Genres: Chuan Qi versus Huaben - Term Paper Example

Genres: Chuan qi versus Huaben In Chinese literature, the two genres of Chuan qi and Huaben share a rich Chinese heritage and history that contribute to their making, but the two styles have several areas where they differ. The Chuan qi, also spelled Ch’uan-ch’I, is a genre from the T’ang dynasty, dating from 618 - 684, and 705 - 907 A.D., with the later T’ang dynasty dating from 923 - 936 A.D. During the Tang era, the conventional method of presenting stories of prose was changed into a fully developed form of fictional literature, and given the name Chuan qi, meaning transmitting accounts of remarkable events. Most of the Chuan qi stories involved some aspect of the supernatural, and often involved humans interacting with supernatural creatures and spirits. The Chuan qi genre is only one of the five forms of fictional Chinese literature, and has four thematic story groups within it, those being historical stories, supernatural stories, stories of knighthood and errantry, and love stories. The love stories of the genre deal with the acts of keeping faith and breaking faith. A creature of another realm could attain human form and gain its liberty by keeping faith with a human; likewise, a human who broke faith with a spirit entity could take on bestial habits and become beasts themselves. The idea behind the two was that one could not happen without the other; there was an even exchange that took place, and as long each participant offered something essential, no retribution took place. But, if one party broke the equation or the exchange, the situation became serious. The moral being that a balance was always to be maintained.1 (Pg.518). T’ang writers brought about the Chuan qi style at a time when the neoclassical movement in prose created a steady foundation for story narration. T’ang subject matter and literary material was taken from the rich, invigorating, cultural livelihood of the big city. Writers of the Chuan qi stories were mostly well-educated men who gathered in the capital city trying to make a name for themselves through either fame or through political advancement. While the Chuan qi genre of story telling often employs elements of the supernatural, the writers tried to tell interesting stories that were straight forward, and devoid of flowery poetic language. Supernatural events occur alongside human interaction, instead of replacing it, and city workers and dwellers are depicted in their everyday lives. Chuan qi stories can be described as tales of the marvelous, and are usually written in the classical language of wen-yen, under the Confucian ideology. The style makes a conscious effort to develop individual, believable characters, such as employing a narrator as an historian, who is also a witness to the event. The genre is known for its concise and semi objective style of presentation, very often uses the national city or capital city as a setting. Through out Chuan qi stories, the reader is confronted with secondary poems that make textual statements about what has just occurred or about what is going to occur. Finally, Chuan qi stories tend to end with traditional teaching commentaries whose purpose it is to sum up the moral of the story. As popular as these literary items were, many of these story telling features disappear after the T’ang period, and give way to the onset of realism in Chinese fiction during later periods. Huaben is another term for story, and is often translated as Note from the Talk. The genre is written in vernacular language, making it easily read and understandable. Like the Chuan qi stories of the Tang era, the Huaben style of literature falls under the Confucian ideology, and often deals with karmic retribution, meaning what goes around comes around. Efforts to incorporate morality teachings into the writings comes into play. This, in a way, is similar to the keeping faith/breaking faith love stories of the Chuan qi, where a natural order or balance is meant to be kept. The Huaben genre is associated with the Ming dynasty of 1368-1644, and the Southern Ming Dynasty of 1644-1648. Its style elements include the use of familiar words alongside old fashioned words or terms, the use of rhyming passages, the use of local-color, the use of poems for narrative or descriptive purposes, the use of a preamble before the actual story begins, and a comprehensive attention to details. Huaben was popular and vital until the end of the 17th century. After that, Huaben underwent several changes, such as a decrease in the usage of colloquialisms, rhyming passages, and secondary poems. Towards the end of the Ming period, usage of preambles as introductions becomes more formalized and structured in later Huaben literary works, and some preambles are even treated as stories unto themselves. Huaben writing became very polished and overly stylized as time goes on, making it easily accessible to the public. Eventually, towards the end of the Ming period, the quality of the huaben genre suffered, due to mass change, mass production and mass demand. In comparing the stories that fall under these two genres of writing, the first thing to take notice of is the way that the stories begin. The Faithless Lover immediately goes right into the story, introducing the major characters to the reader in the first paragraph. The difference in story tempo is also noticeable. There are no long, drawn out explanations as to what has or is about to happen. The delivery is concise and to the point. In Tu Shih-Niang Sinks The Jewel Box In Anger, the story begins with a preamble that acts both as an introduction to the story, and as a tribute to the capital founded at Yen-ching, describing it from each geographical direction so as to capture the immensity of its borders. Secondly, Tu Shih-Niang Sinks The Jewel Box In Anger is riddled with small poetic passages through the text that continuously reiterate what the author has just expressed. This makes the story much longer in length than The Faithless Lover, and at times, tiring to read. For instance, when the story tells us of the courtesan, Tu Wei, we are given eight lines of poetry to describe her beauty. The disciplined, concise manner of the past no longer exists, and in its place is, what can only be described as, flatulent writing to make a meager point. Likewise in The Pearl Shirt Reencountered, a preamble occurs at the beginning of the story, followed by a lengthy explanation of its meaning. This method of incorporating a moral lesson into various points of the story is very characteristic of the Huaben style. Also characteristic is the use of poetic passages to make a literary point, and in reading them, one cannot help but notice the change in language usage and tone brought about by the poems. It’s almost as if the narrator of the story were being interrupted by a second voice. The Chuan qi story of The Pearl Vest is straightforward and resourceful in words, as is the equivalent story The Faithless Lover. As readers, we are immediately introduced to Chu and his wife, the main characters, without being bogged down by heavy, weighty details. Chuan qi gives us a sentence or two to fill in back story or character and plot, unlike the Huaben method, which provides paragraphs of explanation. It is safe to say that when one reads both styles of writing, Chuan qi seems to be almost a summarization of the longer version found in Huaben, even though the shorter, concise style of Chuan qi precedes Huaben by several hundred years. Obviously, in the midst of literature spreading from the end of the Tang Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the need for complex explanation arose in literature, perhaps even, as a result of the shift from the classical language of wen-yen to another. Whatever occurred clearly affected not only the length of the stories being told, but their character as well. When we look at Tu Shih-Niang Sinks The Jewel Box In Anger compared to The Faithless Lover, we can appreciate, as readers, the credibility given to Master Li and Tu Shih-Niang. The dialog of the genre is easily understood and familiar to the reader’s eyes. The author tells us just what we need to know to move through the story line. In Tu Shih-Niang Sinks The Jewel Box In Anger, the need to moralize ad nauseum draws the story out, almost to a point of disinterest. While both Chuan qi and Huaben styles have aspects of morality in their stories, the reader is most likely able to enjoy Chuan qi stories more due to the conservative usage of morality text. In The Pearl Vest, the lesson behind the story of the Chu merchant and his wife is a brief two lines at the end of the tale. Morality in the Pearl Shirt Reencountered, however, the lessons abound. We are told, “ Of all the sad occasions in the world, none matches that of parting or separation through death.” 2 (Pg. 267). And again we are told “ If there is a bond between them, the two will meet across a thousand li. Without a bond, they will not meet, though face to face.” 3 (Pg 269). The Pearl Shirt Reencountered is not only written in the Huaben style, it is representative of a type of story about the reunited couple. In Huaben literature, any time an unforeseen force causes a separation, the couple always maintains hope of being reunited. Sometimes, in the face of a strong, authoritative force, the couple will act defiantly, even at the risk of their own lives. 4 (Pg.249). In The Pearl Shirt Reencountered, the reuniting of San-ch’iao and her husband, Chiang Hsing-ko is morally acceptable in the end, and is represented by the presence of the pearl shirt. Huaben literature also contains stories that fall under the description of the heartless lover, 5 (Pg. 137) and this defines Tu Shih-Niang Sinks The Jewel Box In Anger. What we learn from this story is that practicality is often preferred to and rewarded over the ideals of marriage. Li Chia betrays Tu Shih, who then betrays him in turn, and we as readers are shown a different approach to the subject of romance, marriage and honor, and made aware of the changing social values and aspirations of the times, as modern thought advanced and gained a larger presence in literary ideals and works. In conclusion, whatever differences exist between the Chuan qi and Huaben styles; Chinese literature has continued to make its statement about the ideals of balance and morality in everyday life. WORKS CITED 1.Ma, Y. & Lau, J., Editors, Traditional Chinese stories: themes and variations, Cheng & Tsui Company, 1986 2. Liu, W. & Wu-Chi, L., Editors, An Introduction to Chinese Literature Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990 3. Chen, P. & Dilley, W., Editors, Critical Studies Volume 18 Feminism and Femininity in Chinese Literature Rodopi, Amsterdam & New York 2002 4. Owen, E., An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginning to 1911 W.W.Norton & Co., New York & London 1996 REFERENCES 1. Edward Stephen Owen, An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginning to 1911, (New York & London: W.W. Norton & Co., 1996) 518 2. Yau-Woon Ma, Joseph S. M. Lau, Traditional Chinese stories: themes and variations (Cheng & Tsui Company) 267 3. Ibid; Pg. 269 4. Ibid. Pg. Pg. 249 5. Ibid. Pg. 137 Read More