Ming And Qing Yi On Behalf Of The Changes And Then The Novel

This is a study of the Chinese vernacular short story's transformation during the early Qing dynasty (1644-1683), based on the research of Ming-Qing dynastic transition history. To some extent, the early Qing vernacular short story's changes, its contribution to this genre are both connected with the revolutionary changes of its times. The writers broke through the traditional expression methods, because the traditional form cannot meet their expectations to present the turbulent period and its political, socioeconomic and cultural changes. The crisis in political and social order is a major impetus for the writers to conform to the new conditions.The witers who lived in the Ming-Qing transition period contemplated the dynastic transition history and the status quo through their works. Their contemplation focused on the morality. Qingye zhong and Zuixing shi are two representative collections of that times. As the early Qing vernacular short story's common characteristics, the moral angle and concern manifested the writers' social responsibilities. It was simultaneous with the reconstruction of the moral order in early Qing period, which was symbolized by 'gongguo ge' (the ledgers of merit and demerit).As a key writer, Li Yii's life and works reflected the tremendous change in almost all spheres of life in Ming-Qing transition China. His experiences help us understand the early Qing writers' existing surroundings and their writings' background. Meanwhile, in the Ming-Qing transition context, we compared Li Yii's unique lifeway with that of his contemporary counterparts in order to discover the scholars' survival way as soon as they encountered the dynastic transition dilemma. Sequently, we analysed the innovation of Li Yii's short stories, including: its distinct individual marks, its comedic style and his self-image, his preference for morality, his 'moral comedy' - its basic form, narrative method, structure specialities, the chuanqi (drama) and bagu wen's influence, its formal reform, language success, etc.. Li Yii's vernacular short story is not only unique, but a connecting link between the preceding and the following during the vernacular short story history.Li Yii changed the vernacular short story's traditional form. His innovative attempt in Shier lou (Twelve Pavilion) foreshowed the superstructure 'dou peng' in Doupeng xianhua. Ai Na created the exclusive superstructure to express his profound thought safely. The superstructure increased the narrative levels, revealed the hidden meanings, and reinforced the tensions among the stories. Ai Na's creation modified the vernacular short story's form and the traditional conceptions of the genre established by Sanyan. His innovation indicated that the vernacular short story's form has great potential to express the theme and contents perfectly. Ai Na's works challenged the readers' obstinate reading custom, extended the vernacular short story's scope as well. In fact, Doupeng xianhua foretold the dawn of Chinese modern fiction.Comparing with the vernacular short stories in the late Ming period, those in the early Qing entered a new phase - the writers' individual consciousness and the works' distinct style are quite apparent. The vernacular short stories in the early Qing times paid much attention to the dynastic transition history, the status quo and the formal innovation, which endowed themselves with the obvious literati's value. It means that the works' view, style, and aesthetic taste all belonged to the literati's value system, even though the stuff-material and contents were all popular. To this extent, the vernacular short stories of the early Qing period can be regarded as literary works.