The Study On The Water Margin Novels

The Water Margin novels refer to the theme of the Water Margin story. It is the processing and the creation of the Water Margin story by the authors of different times. All Men Are Brothers is one of the representatives. As the great charm of All Men Are Brothers, the researchers, especially the sequels researchers customarily consider the novels of the theme of the Water Margin story after All Men Are Brothers as the sequels of All Men Are Brothers. Compared to the research on the sequels of All Men Are Brothers, the research of the Water Margin novels is a complete sense of the research on the novels of the theme of Water Margin story. It is the inheritance based on the results of previous studies and the new conversion of perspective. By the analysis of the inheritance and innovation in ideas and art of the Water Margin novels in different times, we can study the charm of the Water Margin story, the common of the evolution of different Water Margin novels and the cultural meaning and the spiritual kernel followed by the novels. In addition to the introduction and the conclusion, there are six chapters. The main structure is as follows:The introduction mainly includes the interpretation of the Water Margin novels, the history and the status of the research on the Water Margin novels, the contents, the significance, the methods of this paper and so on.The first chapter is an overview of the Water Margin novels. It briefly describes the history of the Water Margin novels and its characteristics. The Water Margin novels have their process of the occurrence and the development, after the climax, the novels haven't stopped the pace of development, and the next development is colorful. As a class of novel, the Water Margin novels have the features of the type. Their contents closely reflect the pulse of the times and the eschatology colors. Their nature more inclines to political novels.The second chapter studies the theme of the Water Margin novels. It mainly examines the sources, the types and the characteristics and discusses the enduring charm of the novels. Historical records, folklore and the Water Margin opera are all important sources of the themes of the Water Margin novels. The types of the themes are broad. They include the historical novels, the hero legends, the gods and demons novels, the worldly affairs novels and the chivalry and crime novels. The Water Margin novels contain all the types of the basic themes of the novels. Therefore, the themes of the Water Margin novels have the diversity features in the type, the content and the aesthetic. The Water Margin story is continuously interpreted by scholars and becomes a famous literary motif. The themes of the Water Margin novels have germinal and political characteristics and chivalrous charm.The third chapter is the research on the subject of the Water Margin novels, pointing out that saving the world is the purpose of the novels. It first discusses the origin and the heritage of the ancient scholars'salvation complex, and the exemplification in the novels of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. On this basis, it further finds that the Water Margin novels are actually the heritage of the ancient scholars'salvation complex. Although saving the world is the purpose of the Water Margin novels, they show different roads designing to save the world because they have different authors and times. The Past Incidents During Xuanhe Period in Song Dynasty only reveals the tendency to save the world, but has no specific way of salvation. All Men Are Brothers expresses the way of salvation of Neo-Confucian. The Sequel to the Water Margins expresses the way of salvation of the literati. After the Water Margin expresses the way of salvation of the swamp heroes. Putting down the Rebels expresses the way of salvation of the feudal rulers. And the two New Water Margin novels express the way of salvation of the restoration reformers.The fourth chapter is the research on the characters of the Water Margin novels. The chivalrous heroes are undoubtedly the most glorious moving in the novels. But in the research on the characters in the past, Song Jiang has paid much attention, but the awareness is not accurate. In All Men Are Brothers, he is actually a lonely martyr adhering to the ideal. In The Sequel to the Water Margins, he is a flawless image of the perfect person. But in Putting down the Rebels and New Water Margin, he has become an insidious villain. Because the research on Yan Qing is lack of attention, as a hero, in All Men Are Brothers he is despised. Only in The Sequel to the Water Margins, the case has been changed; Yan Qing finally deserves to be a perfect hero. The characters in the Water Margin novels mainly shape the male heroes. But because of the interaction between the works and the authors and the blend of tradition and age, in shaping the image of women, they reflect the full development and change of the female consciousness. And this is precisely the evolution and development of the characters in the Water Margin novels.The fifth chapter is the research on the plot of the Water Margin novels. The main plot of the novels pursuits of the aesthetic characteristics of tortuous, delicate, dangerous and magic. But with the changes in people's aesthetic ideas, the plot of the Water Margin novels turns to the ordinary things and the common sense and shows the new change of the aesthetic characteristics. In the art features of the novels, firstly, the plot should have aesthetic value to satisfy the readers' aesthetic expectations. Secondly, the plot highlights the thrust of the novels to save the world and sets to the service of the theme. Finally, the plot sets up the multi-level, all-round performance of the characters, displaying the development and change in the characters.The sixth chapter is the research on the structure of the Water Margin novels. It firstly analyzes the current research on the structure of the novels either into the traditional mud and unable to extricate themselves or deviation from the original intention into the western views taking the plot in the novels as the center. It also points out that only standing on the position of traditional Chinese culture, on the analysis and the studies of the viewpoint of historical development; we can have a correct understanding of the pairs of the structural characteristics in the ancient Chinese long chapter novels through the Water Margin novels. In fact, in the describing level of the structure of the Water Margin novels, it reflects the idea of the novel as a whole and shows more human common understanding on the characteristics of the world in the structure. And in the plot level, the novel reflects the local rules and layout and more authors'personality. Correspondingly, the structure of the novels has art functions such as the interpretation, the formation of narrative tension, and enhances the harmony of the works.The conclusion summarizes the content and the meaning of the study on the Water Margin novels. Through the research on the theme, the subject, the characters, the plot, the structure, etc. of the novels; let us see the inheritance and the innovation of the ideas and the artistic in the different times and the different Water Margin novels, recognizing the charm of the Water Margin story and the positive significance of the research to the current fiction study.