Research on Popular Encyclopedias in the Ming Dynasty

Author: Liu Tianzhen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-12-01
Features: Popular literature is a faithful record of contemporary popular culture. Conducting research in this field can also open up new perspectives for studying other popular culture phenomena, such as popular fiction and urban entertainment culture. For example, Ming and Qing Dynasty novels and popular literature share commonalities in both cultural attributes and the aspects of life culture they reflect. For a long time, scholars of Ming and Qing Dynasty novels have been accustomed to observing and interpreting works from the perspective of elite culture, such as Confucianism or Wang Yangming's Mindology, leading to conclusions that sometimes seem reasonable but are often forced. However, studying and interpreting works from the perspective of folk culture, such as popular literature, may yield conclusions that are closer to the actual content, ideas, and artistic aspects of the works. This book is part of the Doctoral Series of Humanities, History, Philosophy, and is a theoretical monograph on the study of Ming Dynasty popular literature in China. It includes general discussions, research on daily-use popular literature, studies on moral story popular literature, research on entertainment-oriented popular literature, and the study of popular literature and ancient novels, among other topics. It is suitable for researchers and students of ancient Chinese literature, history, and culture to reference and learn from.