| From the times of king Jiaqing and King Daoguang to that of King Tongzhi and King Guangxu in Qing Dynasty, the most ovtstanding phenomenon of novel development was the conflvence of chivalrous novels and case novels, which produced the chivalrous novels of the legal cases. The representation of their highest achievement was the novel "San Xia Wu Yi".The author of "San xia Wu Yi" was the famous storyteller and singer Shi YuKun in Qing Dynasty. There was a long process of the book's completion. The origin was the case operas about Bao Gong's settlement of lawsuits in Yuan Dynasty. Shi YuKun collected 73 stories of Bao Gong which had been spreaded widely in the previous dynasties and named the book "Long Tu Gong An". The book was then changed to "Long Tu Er Lu" by Wen Liang and some other writers. Wen Zhu Zhu Ren changed "Long Tu Er Lu" to "Zhong Lie Xia Yi Zhuan" which was also called "San Xia Wu Yi": In the 5th year of Guang Xu, "San Xia Wu Yi" was renamed "Qi Xia Wu Yi" by Yu Yue; Both of them were popoular at that time. The main continuations of "San Xia Wu Yi" were "Xiao Wu Yi" and "The Continuation of Xiao Wu Yi". The plots of the two continuations were in one continuous line with "San Xia Wu Yi" and were considered sister books of it."San Xia Wu Yi" was developed on the base of "Bao Gong An" and other case novels. The inheritance and development embodied in the content of the stories and the ways of trying cases. First, for the content of the stories, "San Xia Wu Yi" renewed the traditional stories, which made the plot more complicated and more attractive. It mainly described some important cases which related to the upper class, so Bao Gong had morepolitical responsibility in this novel. Second, for the ways of trying cases, tries by people's experience, wisdom and investigation took the place of the place of the strang and miracle tries by gods; judging by appearance and subjecting suspects by severe torture was replaced by judging according to facts and public observation and private investigation.The main characters hi "San Xia Wu Yi" were upright officials represented by Bao Gong and his knights. Compared with other upright officals and knights in previous literary works, they had some new features. Bao Gong in "San Xia Wu Yi" had more human nature but less god's nature; he was more smart but less stubborn. Compared with paradins in Han Dynasty and Gallants in Tang Dynasty, the living space the official knights in "San Xia Wu Yi" changed from the wide world to the imperial court; their ideals changed from uphold justice to performing exploits; the characteristics of their feelings changed from personal loyalty to loyalty to their master. There were three reasons for these changes. First, Paradins and gallants showed scholars' ideas, while official knights reflected common people's pursuit. Second, as the society became more systematical, illegal knights could hardly gain a place in society. Third, common people expected the knights not only to help the poor and punish the evil but also to obey the rule of the government.The essence of the confluence of chivalrous novels and case novels was the association of the protagonists of the two types of novels, i.e, the alliance of upright officials and knights. What was the reason for this? First, it was because of culture tyranny and yulgar commerce. Second, there were a olt of obstacles when upright officials investigated a case, so they always expected the knights to help them. The association of them was an ideal pattern in people's rnind at that time. Third, the fact that the knights'living environment was becoming worse and worse was the practical foudation of their going and seeking refuge with upright officials.Fourth, their responsibilities were similar. Fifth, the knights always respected upright officials. Sixth, the popularity of repaying the debf of gratitude for the appreciation of the upright officials made the knights loyal and devoted.In the chivalrous novels of the legal cases, upright officials and knights see... |
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