Research On Shisan Mei In The Story Of Heroes And Heroines

The transformation from a chivalrous heroine to a virtuous wife of Shisan Mei in the novel The Story of Heroes and Heroines , to a certain extent, weakens her character of errantry, but her transformation is understandable, and her character is consistent. Through comparison with the popular heroine image Hua Mulan, The reason that why Shisan Mei is so controversial is her transformation to a traditional woman who follows the feudal Confucian ethics but not to a modern woman who seeks for liberty and independence. The social nature and ethos have changed after the "May 4th", so the readers' horizon of expectation have changed and most of the readers appreciate the modern female. In the Chinese chivalry culture, swordswoman images has a transformation from chivalrous swordswoman to justicial heroine, and to emotional swordswoman. Contrasting the images of swordswoman in prevenient works with Shisan Mei, it shows Shisan Mei's transformations from pursuing liberty and independence to following the feudal Confucian ethics; from learning metaphysics and magical power to inheriting family kung-fu; from being passionless to being emotional; from being reclusive at last to returning to family finally. In the later Chinese operas and films which are about Shisan Mei, the reshape of Shisan Mei gave it modern element, made it more popular than before.