A Study On The Vulgarization Tendency In The Evolution Of A Dream Of Red Mansions From Transcript To Block-printed Edition

The process of writing “A dream of Red Mansions” is extremely complicated,which was completed by Cao Xueqin “through ten years’ hard work,adding and deleting five times successively”.So far,there are many versions circulating all over the world,and thus many different plot descriptions have appeared.Different versions present different text forms.During the evolution of each edition,its block-printed edition gradually faded away the characteristics of “poetic novels” in manuscripts,showing a prominent tendency of vulgarization.However,for a long time,the academic circles have not paid enough attention to this issue.Scholars study the editions of “A dream of Red Mansions” mostly with static thinking: either discussing the systematic origin and development of its editions vertically,or analyzing the sequence of the authenticity of transcripts and block-printed edition;Or compare the advantages and disadvantages of transcripts and block-printed edition in text art horizontally.Few researchers consider the law of version evolution of “A dream of Red Mansions” from a dynamic perspective,and even fewer papers examine the law of version evolution from the perspective of vulgarization.Based on the lack of academic research on this issue,this paper selects the Gengchen version,Jiachen version,Chengjia version and Chengyi version as the proofreading object,to explore the following questions from a broader perspective and more multidimensional dimensions: How is the vulgarization tendency of “A dream of Red Mansions” reflected in the process of its transition from the transcript system to the block-printed edition system? Does the vulgarization of the text damage the literary value of “A dream of Red Mansions”? And what are the reasons for this change?The main body of the paper is divided into four chapters to answer these questions one by one:First of all,in the introduction,the author summarizes the relevant research status,points out the research significance and ideas of this paper,and defines the important concepts in this paper.In the first and second chapters,the author analyzes the differences between the Gengchen version,Jiachen version,Chengjia version and Chengyi version of “A dream of Red Mansions” from four aspects: words,paragraphs,characters and development of the story plot.In the process of version evolution,the author analyzes how the text of “A dream of Red Mansions” has changed from elegant and elegant text features in the transcript system,which reflects the aesthetic appreciation of scholars,to popular text features in the block-printed edition system,which reflects the aesthetic appreciation of citizens.In the third chapter,the author points out the advantages and disadvantages of the revision tendency of “A dream of Red Mansions” gradually changed from elegant to popular text features in the process of its version evolution,and analyzes some cases of “transcending worldly customs and pursuing elegance”.In the fourth chapter,the author mainly explores the reasons why the text of “A dream of Red Mansions” is gradually vulgarized in the process of version evolution from two aspects of aesthetic pursuit and market profit-seeking.In the end,based on the discussion of the above four chapters,the author systematically sorts out and analyzes the vulgarization tendency of “A dream of Red Mansions” from the transcript system to the block-printed edition system,and studies the different aesthetic requirements and connotations embodied in the two versions.