The Transmutation Of Nether World In Weird Novels

Since Pre-Qin, Chinese indigenousculture is describing imaginatively and recording literarily for the nether world, such as appearing Nether world、Taishan Hades in a variety of literary works, which are more famous underground world. Whereas, the concept of Nether has developed and transformed in China ceaselessly as the indispensable part of the culture system and is influenced by the exotic ideology Buddhism deeply, so weird novelsthat records the motif of immortals and ghosts become the significant carrier of the transformation of the nether world view.The nether world in the early weird novels is a pure place that the dead gather and has the vague boundary with men’s world, no trial and punishment. Men can hold a post for officers in Hades not the specific god, which greatly differs from the nether world under other culture system. After the introduction of Buddhism, weird novels become an important means of the propagation of the underground concept, and the image of Buddhism disciples is seen frequently in the story. At this period "Underground" begins to change "Hell", judicial institutions and a number of ways of penalty have emerged and its administrative level has a concrete partition, simultaneously, Yama takes place of the god of Taishan who is in charge of the nether world. That is to say, weird novelsof Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties evolve the record of the nether world is a process of creating hell.The first chapter of the thesis is the summary of Chinese indigenous netherworld, and introduces four representative underground worlds; the second chapter is the brief introduction of the value of Buddhistic underground, and sorts out the formation of Chinese underground value that has the decisive influence, from three aspects, the organizational structure, the way of penalty and karma; the third chapter is the main part of the thesis and analyzes the changes of the nether world under the influence of Buddhism in weird novels of Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties as well as the inheritance and expansion of weird novelsof Wei Jin Southern and Northern Dynasties for weird novels in Tang Dynasty; the fourth chapter is the literary significance of the underground story in the weird novels.