| The Extensive Records Compiled in the TaiPingGuangJi is a large volume reference book compiled under the steer of official government in the early Song Dynasty.It is also the first classical novel collection in China.This article uses the dragon and snake images found in the book as the research objects.From the dragon and snake images,the plot types,geographical allocation,mental and cultural aspects,the author tries to manage a systematic study of the dragon and snake themed novels in Extensive Records Compiled in the TaiPingGuangJi.The first part analyzes the dragon and snake images in the book.(1)The prototypes of dragon and snake account for 69.6%.These dragon and snake prototypes can be either big or small.In terms of color they are blended with the penta-color ideology ancient people conceived for them,so they represent a big mystery and are not comparable to a snake or dragon in their natural manifestation,which aptly reflect people's admiration to dragons and snakes.(2)Personalized dragons and snakes account for 21.1%.The majority of them spend a good time with humans,however those personalized snakes are mostly fond of teasing people,hurting people and making themselves a disgusted sort in human eyes.This indicates that the dragons try to possess a humanity and get a life,and the snakes are turning evil and get demonized.(3)Other kinds of dragon and snake images account for 9.3%.Because the dragon worshiping is a comprehensive totem worshiping based on a snake prototype combined with other clan totems,so in the dragon and snake themed novels found in Extensive Records Compiled in the TaiPingGuangJi we can find some fish-like,canine-shaped,and snake-like or other forms of dragons.The second part investigates the effects brought by the plot types of those dragon and snake themed novels,geographical environment and culture to the novel's writing.The typical plots in the snake and dragon novels include crazy lovers and cruel killers,future foretelling,saving your karma,which separately account for 51%,14.9% and13.9% of the total.For the lovers and killers genre,based on characteristics of the human-dragon-snake relationships,they can be categorized into harmonious coexistencebetween human and dragons,and cruel hunting and slaughtering between human and snakes.In the future foretelling genre,the storyline endows the dragons or snakes with the power of foretelling the auspicious and disastrous moments.And those karma saving cliches indicate that Buddhism in order to further its development tried to blend its teaching and doctrine into traditional cultural elements.The varied geographical and social-humanity environments from south to north have together influenced the dragon and snake distribution in the novels.Geographically speaking the snake distribution is affected by the southern climate,terrain,topology and hydrology.In the social and cultural aspects the dragon distribution is affected by the political culture and folk customs.With the development of society,various local cultures also clash with each other resulting in dragon culture and snake culture spreading all over south and north.The third part analyzes the cultural factors behind the dragons and snakes in the book.The dragon and snake culture is forever evolving and intermixed with voodoo,Taoism and Buddhism cultures with the progress of history.All these factors can find their traces in those dragon and snake images and plots.The animism concept in the voodoo culture affects the forging of dragon and snake images found in the novels.The magic power in Taoism,the supernatural and “What goes around,comes around” theory in Buddhism have co-influenced the structuring of plots in the novels.Besides the dragon images in Buddhism affect the imaging of dragon king and dragon daughter in the novels.Since the Han Dynasty the Confucian theory has been serving as the orthodox in a feudal society,for which sake the kindness,benevolence,filial piety,fraternal duty,education,returning a favor,loyalty and all good deeds all find their way to seep into the dragon and snake novels. |
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