Spirit and Self in Medieval China : : The Shih-shuo hsin-yu and Its Legacy / / Nanxiu Qian.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Asian Studies Backlist (2000-2014) eBook Package
• VerfasserIn: Qian, Nanxiu,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [2001]; ©2001
• Year of Publication: 2001
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (536 p.)

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 (about A.D. 150-420). Despite a general recognition of the place of the Shih-shuo hsin-yu 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 Shin-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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Figures -- Acknowledgments -- Chinese Dynasties -- Japanese Periods Involved in the Japanese Shih-shuo Imitations -- Introduction -- 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 -- Chapter 2. Character Appraisal and the Formation of Wei-Chin Spirit -- Chapter 3. Shih-shuo t'i: A Sui Generis Genre -- Part 2. The Narrative Art of the Shih-shuo hsin-yü -- Chapter 4. Between Order and Disorder: The Shih-shuo Taxonomy of Human Nature -- Chapter 5. Using Body to Depict Spirit: The Shih-shuo Characterization of "Persons" -- Part 3. Discontinuity along the Line of Continuity: Imitations of the Shih-shuo hsin-yü -- Chapter 6. Body and Heart: T'ang and Sung Imitations -- Chapter 7. Things and Intent: Ming and Ch'ing Imitations -- Chapter 8. Milk and Scent: Women Shih-shuo -- Chapter 9. An Alien Analogue: The Japanese Imitation Daitō seigo -- Chapter 10. New and Old: The Last Wave of Shih-shuo Imitations -- Conclusion: The Self and the Mirror -- Notes -- Glossary -- Selected Bibliography -- Index