Research On Shangwei’s Study Of Rulin Waishi

Rulin waishi, a literati novel that enjoys great position in the history of Chinese literature, has drawn the attention of scholars at home and abroad. RulinWaishi and cultural transformation in Late Imperial China written by Shang Wei, is the academic representative of researches of Rulin Waishi in recent years, in which, Shang Wei integrates textual criticism, intensive reading of text, comparison of Chinese and Western cultures and other research methods to provide domestic and foreign scholars with new research results and insights. In view of the great reference value of Shang Wei’s research, and domestic scholars haven’t conducted in-depth studies and discussions, this paper will conduct researches on ethic Chinese scholor Shang Wei’s study on Rulin waishi.This paper will divide into three parts. In The first part, Shang Wei studies the life experience of author Wu Jingzi and its impacts on characters and plot setup in the novel, and dicusses if the last and some of the chapters are counterfeits.He also discusses the special status and role of this novel as a representative of literati novel among the vernacular novels at that time.In the eyes of Shang Wei, Rulin waishi, as a novel, is not merely the reflection of the times, but also involves in the cultural turn of the eighteenth century, occupying an important position in the intellectual and cultural history at that time.In the second part, the author conducts research on the Shang Wei’s dissussion on innovative novel narratives, so as to study Rulin waishi’s performance practices of narrative angle combined with unique, ironic with poetic structure. The novel is labeled as "Waishi " in Qing dynasty.Shang Wei believes Wu Jingzi not only subverted the narrative form of official history, but also innovated the narrative form of novel. He integreted his poetic and Confucian ideal into the questioning narrative, which reflects his painstaking in novel narrative.In the third part the author will discuss what thoughts Wu Jingzi proposed around the ritual world in Rulin waishi, and comment on the meaning and connation as well asvalue of thoughts. Based on the great eighteenth century’s studies in ritualism, Shang Wei innovatively proposed Dualistic Ritual and Ascetic Ritual to interprete novel, thinking that novel is influenced by etiquette, but also proposing questions.Through Shang Wei’s analysis, we comprehend that, at a time when western culture has not striking us, how deep Wu Jingzi’s thoughts are, surpassing the thoughts of his time and greatly impacting culture turn of that time.In the fourth part, i will summarizes and reviews Rulin waishi by Shang Wei and explores new trends in the research of Rulin waishi. I hope i could summarize the research value of Shang Wei through my own analysis, and provide fresh reference and inspiration for scholars at both home and abroad.