On Man-ghost Matrimony In Song Dynasty Classical Fictions

There have been few efforts to put into the researches on Song Dynasty classical fictions-- man-ghost matrimony love depicted in them. As I have observed, so far neither a book nor a paper of fairly high quality has been published with references to this theme. Therefore, this article endeavors to fill in the gap in fiction researches whose coverage ranges from the Tang Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties.This thesis carries out its researches from two perspectives: fiction framework and subject matter types.The so-called man-ghost matrimony refers to love and marriage between human beings and immortals or ghosts. While such things are imaginary and actually do not come to pass in the real world, they reflect the social realities of the time when they were written and have deeply embedded socio-cultural reasons. Rooted in these stories are the social realities of the time and people's view of love, aesthetic and family, which are very rich in content. Man-ghost matrimony, when examined from a literary perspective, is a theme that recurred time and again in Song Dynasty classical fiction and, to a certain degree, represents the culmination of Song Dynasty classical fiction in terms of literary accomplishments. I intend to start from this point and investigate the abundant socio-cultural elements contained and the structural types, literary achievements, and status of Song Dynasty classical fiction in the history of Chinese literature.Precisely, this paper will probe into the following areas:First, a summary will be made regarding the emergence, origin, literary achievements and features of pre-Song man-ghost matrimony stories on the basis of ample ancient materials collected. Then, I will proceed to straighten out, in sequence of time, the various documents concerning man-ghost matrimony in books of legends and bizarre stories, anecdotage, and poem collections that were written in the Song Dynasty. After that, a brief comment will be made on books of legends and bizarre stories written in the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties, such as Discussion of Trivialities, A Big Collection in the Mansion of Cloud, and Records of Foreigners. At the end, I will come to the conclusion that the multiplicity of Song man-ghost matrimony stories is far greater than that of the Six Dynasties period and the Tang Dynasty combined, constituting a unique landscape in Song classical fiction writing. To make it easier to recognize, the author has categorized the various stories in about 20 pages and 13 cases.Secondly, I will do a socio-cultural study on Song man-ghost matrimony stories. This part introduces the socio-cultural background of the flourishing of man-ghost matrimony stories and explores the influences that Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism had on them, concluding that the complex social conditions, the prevalence of the customs of "marrying" ghosts and immortals, and witchcraft and superstition all lent themselves to the prospering of man-ghost love stories.Thirdly, a textual study of Song man-ghost matrimony stories. I will, on the basis of story types and thematic types, classify the stories concerned into three types, i.e. man-immortal, man-ghost, and man-goblin love stories, according to the story type each one belongs to. I believe the love depicted between man and immortals, which appears so fine, romantic, and beautiful, is both Song people's idealization of their realistic love and marriage and manifestation of their efforts to complement what their marriages lack in real life by counting on visionary, free love. And the women in man-immortal relationships who once again become mortals are indicative of their grievances and indignation of the mishaps they met in their life. In man-goblin relationships, the constant increase of accounts of love between man and the spirits of animals or plants indicates virious deviant ways writers write about love—love that was repressed and intervened by feudal norms, reflecting in an indirect way certain sexual fantasy and marital ideology. Taoists are omnipresent in the stories, wishing on the one hand to influence people's concepts of love through their didactic preaching and on the other hand to deify Taoism through the spreading of man-ghost matrimony stories.Fourthly, an artistic study of man-ghost matrimony stories. Observed artistically, Song man-ghost matrimony stories conspicuously manifest themselves in such representational works as Discussion of Trivialities, A Big Collection in the Mansion of Cloud, and Records of Foreigners. This thesis has done an in-depth analysis of the structures and narrative modes of the works and pointed out that the peculiarities, combined with veracity and the particular descriptive manner of history, led to the superb accomplishments of the stories. The lively description of characters, the sharp contrast in personalities, and the integrity, sinuosity, and exuberance of details in the plots, are all exceptional innovations. Further, the interweaving of poems in the stories makes the latter poetic and imagistic while simultaneously pushes the plots forward. The third person narrative, the primary mode of narration in Song classical fictions, constructs an authentic artistic atmosphere, thus demonstrating Song writers' proficiency in narration. From time to time, a new perspective is added into the narrative process. This is a step forward and an innovation in Song fiction writing.Fifthly, influence of Song man-ghost matrimony stories. The Song man-ghost matrimony stories, either as a whole or as single cases, have had great bearings on generations to follow. This paper has compared the details of these stories and those of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio and found out that at 13 cases are similar to the latter in plot, structure, content, characters, etc. A case study has been done with regard to this respect. The author has also reinstated the artistic value of Song man-ghost matrimony stories from other angles. The author's great success in stories of love between man and the spirits of flower or of the fox shows how important it is to borrow from one's predecessors and how more important it is to make innovations. The Song man-ghost matrimony stories are autonomous in and of themselves. They enclose profound ideas and thoughts and represent a high standard of artistic creation. We should affirm the accomplishments they achieved and admit that their important position in the history of Chinese literature is undeniable. As an integral genre to Chinese classical fiction, the singularity, imaginativeness, vividness and the narrative style of the Song man-ghost matrimony stories have laid solid groundwork for the success of works such as Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. The perseverance in the pursuit of love reflected in these stories has had a significance that is not to be underestimated in the evolution of the Chinese civilization.