A Study Of "Matchmaker" Image Of Scholar Beauty Novels In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

As a special literature type in Chinese literary history, Scholar Beauty Novel experienced the golden age of the text research in the 1980s. However, researchers at that time mostly focused on some famous work or macroscopic questions with little emphasis on microcosmic questions, let alone the concrete Scholar Beauty, which indicates that the research pattern is imbalanced at that time. Based on this background, the author aims to study the image of"Matchmaker"in Scholar Beauty Novels from a microcosmic angle to explore it's cultural implication.This thesis is divided into three parts with the introduction and the conclusion included.The introduction mainly focuses on describing the historical and present situation of the Scholar Beauty Novels, analyzing significance of the research on"Matchmaker". After collecting the literature, the study history, the present state and the limitations of the Scholar Beauty Novels will be presented. Then, through understanding the concept and the connotation of the"culture",the author will display the importance of exploring the deep cultural implication of the Scholar Beauty Novels.Chapter 1 involves examining the origin and development of Matchmaker. According to the origins of the word meaning and the myth, the literature source and development of the Matchmaker will be analyzed. Social meaning of the Matchmaker will also be analyzed to show the particularity and the importance of the Matchmaker as an organic component.Chapter 2 is about analyzing and classifying the images of the Matchmaker, according to which the deep cultural implication is found out. Through comparing different images of Matchmaker in some representative Scholar Beauty Novels, the author shows the attitudes toward people's affection and marriage. And the development of Chinese ancient culture is also presented through the analysis of different images of the Matchmaker. Consequently, we can study the Chinese ancient cultural development. Finally, based on the Ming and Qing Dynasties'social and historical background, the author explores the Scholar Beauty Novels from a culture- historical angle to find out the deeper connotation. Chapter 3 is related to the influence of the image of Matchmaker on the future novel composition. Scholar Beauty Novels do not only provide rich"Matchmaker"source materials to later love novels ,but also make later writers pay more attention to the Matchmaker—a very important character image, whose influence is obviously presented in A Dream of Red Mansions especially. In this chapter,the author takes A Dream of Red Mansions as an example to research the study inheritance and reform of the Matchmaker images.The conclusion concludes the significance of the Matchmaker in sociology and matrimony and its important role in the love novels, which further summarizes the cultural significance of the image of Matchmaker.In summary, the research results of"Matchmaker"are rare in the former literary work, with few articles involved. Therefore, the strength and depth of this research should be enhanced. This article aims at the research blank to seek the cultural implication in order to make it become the organic link of the research of the Scholar Beauty Novels.