1、“Vernacular Literature in China” 1650-1800Reference Vol. DWhat is Vernacular Chinese? Written Chinese is divided roughly into “l(fā)iterary” or classical” Chinese and “vernacular Chinese. Many assume that “classical”Chinese represents something like the spoken language of the first three centuries BC. H

2、owever, as time went on and spoken Chinese evolved, “classical” Chinese remained the standard of writingand in most cases was probably aurally comprehensible (as the King James Bible is to us).Very Different Qualities From the 13th century on, stories could be written in either classical or vernacul

3、ar Chinese. Classical stories (usually called tales”in some imperfect analogy to the distinction between tales and short stories in the West) were terse and placed a particular emphasis on phrasing. Vernacular stories, imitating the manner of oral storytelling, delighted in detailed description, liv

4、ely dialogue and speculation on the motivation of characters. In a classical story a small gesture would be pregnant with meaning, while in a vernacular story the narrator often explains such a gesture fully.Chapter Overview1. When the Mongol (Yan) armies overran northern China and the southern Sung

5、 dynasties, they established themselves as a dynasty, abolishing governmental principles derived from Confucian teachings.2. Often building on works of classical literature, vernacular literature (dealing with sex, violence, satire, and humor) became known for its ability to elaborate creatively on

6、plots of earlier works by filling in details or perhaps even by articulating what had been omitted. 3. Under the Ching Dynasty, and especially during the period known as the literary inquisition, classical Chinese writing suffered a devastating blow.4. Chinas autonomy and cultural self-confidence we

7、re decimated in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, when European colonial powers began to exert control over Chinas economy.Main Points DevelopedA Political Overhaul When the Mongol (Yan) armies overran northern China and the southern Sung dynasties, they established themselves as a dyna

8、sty, abolishing governmental principles derived from Confucian teachings. In effect, this meant that although classical literature retained importance in intellectual circles, it gradually became marginalized in spheres of public and private life. In the place of formal Chinese literature. . .,. Ver

9、nacular literature (plays, verse, romance, and prose fiction) began to play an important role in urban areas. Emphasized especially sex, violence, satire, and humor. These Vernacular works, while often building on the tradition of classical literature, became known for their ability to elaborate cre

10、atively on plots of earlier works by filling in details or perhaps even by articulating what had been omitted For instance, Wu Cheng-ens extensive novel Monkey, or Journey to the West, is historically based on the Buddhist monk Tripitakas pilgrimage from China to India. Whereas neo-Confucianism emph

11、asized rediscovering the Confucian classics as a way to build a system of private and social ethics that could determine all aspects of life, vernacular literature focused on liberty, violent energy, and passion. In effect, it gave a voice to aspects of life that neo-Confucianism tried to repress. K

12、ung Shang-jens Peach Blossom Fan is a play derived from the chuan-chi tradition, which consists of long plays that are performed over a period of several days. Cao Xueqins novel the Story of the Stone, better known as the Dream of the Red Chamber, is a long, unfinished female-centered novel and has

13、been viewed as an embodiment of Chinese national identity. The Chinese Novel The novel in China was essentially a vernacular form. Later there were attempts at novels in classical Chinese in the tradition but with mixed success. First developed in story telling cycles. The breakup of the Han Dynasty

14、 emerged in the novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms Another cycle deals with the heroic bandits of the Sung Dynasty became Men of the Marsh (Pear Bucks version is All Men Are Brothers.Wu Chengen or Wu Cheng-en He received a traditional Confucian education and became known for his clever poetry a

15、nd prose composition in the classical style. Interested in bizarre stories, he used oral and written folktales as the basis of the novel Xiyouji (Journey to the West, also partially translated as Monkey), published anonymously in 1592. Like all novels of its time, Hsi-yu chi was written in the verna

16、cular, as opposed to the officially accepted classical style, and therefore had to be published anonymously to protect the authors reputation. As a result, the identity of the novelist was long unknown outside of Wus native district. Monkey A Folk novelevolved over time. Wu Cheng was the last handle

17、r of the story (like Thomas Malory and his Mort de Arthur.) As mentioned, novels were consider a low-status activity and before the eighteenth century known literary men were often unwilling to have their names associated with a novelso instead they usually wrote under a pseudonym. Economic success

18、led to plagiarism with reduced or expanded versions of a work.Journey to the West It is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三國(guó)演義) (14th century) Water Margin (水滸傳) (also known as Outlaws of the Marsh) (mid-13th/14th/15th century?), Journey to

19、the West (西遊記) (16th century), Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢(mèng)) (also known as The Story of the Stone) (first block print 1792) Originally published anonymously in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty, and even though no direct evidence of its authorship survives, it is traditionally ascribed to the scho

20、lar W Chngn. The novel is a fictionalized account of the legends around the Buddhist monk Xunzngs or Tripitakas pilgrimage to India during the Tng dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist religious texts called sutras. The Bodhisattva Gunyn, on instruction from the Buddha, gives this task to the monk and

21、 his three protectors in the form of disciples namely Sn Wkng, Zh Bji and Sh Wjng together with a dragon prince who acts as Xunzngs horse mount. These four characters have agreed to help Xunzng as an atonement for past sins. The pilgrims undergo eighty-one calamities of all sorts before bringing the

22、 sutras back to the Chinese capital of Chngn (present-day Xn). (From Wikipedia) Some scholars propose that the book is a work of satire on the effeteness of the Chinese government at the time. Journey to the West has a strong background in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology and value systems.

23、In particular, the pantheon of Taoist and Buddhist deities is still reflective of many Chinese folk religious beliefs today. Part of the novels enduring popularity comes from the fact that it works on multiple levels: it is a first-rate adventure story, a dispenser of spiritual insight, and an extended a