimately classifying it as a lyrical novel genre. This conclusion fills the gaps in the genres of novels and women's literature.
Second, the author's arguments contribute to the construction of the framework of women's literary history. Previous literary histories have neglected female creation, reflecting a patriarchal culture. Some experts have pointed out that from the perspective of modern feminist literary criticism, there is a strong Confucian influence in the few existing studies on the history of Chinese women's literature, which reflects the traditional praise of talented women and the aesthetic tastes of scholars, lacking theoretical reflection and innovation. The author's argument on the position of female writers' tanzi creation in the practice of ancient Chinese women's literary activities is essential and beneficial for a complete and accurate understanding of the tradition of ancient Chinese women's literature, and further for an in-depth examination of the ideological and cultural resources of modern and contemporary Chinese women's literature. Currently, research on women's literature often follows male authors' texts, but the author's study of female authors' texts, especially her insights into establishing an independent literary narrative tradition for women, not only enriches feminist literary theory but also benefits the understanding and summarization of literary heritage co-created by both genders, as well as the study of female creation from a gender perspective.
Exploring Female Consciousness
The author of this book employs various theoretical and research methods in her study of the ideological connotations of Qing Dynasty female writers' tanzi novels. These include historical materialism, cultural anthropology, sociology, psychology, and feminist criticism, with a particular emphasis on gender analysis theory and methods throughout the book to analyze the content of Ming-Qing female writers' tanzi works. She focuses on the women behind the paper, the survival forms of individual and collective women, the environment that gives rise to female creation and female consciousness, and the evolution of female thought history. Based on this understanding, the author analyzes the gradual change in Ming-Qing views on women and the reasons for the flourishing of the culture of talented women. By combining the living conditions of women, she examines the content, purpose, process, and dissemination of the works, concluding that there is a female literary narrative tradition. Subsequently, she explores the interaction and conflict between this tradition and mainstream ideology in a broader social context.
The book discusses female consciousness in the following aspects:
● Mining Female Consciousness in Female Writers. For example, Qing Dynasty female writers using the lyrical form of tanzi to narrate their life backgrounds, writing processes, emotions, and psychological states already represents an independent expression of female self; women achieve self-realization through writing; tanzi writing becomes a medium for women to seek understanding among themselves; from the analysis of characters like "jealousy" and "fierceness," it reflects the wife-mistress system and the survival (predicament) of women; female writers' concern for the value of female life has shaped a large number of heroines who defy old rituals and achieve remarkable accomplishments, and so on.
● Analyzing the Growth Environment of Female Consciousness. The author examines the reasons for the flourishing of the culture of talented women (female literature) in the Qing Dynasty, focusing on the shift in Ming-Qing views on women and analyzing the socio-cultural environment of women's survival. For instance, she proposes that the ethical concept of Yi Zhou's yin-yang and Qian-Kun theory, when politicized, gives gender issues a political dimension; she examines the formation and development of rituals, female education, family education, and Confucianism, as well as the influence of modern popular thought on the change in views on women. From the perspectives of society, families, and households, she analyzes the conditions for the growth of female consciousness, the regional reasons for the prosperity of female tanzi, and the system of female officials.
● The author's analysis of the growth environment of female consciousness emphasizes the interaction between gender relations and gender culture—such as the interplay between the fluctuation of scholars' views on women in Ming-Qing social thought and the emergence of female self-awareness, making female literature and male literature intertwined, enriching the narrative tradition and artistic charm of Chinese literature.
● When analyzing the flourishing of the culture of talented women, the author focuses on Yuan Mei and the group of female disciples of Liu Yuan, and also explores the feminization of literati and the feminization of female scholars.
New Insights
Reflections on Qing Dynasty female writers' tanzi novels can lead to many areas of discussion. For example: the exploration of gender perspectives in literary criticism; a comparison between the social aspirations of female tanzi writers and the "privatization" trend in contemporary female novels; the connection between cross-dressing women's consciousness and the development trends of female fashion culture; the literary portrayal of mistresses in female writers' tanzi novels and the portrayal of extramarital affairs in modern literature, and so on.
In summary, The Study on Qing Dynasty Female Writers and Tanzi Novels opens a window for us to understand female writers' tanzi novels, Chinese women's literature, and female culture, and will undoubtedly inspire further exploration by scholars.