| Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio is a monument in the history of Classical Chinese Short Stories, receiving the worldwide attention for its rich content and lofty art writing. While the number of works in which the protagonists are animal images is limited, the unique angle of view in the writing wins great favor from students.The thesis is divided into five parts.Part One,"Introduction": The research literature on the works with Animal Images in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio was mainly the monographs on relevant topics, probing into the analysis of the Animal Images in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, the writing skills of such stories as well as the extension to and reflection on our socialist spiritual aspect of civilization, ecological civilization, and the natural protection, etc.Part Two," the image of animal origin and creative works of intent in " Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio " :The production of works with animal images was inseparable from the author's life experience and the social environment of the time in which the author lived. Pu Songling lived in a turbulent society, witnessing the tribulation and hardships of the lowest ranks, the degradation of the time, and the reality of dying out of humanity, which was against the Confucian education he received from his childhood. It was also a striking contrast to his ideal of Mind Correctitude. All this caused him to find a proper approach to further surveying and pondering the society and human nature. Hence, the animal world became a good platform to make a comparison with the human beings.Part Three and Four,"the animal's summary and analysis of image": The concrete analysis of the animal images is conducted from positive and negative aspects. Firstly, the analysis begins with the positive animal images, analyzing content of human nature refracted or contained in the relevant animal images from mainly four points of view: propriety, righteousness, honesty and a sense of shame. The process of analysis reveals that Pu Songling made a constant comparison between human nature and bestiality, hoping that in a man-not-as-good-as-beast time, the earthly affections given off by these animals will solicit men to reflect upon themselves. Then, the analysis is conducted from three negative aspects, namely greediness, tyranny and lasciviousness, discussing various issues existed in the animal world, hoping to reflect the real human society through the animal world. The author made a serious critic on the stern hierarchy, tyrannical politics, and corrupt officials and degraded ethics of the real society.Part Five,"the image of animals Literary Value": The above analysis reveals the great societal values of the works with animal images in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. This paper expounds the values from three aspects, namely"mapping the reality, fustigating the darkness";"soliciting the goodness and punishing the evils, retrieving the ethos";"calling for the ideals, expressing hopes". These animal images play an important role in reflecting the social reality, disclosing the social darkness, and expressing the author's high hopes of the society. Furthermore, they've also elevated the social values of the whole work. Meanwhile, the artistic characteristic of the works with animal images is also an issue worth our attention. In these works,"combination of factual information with abstract reasoning, simplified image-building","the giving of a crucial touch to a picture, true and credible description of details","conditioned special linguistic description"and"diverse satire tact"made the works with animal images in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio harmonious and unique, providing good research materials for readers.In short, these works with animals images soaked with the author's though and hopes; on the other hand, they also help achieve the social values and status in the history of literature of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. Their functions can not be over-estimated. |
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