Celebrating the emotional self: Feng Meng-lung and late Ming ethics and aesthetics

The broad goal of this dissertation is to look for clues about both changes in ideas and intellectual continuity in late Ming (1368-1644) China, and to study their possible associations with other contemporary phenomena. The narrower goal is to investigate the historical meaning of the discourse on self and ch'ing (human emotional responses to particular circumstances) at the juncture of late Ming popular and elite cultures. At the centerpiece of my study are the discussions of the relationships between men and women, self and society, ch'ing and li (reason; pattern; principle), and meanings and expressions in Feng Meng-lung's (1574-1646) popular literature.;The study explores two worlds: the world in which Feng Meng-lung lived, and the world Feng Meng-lung created. In the first three chapters I discuss the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of Chiang-nan (the lower Yangtze valley); the "individualistic" and "romantic" search of philosophers, writers, and artists for an authentic self; and the dichotomy of ch'ing and li in social and intellectual dimensions. In the last two chapters I analyze how Feng employed wit and humor to satirize human folly and social ailments--violation of ch'ing--in his anthologies Hsiao-fu (Treasury of Jokes), T'an-kai (Survey of Talk), and Chih-nang (Sack of Wisdom); and how he advocated genuine feelings and chivalrous action--embodiment of ch'ing--in his collections of folk and popular songs Kua-chih erh (Hanging Twigs) and Shan-ko (Hill Songs), collection of vernacular short stories San-yen (Three Words), and anthology of Chinese love stories Ch'ing-shih (History of Love).;Late Ming China was a favorable milieu for the rise of popular vernacular literature and unorthodox thinking, perhaps due to urbanization and commercialization, loss of central control over cultural values and social regulations, gloomy prospect of political careers for the elite, and a high literacy rate. The result was more multifarious culture and society. Feng Meng-lung was both a product and producer of this trend.