The document discusses the history of the novel in China. It begins by explaining that early Chinese novels were often quasi-historical in nature, retelling or commenting on historical events. Three of the four great Ming Dynasty novels - Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, and Journey to the West - framed their stories within historical contexts. However, later novels moved away from strict histories, focusing more on domestic stories and relationships. The novel's connection to history helped address criticisms of the genre's morality but diminished over time as novels explored more fictional themes.

1. {
The History of the Novel
Or
The Novel as History
Introduction to Chinese Civilization
Friday, April 13

2. {The Novel: History, Context, Social
Life, and Physical Existence
Part One:
The History of the
Novel

3.  Text work (book)
 Fictitious
 Typically somewhat realistic
What is a novel?

4.  Pre-Imperial
 Traditional philosophical works use stories as
parables
 Six Dynasties-Tang
 Anomaly Records (zhiguai) and Transmissions of
the Marvelous (chuanqi)
 Song Dynasty
 Storytelling develops as a progression, with
historical tales as an important genre
 Yuan Dynasty
 Development of drama as a means of literati
entertainment and social criticism
When does the novel
develop?

5.  Ming Dynasty
 Literati turn to novels as a means of expression
 Some of the earliest such as Three Kingdoms and The
Water Margin are historical in nature
 Qing Dynasty
 Novels continue to develop
 Focus on the novels becomes increasingly domestic
as in Plum in the Golden Vase and Dream of the Red
Chamber
When does the novel
develop?

6.  Made from woodblock printed paper
 Different presses demonstrated different levels
of quality, Jiangnan presses were often of high
quality, which Fujianese presses specialized in
cheap “pulp” editions
 Feature titles, usually divisions into something
akin to chapters
 Often illustrated
 Sometimes included unrelated text in separate
registers, or unrelated illustrations
The novel as physical
object

9.  Development of novels is closely linked with
the development of other narrative forms and
with the development of the book market
 Novels are often re-edited, re-commented upon,
and re-released, either by innovation or copying
 Writing in the vernacular provides a non-
traditional means of expression
 Novels often express social ills, ideals, or
critiques
The novel as social object

10.  A lengthy fictional narrative, written in the
vernacular. Usually printed in an urban area,
and authorship was usually attributed as
opposed to known, particularly early on. The
stories in novels often appeared in other forms,
such as opera or storytelling, or even shorter
stories in books. They were commented on
extensively, given reading notes, prefaces,
postfaces, etc.
What was a novel in
China?

11. Social Contexts of the
novel
 Who would have
written a novel in
China?
 Often unemployed
literati
 Often those with
connections to the
operatic form of
entertainment
 Who would have read
a novel in China?
 Difficult to answer
 Literati certainly did
 Merchants also show
signs of reading them
 May have served as a
source of communal
entertainment

12.  Novels were a point of contention
 Many literati found them interesting and
worthwhile, but many criticized them
 Novels were thought to be damaging to public
morality
 Often censored, particularly by the Qing
government
Reception of the novel

13.  Novel forms have diversified throughout
modern Chinese history
 Some political reformers and intellectuals in the
early Republican period were also novelists
 The Classical Novels continue at present,
sometimes in different forms
 Movies, Television shows, pop songs, computer
games, video games, comics, card games, and
board games are all forms that these stories have
taken
 Many Chinese novels have also been adopted
by other cultures, both Western and Asian
The Chinese novel at
present

14. {The Novel in the Beginning, Pseudo-
Historical content, and Decline
The Novel as
History

15.  Format of much fiction up to this time had been
positioned as minor history
 Anomaly Records and Transmissions of Marvels
 Storytelling had an entire popular genre of
tales that were retellings of historical events
 Often dynastic transitions: See establishment of
the Han, fall of the Han, establishment of the
Tang
 Examine the content of the Four Masterworks
of the Ming, the most popular of the early
novels:
Beginnings

16. {
Tells the story of the fall of
the Eastern Han dynasty,
and the powers that
contended for the realm
afterward. The earliest full
length novel, and one of
the most popular.
Incidentally, basically
everyone you will grow to
like will die. As a warning.
Three Kingdoms 三國演義

17. {
Story of gallant heroes
who are forced to turn to
banditry by the corruption
of the central government.
After many daring feats,
they gain recognition from
the government and are
used to serve the state.
(Then they die)
The Water Margin 水滸傳

18. {
The story of the monk
Xuanzang, and his
journey to the west
(India), for the purpose of
retrieving sutras. ←This
part happened. The magic
monkey who could
change shape, rode a
cloud, and beat demons’
brains out with a magic
staff? Not so much.
Journey to the West 西遊記

19. {
Tells the story of a
prominent family with a
history of officaldom.
More particularly tells the
story of the scion of the
clan, who has no interest
in studying or officialdom,
and just wants to spend
his life with girls and
hitting on his cousin. Also
he is actually a piece of
stone brought to life.
Dream of the Red Chamber 紅樓
夢

20.  Three of four great novels are quasi-
historiographical in nature
 Their titles also claim a historical status for the
works
 Yanyi means expanded meaning, meaning made
manifest
 Zhuan is a cognate of chuan transmission, and is the
term often used for biographies
 Ji means record, account, and is also the term used
for the Basic Annals in historiography
 Original title for Three Kingdoms is 三國志通俗演義
 The Records of the Three Kingdoms Connected to the
Common with Meaning Made Manifest
Beginnings cont.

21.  Many novels claimed to serve the purpose of
making the hidden lessons and moral verdicts
of history explicit, hence yanyi
 Another popular early novel Creation of the
Gods 封神演義 claims to make clear the lessons
from the fall of the Shang and the rise of the
Zhou
 It doesn’t. Unless the lesson is don’t anger the guy
that can shoot lightning. Or the guy made out of
lotus petals.
 Early versions of Three Kingdoms put the entire
history of the period in the context of karmic
retribution on the founder of the Han
Novel content as history

22.  The adherence to actual historical materials
varied
 Three Kingdoms is often lifted wholesale from the
histories
 The Water Margin is an entire novel based on two
sentences of history
 The pace and structure of the novels can read
very similarly to that of a historical work, with
a concern for timing, location, and the facts
surrounding the events in question
Novels’ content as history
cont.

23.  What factors might have made this true?
 Social valuation of the novel compared with
valuation of history?
 Apologetic for the charge of moral turpitude?
 Genuine belief that this was the way history
happened?
 Belief that this was a genuine explication of
historical truths, made easier for less intelligent
commoners?
Why novel as history?

24.  Later novels move increasingly away from the
historical framework
 Such as the scholar-beauty romances, where time
and location is largely unimportant
 Good example is the novel Plum in the Golden
Vase which takes an incident from an explicitly
historical novel and makes a domestic drama
out of it
 Though it is worth noting that the novel itself
traces a personal history
The death of the novel as
history

25. Mean Median Min Max 25% 50% 75%
80 80 41 100 72 80 93
Exam 3 Results