A Study Of The Ethical Spirit Of Chivalrous Novels In Ming And Qing Dynasties

Chivalrous novels of Ming and Qing dynasties is a monument in the Chinese kung fu novel development history, the chivalrous novels initiated and developed during this period are full of traditional ethics spirit. After popularized literature processing, the ethical spirit was manifested in characters and the plot, and widely circulated in the form of love to see and hear and influenced the folk tradition and fold customs. However, the theoretical circle has been strangely silent, and avoided the chivalrous novel, and the creation of the chivalrous novels in recent years also entered the lows. In this paper, therefore, takes more typical and representative chivalrous novels during Ming and Qing dynasties ("Water Margin", "Three Heroes and Five Gallants", "the biography of the heroic youth", "The cases of Shigong", "Biography of Green Peony", "Seven swordsmen and thirteen knights", "The Wizard of Oz", etc.) as the research objects, under the perspective of ethics, takes the important ethical spirit of chivalrous novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties as benevolence, righteousness, faith, filial piety, loyalty, patriotism, and care for the people, conclude and unscramble into three aspects as interpersonal ethics, political ethics, and family ethics, and discusses the limitations and modern value of the ethical spirit.The paper begins with the concept of chivalrous, makes the definition and scope of chivalrous novels of Ming and Qing dynasties, and combs three stages of development of the chivalrous novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties, discusses the important influence of ethics on its development; With the three aspects of "benevolence", "righteousness" and "faith", surrounding knight-errant’s culture, style and principles in treating people and doing things showing in the chivalrous novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties, to parse the containing social ethical spirit; Combined with the traditional political ethics, from three angles as "being loyal to the Sovereign", "totally implicit in the city", "concerned about the country and people", to parse the political ethics spirit contained in the chivalrous novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties; With the father and son (daughter) relationship, the mother and son (daughter) relationship, the conjugal relationship as the foothold, to parse the containing family ethics spirit. Show the core and the practice of filial piety ethics, and research the changes of the conjugal ethics.Through the above research, this paper solves the problems that what are the limitations and the contemporary value of ethical spirit in chivalrous novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The thought of authors of chivalrous novels of Ming and Qing dynasties was restricted by the era environment, should inevitably have some content deviate from the modern spiritual civilization, for these content, we must have a critical view. On the other hand, the ethical spirit of chivalrous novels in the Ming and Qing dynasties also has many beneficial components to today’s society: firstly, the faithful principle of doing things, the friendly style of treating people, and selfless dedication spirit are beneficial to carry forward the traditional virtue; secondly, the love for the people and the country, is conducive to express feelings of home and country; finally, the authors’ moral responsibility and the spirit quality, is advantageous to the rich literary ethics.