Shiye And Novels Of Qing Dynasty

Shiye (i.e. private adviser ) is a rankless assistant hired or engaged by an official who is in charge in a local government to help with various administrative affairs. As a new occupation, Shiye sprouted in the middle and late period of Ming Dynasty and blossomed in Qing Dynasty. Quite a number of scholars have made abundant achievements by investigating the cultural phenomenon of Shiye from the perspectives of history, law and sociology, but little attention has been paid to the relationship between Shiye and literature, novels in particular. In actual fact, a lot of phenomena are worth our investigation in terms of the relationship between Shiye and novels of Qing Dynasty. In view of the aforesaid, the author thinks it of some significance to select this subject for discussion.With"Shiye and novels of Qing Dynasty"as the object of study, this thesis involves the origin of Shiye, the images of Shiye in the novels, Shiyes'creation of novels, and the typicality of Shiye images. It consists of four chapters, of which the main contents are briefed as follows:Chapter One traces the origin of Shiye historically, analysing the relationship between Shiye and the traditional system of Mufu ( office of commanding general in ancient China), discussing the reasons why the Shiyes in Qing Dynasty were vocationalized, explaining the make-up of those who worked as private advisers, introducing the course of learning to be engaged in this line, and thus outlining Shiyes'occupational characteristics.Chapter Two produces the images of Shiyes in the novels of Qing Dynasty. Among such a great variety of Shiyes, the criminal consultant, the correspondence secretary and the accounting assistant are most recognized by the world, and therefore the three types of Shiye images are stressed in this chapter. The relationship between Shiye as an administrative assistant and official circles can be seen mainly from that between Shiye and the official he works for. Quite a lot of description in the novels of Qing Dynasty is given to the latter relationship, from which we can understand what a special status Shiyes possessed and what an important role they played in the local administration of the dynasty. In addition, the shiyes'romances corresponding to the official circles are also covered in my study.Chapter Three centers around the Shiyes'creation of novels. On one hand, many Shiyes are written about; on the other hand, they themselves write novels in their spare time. They are both participants and on-lookers in the official circiles. That special standpoint brings distinguished features to their works in sharp contrast with those of the other contemporary writers of different status, thus presenting us with a new approach to an objective overall understanding of Qing Dynasty. Stress should be placed on the following elements: Shiyes'original view of imperial examination halls and official circles, the reality of their detective novels in classical Chinese, and their portrayal, as Shiyes, of themselves and their peers in their novels concerning Shiyes, which are all distinctive contributions shiye novelists made to the novels of Qing Dynasty.Chapter four discusses the establishment of the typicality of Shiye images. In the novels of Qing Dynasty, the occupational personalities, mentality and community culture which originally existed in the Shiye group are artistically processed,and through depiction and exaggeration they are presented to the readers as typical personalities, mentality and characters. The typicality not only influences the public's tendency and habit of thinking but is also an essential label that later generations put on Shiye when they appraise them and an important part of Shiye culture.