Spirit and self in medieval China : the Shih-shuo hsin-yü and its legacy / Nanxiu Qian.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Qian, Nanxiu.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Liu, Yiqing, 403-444. Shi shuo xin yu.

Liu, Yiqing.

Physical Description:

xiv, 520 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Other Title:

Shih-shuo hsin-yü and its legacy

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaiʻi Press, [2001]

Summary:

The Shih-shuo hsin-yu, conventionally translated as A New Account of Tales of the World, is one of the most significant works in the entire Chinese literary tradition. It established a genre (the Shih-shuo t'i) and inspired dozens of imitations from the later part of the Tang dynasty (618-907) to the early Republican era of the twentieth century. The Shih-shuo hsin-yu consists of more than a thousand historical anecdotes about elite life in the late Han dynasty and the Wei-Chin period (c. 150-420 C.E.). These beautifully written and artfully constructed stories are divided into thirty-six categories and cover a variety of subjects: people's physical appearance, innate abilities, moral qualities, psychological traits, political and social connections. A product of prevailing intellectual practice known as "character appraisal" (jen-lun chien-shih), the Shih-shuo hsin-yu reflects the unique style and manner of its time known to later generations as the Wei-Chin "spirit" -- an outgrowth of new intellectual trends that emerged during one of the most creative and iconoclastic periods of imperial Chinese history.

Despite a general recognition of the Shih-shuo hsin-yu's place in China's literary history (and to a lesser extent that of Japan), the genre itself has never been adequately defined or thoroughly studied. Spirit and Self in Medieval China offers the first thorough study in any language of the origins and evolution of the Shih-shuo t'i based on a comprehensive literary analysis of the Shih-shuo hsin-yu and a systematic documentation and examination of more than thirty imitations. The study also contributes to the growing interest in the Chinese idea of individual identity. By focusing on the Shih-shuo genre, which provides the starting point in China for a systematic literary construction of the self, it demonstrates that, contrary to Western assertions of a timeless Chinese "tradition," an authentic understanding of personhood in China changed continually and often significantly in response to changing historical and cultural circumstances.

Contents:

Chinese Dynasties xiii

Japanese Periods Involved in the Japanese Shih-shuo Imitations xv

Part 1 From Character Appraisal to Character Writing: The Formation of the Shih-shuo Genre

Chapter 1. Character Appraisal: The Foundation of the Shih-shuo t'i 17

Chapter 2. Character Appraisal and the Formation of Wei-Chin Spirit 43

Chapter 3. Shih-shuo t'i: A Sui Generis Genre 84

Part 2 The Narrative Art of the Shih-shuo hsin-yu

Chapter 4. Between Order and Disorder: The Shih-shuo Taxonomy of Human Nature 101

Chapter 5. Using Body to Depict Spirit: The Shih-shuo Characterization of "Persons" 151

Part 3 Discontinuity along the Line of Continuity: Imitations of the Shih-shuo hsin-yu

Chapter 6. Body and Heart: T'ang and Sung Imitations 193

Chapter 7. Things and Intent: Ming and Ch'ing Imitations 247

Chapter 8. Milk and Scent: Women Shih-shuo 283

Chapter 9. An Alien Analogue: The Japanese Imitation Daito seigo 319

Chapter 10. New and Old: The Last Wave of Shih-shuo Imitations 339

Conclusion: The Self and the Mirror 368.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [475]-504) and index.

ISBN:

0824823095

0824823974

OCLC:

44841542