A brief history of Chinese fiction

471 Pages·1976·30.484 MB·Peking Foreign Languages Press

by  Xun Lu

A Brief
History of
ChinFeiscet ion
lu Hsun
fOREIGNLA NGUAGES PRESS
PEKING
Translated
hy
YANG HSIEN-YI �tnd GLADYSY ANG
PTinted PeoplP.R'r.sp ubliorf
in the Chint�
Contents
P�facet ot heN ew Edition
Preface
T e HistoriAacnsc'o unatsn dE valuatioonsf
1. h Fiction 1
Myths andLe gends 9
2.
3. Workso f FictiMon on in theH anD ynasHtiys tor2y1
enti ed
.l'ictioAnt tributtoHe adn D ynastWyr iters
4. 27
S. Tales oft heSu pernatural in theS ixD ynasiets 42
Taleso ft heS upernatuirna tlh eS ixD ynasties (Co�tlinu.ed5)7
6.
7. and OtheWro rks b6
SociaTla lk
8. TheT ang Romances
DynastyPr ose 80
9. TheT angD ynasty ProseR omances (Conrinued) 94
10.C ollectioonsf TangDy nasty Tales 106
11.S upernatuTralaesl and Prose Romances int h� SungD ynasty 116
12.S tory-TellPerrso'm pt-Boookfst he ng Dynasty 131
Su
ImitatioonsfP rompt-Boolhkse Sunga ndY uanD ynasties1 43
lJ. in
14.H istorRiocmanacles theY uana ndMin g Dynustics 154
of
15.H istoricRalo mances of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties
(Cunrin�d) 170
16Mi.ng andO .!vils 187
Dynasty Novel�C uAdhs< lllt
17.M ingD ynastyN uvclAsh o:.�tG olh.11.11 dD :vil(sC ontinued)
198
18M.in gD yn NovelAsh outG ods and vls (Continued) 208
iUiiY De i
19N.ov els Manners theMi ng Dynasy
of in t 220
Novelosf thMlneg Dynasty (Contirwed)"
20. Manners in 232
21.Mi ng Dynasty ImitaotifoS nsu ngS tories int heV ernacular2 42
22. ImitatioofnC slas sical Talesi nt heC hinDgy nasty 254
Novelso fSoc ialSa tiIrnet h eC hinDgy nasty
23. rT2
24. Novelosf Ma nners int heC hinDgy n� 282
25.N ovelos fE ruditiinoth ne ChinDgyn asty 300
26.N ovelAsbo utP rostituitnit ohneC hinDgy nasty 319
Novelso fA dventuarnedDe tectiionnt heC hinDgy nasty
27. 336
28. Novels ofEx posure att heE ndo ft heC hinDgy nasty 352
Postscript 3651
Appendices:'
TheH istoriDecvaell opmenotf C hinesFei ction 373
Preftaocet h e JapaEndielsel on 421
Index 423
Prefacet ot heN ew Edition
Y EARLY teny earhsa vep assesdi ncIeb egatno l ecture
'\.J
c:..- ont heh i!ttoorfyC hiensefi ctioann,dt hibsr ieofu tline
was firstp rintesedv en yearsa go. Sitnhceen m uch re­
searchha sbe en donei n thifise ladn dn ew discovehraivees
cleareudp certain points whoibcshc uwreFero.er e xample.
thed iscovebryyP rofessSohri onoAykau shoif t he mutilated
Yuand ynasteyd itioofn I llustrVaeterdna cular Taalneds
FengM eng-lu'snt ghreceo lclteioonfsp opular staoswr eilels ,
ash isr esearchoens t hesaer.e o fm ajorsi ngificancien t he
historoyf C hinesefi ctioann;d t hec ontentoifos no me Chi­
neses cholatrsh atth eer should be sheipsatroaritfeeos r t he
nctioonf d iffeenrtp erioidssa soundo ne.A llt himse ans
thamty brieofu tline snhoowu bel do utdatebdu;t since no
newh isotriehsa ve yetb een writttehne,r aer es tirlela defrosr
thesneo tesF.o ra newe diotni,t hibso oks houlbdy r ighbtes
revisbeudt,s incLes tartmeodv infgr omp lacteo p lacIe-h ave
given ulpi tersartyu diaesn,d h aven othibnugt a vaguree c­
ollectoifow nh atI wrotien t hep astSo. Is implmya dea
fewc hangeisn C hapte1r4s, 1 5a nd2 1k,e epintgh eo ther
chaptse urnchaendg as I haven o new theorireesg arding
them.S incger eavte ssetlsa kyee artso p roducteh,iea sr then­
warep oto fm ines tislelr veso;o mt.p urpeo;sb utt hougthh is
fachta sp nllongtehdel ifoef m y bookI, am disheartened
byt hisd eartohfn ew writinIgn.a melanchomloyo dI have
gonet hrougthh esper oofhso,p ingt hatb ettscehro larwisll
soonp roducae m ore authoritatibvoeo k.
Lu Hsun
Preface
HERE
hasn evebre ean h istooryfC hinesfiec tioinfw, e
T
exceptth e accoiuntn htse h istorioesfC hinelsiet era­
turwer ittbeynf oreignReercse.n tcleyrt aisunm mariehsa ve
appeariendC hinesew orkst oob,u tt hes pacdee voted to
fictioinsus ualllye stsh ano ne-teonftt hh ew holeH.e nce
we stillla cka detailaecdc ounotf thed evelopmoefnt
Chinefisec tion.
Thought hibso oki sc oncerneendt irweiltyhfi ctiointis,
nohtinbgu ta rougohu tlinIe w.r otiet b ecautsher eyeea rs
agoh,a ppenitong gi vseo mel ectuornet sh issu bjeacntdf ear­
ingt hamty defectass sap eakmeirg hmta kei th ardf orm y
hearetrosu nderstandI. j ottdeodw nt hiosu tlianned h ad
itd uplicaftoermd y studentTsh.e ni,n o rdenro tt og ive
thec opyitsotom ucht roubIl ceo,m presseidt b yu sintgh e
classilcaanlg uaogmei.t ticnegr taeixna mplbeustk eepitnhge
maino utliwnhei cIh h avebe en usinegv esri nce.
Thesen oteasr efi nallbye inpgr intbeecda usteh eyh ave
been duplicatsoe mda nyt imeesn dg ivetnh osien c harge
so
mucht roubtlhea ptr intainpgp eatrso be moree conoimcal.
Durintgh ep reparaotfit ohni s cfoopry tphrees sf.o uorr
five friendlse nhmtae v ree ferebonockse or helmpee widt h
proof-readiinngd;e efdo,r t hel astth reyeea rs theyh ave
provecdo nsistehnetllpyf uIw lo.u ld ltiotk bea ntkh emh ere.
Lu Hsun
Nighotf O ctober
7, I!I1J, Pekin1

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