History of Chinese Classical Novels (New Illustrated Edition)

Author: Yang Yi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: This revision includes the addition of a new preface proposing the "Three-Way Principle," appending the prefaces to the Taiwan edition of Chinese Fiction Through the Dynasties and Culture and A History of Classical Vernacular Fiction in China, and adding From Oral Tradition to Written Vernacular Fiction. Additionally, some important yet still valuable viewpoints have been rigorously logically derived and expanded, and some inappropriate parts have been revised, with numerous new arguments and annotations added. The most significant change is transforming this book into a pictorial atlas, following the "Three-Way Principle" mentioned in the preface, making images and text an interactive and complementary organic whole. The illustrations are all meticulously collected over time as specialized studies, with 162 images selected from approximately 100 ancient books, rubbings, and art albums. The sources of these images are quite diverse, spanning regions and cultures, eras, and artistic styles, with the aim of showcasing the advantages of the "multi-dimensional evidence method" of the pictorial atlas. Of course, a pictorial atlas is an endless pursuit, and with limited personal capabilities, there are inevitably many omissions. This manuscript is a pictorial atlas revised and supplemented by Professor Yang Yi based on his earlier work A History of Classical Chinese Fiction. Building upon the original, it strengthens the "Three-Way Principle" of cultural essence, cultural ecology, and cultural overview, reflecting a more modern consciousness and a broader global perspective. Centered on the texts of classical Chinese fiction, supplemented by a wealth of illustrations, it employs an interactive image-text approach to provide a "comprehensive overview" of the narrative embedded within the overall structure of Chinese culture, expanding the broad horizons of literary history interpretation and advancing the methodology of literary history writing to a new realm.