The Comparative Study About The Images Of Nong Zhigao Appeared In Four Different Kinds Of Texts

The uprising of Nong Zhigao during the Song dynasty is an important historical event. Since that time, this event has been written about in many Chinese government documents. Nong Zhigao is also a character in Zhuang folklore, and has become an important research object in Zhuang history and culture since the founding of the New China. Western scholars have also completed a number of studies on Nong Zhigao. This dissertation divides all the texts about Nong Zhigao into four groups: the historical documents written mainly by Han Chinese during imperial times, the research completed in New China, the studies of contemporary western scholars, and the folklore common throughout the Zhuang region. It then conducts a comparative study on the four groups of text, and shows that they present noticeable differences in Nong's image.This dissertation, drawn from the theories of Structuralism and Narratology, conducts a detailed reading of the texts, analyzes the words and expressions, the hierarchical relationships and the plot, and in doing so explores the reasons behind these different Nong's images, and hopefully reveals patterns which might answer how the images are constructed. This dissertation hopes to accomplish this mission by analyzing the texts based on such theories as Imagologie study, New Historicism and Reception Aesthetics.The purpose of the study is to reveal the diverse images of Nong that exist in the different texts, to explore the causes and reasons that these images are contracted, to find out the powers that influenced or manipulated how the various texts were constructed, and to realize the cultural characteristics and limitations of the text makers. This kind of study can make a significant contribution in terms of eliminating ethnocentrism, transcending the bondage of regionalism and stressing the importance of cultural self-examination.