Paradoxes of Traditional Chinese Literature

Paradoxes of Traditional Chinese Literature PDF

Author: Eva Hung

Publisher: Chinese University Press

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9789622015944

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book is a collection of nine articles on various paradoxical aspects of traditional Chinese literature. The literary works chosen for analysis range from the Tang dynasty to the late Qing. Besides providing new approaches to the well known classic authors such as Honglou Meng, Jin Ping Mei, Xixiang ji, and Liaozhai zhiyi, there are also detailed analysis of such diverse works as Liu Zongyuan's fiction, analogues of the Liu Yi story, lesser known versions of the play White Rabbit, as well as a number of late Qing fictions. Contributors to this volume include some of the most respected names in sinology today.

Language-Paradox-Poetics

Language-Paradox-Poetics PDF

Author: James J.Y. Liu

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 192

ISBN-13: 1400859689

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

In attempting to define a "poetics of paradox" from a traditional Chinese standpoint, James Liu explores through a comparative approach linguistic, textual, and interpretive problems of relevance to Western literary criticism. Liu's study evolves from a paradoxical view--originating from early Confucian and Daoist philosophical texts--that the less is "said" in poetry, the more is "meant." Such a view implied the existence of paradox in the very use of language and led traditional Chinese hermeneutics to a study of "metaparadox"--the use of language to explicate texts the meaning of which transcends language itself. As Liu illustrates elements of traditional Chinese hermeneutics with examples of poetic and critical works, he makes comparisons with the works of such Western literary figures as Shakespeare, Mallarme, Pound, Ionesco, Derrida, and Shepard. The comparisons bring to light a crucial difference in conceptualization of language: Chinese critics, especially those influenced by Daoism and Buddhism, seem to have held a deitic view of language (language points to things), whereas Western critics seem to have thought of language as primarily mimetic (language represents things). Liu examines the consequences of these views, showing how both offer insights into the "meaning" of text and to what extent both have led to a "metaparadox of interpretation." Originally published in 1988. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature

The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature PDF

Author: William H. Nienhauser

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 1986

Total Pages: 604

ISBN-13: 9780253334565

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

""A vertitable feast of concise, useful, reliable, and up-to-dateinformation (all prepared by top scholars in the field), Nienhauser's now two-volumetitle stands alone as THE standard reference work for the study of traditionalChinese literature. Nothing like it has ever been published."" --Choice The second volume to The Indiana Companion to TraditionalChinese Literature is both a supplement and an update to the original volume. VolumeII includes over 60 new entries on famous writers, works, and genres of traditionalChinese literature, followed by an extensive bibliographic update (1985-1997) ofeditions, translations, and studies (primarily in English, Chinese, Japanese, French, and German) for the 500+ entries of Volume I.

A Guide to Chinese Literature

A Guide to Chinese Literature PDF

Author: Wilt Idema

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 1997

Total Pages: 393

ISBN-13: 0892641231

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Selected for Choice's list of Outstanding Academic Books for 1997. A comprehensive overview of China's 3,000 years of literary history, from its beginnings to the present day. After an introductory section discussing the concept of literature and other features of traditional Chinese society crucial to understanding its writings, the second part is broken into five major time periods (earliest times to 100 c.e.; 100-1000; 1000-1875; 1875-1915; and 1915 to the present) corresponding to changes in book production. The development of the major literary genres is traced in each of these periods. The reference section in the cloth edition includes an annotated bibliography of more than 120 pages; the paper edition has a shorter bibliography and is intended for classroom use.

Decadence in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture

Decadence in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture PDF

Author: Hongjian Wang

Publisher:

Published: 2020-10

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9781621965435

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

"European Decadence, a controversial artistic movement that flourished mainly in late-nineteenth-century France and Britain, has inspired several generations of Chinese writers and literary scholars since it was introduced to China in the early 1920s. Translated into Chinese as tuifei, which has strong hedonistic and pessimistic connotations, the concept of Decadence has proven instrumental in multiple waves of cultural rebellion, but has also become susceptible to moralistic criticism. This is the first comprehensive study of decadence in Chinese literature since the early twentieth century. Standing at the intersection of comparative literature and cultural history, it transcends the framework of tuifei by locating European Decadence in its sociocultural context and uses it as a critical lens to examine Chinese Decadent literature and Chinese society. Its in-depth analysis reveals that some Chinese writers and literary scholars creatively appropriated the concept of Decadence for enlightenment purposes or to bid farewell to revolution. This study is also the first to offer a holistic understanding of European Decadence, uncovering both its internal logic and external circumstances, hence excavating its distinct explanatory power. It also sheds fresh light on modern Chinese literature and culture. By examining the careers of seven prominent writers-Yu Dafu, Shao Xunmei, Yu Hua, Su Tong, Wang Shuo, Wang Xiaobo, and Yin Lichuan-this study disentangles apparent contradictions in their writing and reveals the nuances in the changing status of China's modern cultural elite. Last but not least, the book significantly expands the scope of comparative literary studies beyond influence studies and cultural translation by effectively adopting a literary-historical approach-a literary phenomenon is seen at once as a product and an indicator of certain sociocultural conditions, so similar literary phenomena can illuminate comparable contexts"--

Text, Performance, and Gender in Chinese Literature and Music

Text, Performance, and Gender in Chinese Literature and Music PDF

Author: Maghiel van Crevel

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2009-11-27

Total Pages: 480

ISBN-13: 9047441419

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Bringing together new research on Chinese literature and music by twenty-two scholars, on topics ranging from Tang poetry to women's writing and the internet, this collection pays tribute to Wilt Idema as a leading scholar in a field of tremendous scope and diversity.

Sentimental Education in Chinese History

Sentimental Education in Chinese History PDF

Author: Paolo Santangelo

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2003-01-01

Total Pages: 632

ISBN-13: 9789004123601

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A pionering inquiry on the role, perception and representation of emotional sphere in traditional Chinese culture provides a fascinating contribution on a key anthropological problem, in order to understand not only pre-modern private history, but also contemporary Chinese society. The importance of this work goes beyond Chinese studies.

Love and Emotions in Traditional Chinese Literature

Love and Emotions in Traditional Chinese Literature PDF

Author: Halvor Eifring

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 9789004137103

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This volume provides a first step towards a conceptual history of a key term in traditional Chinese culture, "qing," often translated as 'emotion'. The essays cover the classical period and Chan Buddhist sources, in addition to Ming-Qing fiction and drama.

Art by the Book

Art by the Book PDF

Author: J. P. Park

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2017-05-01

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 0295807032

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Sometime before 1579, Zhou Lujing, a professional writer living in a bustling commercial town in southeastern China, published a series of lavishly illustrated books, which constituted the first multigenre painting manuals in Chinese history. Their popularity was immediate and their contents and format were widely reprinted and disseminated in a number of contemporary publications. Focusing on Zhou's work, Art by the Book describes how such publications accommodated the cultural taste and demands of the general public, and shows how painting manuals functioned as a form in which everything from icons of popular culture to graphic or literary cliche was presented to both gratify and shape the sensibilities of a growing reading public. As a special commodity of early modern China, when cultural standing was measured by a person's command of literati taste and lore, painting manuals provided nonelite readers with a device for enhancing social capital.

Stories Old and New

Stories Old and New PDF

Author:

Publisher: University of Washington Press

Published: 2011-10-15

Total Pages: 826

ISBN-13: 029580128X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Stories Old and New is the first complete translation of Feng Menglong’s Gujin xiaoshuo (also known as Yushi mingyan, Illustrious Words to Instruct the World), a collection of 40 short stories first published in 1620 in China. This is considered the best of Feng’s three such collections and was a pivotal work in the development of vernacular fiction. The stories are valuable as examples of early fiction and for their detailed depiction of daily life among a broad range of social classes. The stories are populated by scholars and courtesans, spirits and ghosts, Buddhist monks and nuns, pirates and emperors, and officials both virtuous and corrupt. The streets and abodes of late-Ming China come alive in Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang’s smooth and colorful translation of these entertaining tales. Stories Old and New has long been popular in China and has been published there in numerous editions. Although some of the stories have appeared in English translations in journals and anthologies, they have not previously been presented sequentially in thematic pairs as arranged by Feng Menglong. This unabridged translation, illustrated with a selection of woodcuts from the original Ming dynasty edition and including Feng’s interlinear notes and marginal comments, as well as all of the verse woven throughout the text, allows the modern reader to experience the text as did its first audience nearly four centuries ago. For other titles in the collection go to http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/books/ming.html