A Discussion On The Development Of Arts And Popular Novels In The Ming And Qing Dynasty Costume Description

Garment description is an important artistic means to create characters. From the history of ancient Chinese fiction, we can see that this artistic means had gone through a process associated with the individualization of character. By the time of Ming and Qing dynasties, it had made great progress. In "A Historical Novel of Three Kingdoms", garment description was stylized fixed, while in "The Outlaws of the Marsh", it began to transit to realistic method. By the time of "Jin Ping Mei", a breakthrough was made in realistic garment description. In "A Dream of Red Mansions" and "The Scholars", garment description showed both multiple and individualized characteristics. Garment description in the popular norvels in Ming and Qing dynasties had gone though a process of development which can be divided into four stages: starting stage, gradual change stage, transitional stage and the summit stage. Exploring this process can help us understand the development and functions of this artistic means and inspire contemporary fiction creations.This paper consists of three parts:Introductory part clarifies the significance of the theme, its present research situation, author's basic view and research methods.The main body part contains five chapters.Chapter I traces back the three origins of garment description in popular fictions in Ming and Qing dynasties according to a chronicle order. The three origins are as follows:The elaborate method of garment description in poems;The brief sketch of garment to convey the spirit of the characters in the tales of marvels in Tang Dynasty;The combination of rhymes and unrhymed sentences in garment descriptions in stories integrated with chanted parts and early scripts for story-telling.From the aspect of individualization of garment description, Chapter II to Chapter V make a general survey of the artistic development of garment description in popular fictions in Ming and Qing dynasties and the associated cultural connotation reflected in these descriptions.Represented by "A Historical Novel of Three Kingdoms", Chapter II illustrates the starting stage of garment description in the popular novels in Ming and Qing dynasties: garment description has stylized and fixed characteristics;Chapter III explains the gradual change of garment description. This stage is represented by "The Outlaws of the Marsh". It is a transitional period for garment description began to change from a stylized and fixed method to a realistic one.Chapter IV focuses on the transitional stage ofgarment description. "Jin Ping Mei" became a new starting point of realistic garment description method.Chapter V explores the summit stage of garment description .As representatives of this stage , "A Dream of Red Mansions" and "The Scholars" made achievements in individualization of garment description based on realistic foundation.Conclusion part is a summary of the paper, it also states the research fields that could be extended from this theme.