| This dissertation has two focuses: one is the Jingnan Event in the early Ming Dynasty; the other is the literary works based on the event in Ming and Qing Dynasty.The dissertation is divided into of four chapters.Chapter One, "History of Jiangnan Event", with Jinagnan, Dangjin (demolishing of political dissenters), Gaizheng (rectification), Gechu (abolishment) and Xunguo (abdication) as the key words, gives a brief introduction to the proceeding of the event and its social effects, the change of the historical evaluation of the event, and various legends about Emperor Jianwen.Jingnan Event is about how the Prince of Yan, a governor of Peiping at that time, rebelled against Emperor Jianwen and overthrowed his reign to become the emperor himself thereafter. Jingnan Battle (1399-1402) was virtually one within the royalty fighting for the kingship. In order to cover up his usurpation, the new Emperor Yong-le massacred all the courtiers royal to Emperor Jianwen right after the internal feud. He also recompiled T'ai-tsu Shi Lu twice, attempting to establish the legimitaion of his succession by revising and forging the historical records of the event. Jingnan Event left a great impact on the You-ming generation. First of all, the Jingnan Battle changed the royal pedigree* The thirteenth and forthteenth kings from Hong-xi to Ch'ung-chen period were descendents of Emperor Yong-le while Emperor Jianwen's lineage, a lineal descent of Ming T'ai-tsu, collapsed. Also, the death of Fang Xiao-ru, who was regarded as the founder of Ming doctrines, shattered the confidence of the literary intelligentsia of Ming in any regime based on Confucianism.Emperor Jianwen, though he lost the throne, left a deep imprint in the history by his four-year reign. He tried to amend the cruel laws enacted by Ming T'ai-tsu and correct his defects in the political and economic policies, and thus won a good fame. His whereabouts after the civil war were unknown. It was generally accepted by the people that he went into exile and lived through the hardships of life even though the government claimed that he burned himself. Those officials and literati who remained royal to Emperor Jian-wen and refused to collaborate with the new emperor incurred an extermination of their families. Many innocent families were implicated in the event and were forced to leave their hometowns or sent into exile. Many of the noble but tragic stories fill people of later generations with fear and respect.As the legitimation of Emperor's imperial power did not allow open oppugnation, Emperor Yong-le's usurpation and retroaction were not exposed and criticizedwithin a long period of time. Although the demolishing of the political dissenters was stopped after Emperor Yong-le's death, the royal pedigree remained to be the delicate ground where no one feared to tread. Therefore, it was a long process to put right the historical evaluation of the event. In fact the whole process lasted until Nan-Ming, which included the change in the court's attitude toward the courtiers of Emperor Janwen, the proposal of renewing the memoirs of Jianwen period, and monarch's honorific title. And all the rectification schemes, such as resuming the legitimacy of Emperor Jinawen and rewriting the historical records of that period, could only be put forward without touching on the legitimation of Emperor Yong-le's purple.Chapter Two and Chapter Three discuss the literary rescripts of the Jingnan Event, put forward some detailed analyses of the mythoi and characters of the existing fictions or dramas based on the event in both Ming and Qing dynasty, and explore the relationship between the literary works and the times when they were created. The historiographical revisions of Jingnan Event showed itself as a frequent rewriting process, circling around how to define the nature of the event in itself and the moral appraise of people involved. The revisions ranged from private historiography, unofficial historical notes and legends, to Ming History of the Qing Dynasty. Jingnan Eve...
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