Research On The Current Affairs Novels Of LU Brothers

The brothers Lu Yunlong and Lu Renlong were publishers,critics and novelists active in Hangzhou during the late Ming Dynasty.The bookstore they ran,Zhengxiaokan,published a variety of poetry and literature anthologies,especially the selection and evaluation of fictional writings,which was a pioneer in the Ming Dynasty.Current affairs novels were characterized by their solemn themes,swift writing,and contemporary material,and emerged at the time of the change of dynasties,when times enter chaos.As responsible intellectuals,the Lu brothers were keenly aware of the turbulent situation,and they devoted themselves to the creation of current affairs novels with passion and courage,producing several current affairs novels in a short period of time,such as "Wei Zhongxian’s Novel" and "The Story of Liao Loyalty".These novels were born in the troubled times and carried their deep concern for the current world,with distinctive features and unique style,and became a wonder in the literature of the changing time.However,due to their strong utilitarian purpose,these novels also lost some of the aesthetic properties that literary works should have,and their artistic standards were significantly affected.The first chapter of this essay describes the context and creation of current affairs novels in general.In the middle and late Ming dynasties,the commodity economy flourished,and with it came such ills as inequality between the rich and the poor and disorderly morals;ethnic conflicts were acute,especially in Liaodong,where wars continued to rage for years,while the Ming army became corrupt and ineffective,and was defeated on the battlefield,adding to the suffering of the people;internal party disputes within the Ming court were intense,brewing the scourge of the eunuchs;and the rise and development of the Yangming school of thought gave impetus to the popularization movement.The rise and development of the Yangming school of thought promoted the popularization movement.Later on,when the evidence of the disadvantages of the "crazy Zen" thinking of the Taizhou school became more and more prominent,the movement to rectify the disadvantages of the last stream of the Wang school emerged.In this environment,novels reflecting the Liao affairs,peasant revolt,and the eunuchs scourge appeared in time and rapidly entered the peak of creation and publication.The second chapter,based on the newly seen early Qing dynasty letters documents in which Lu Yunlong and his son Minshu’s letters are recorded,complements Lu Yunlong’s life and friendships;collates the publication activities in which Lu Renlong participated and speculates on information such as his birth and death years;introduces the creation of current novels by the Lu brothers on the basis of existing materials;in addition,further establishes the authorship of Lu Yunlong based on the traces hidden in the first episode of "The Bell of the Clear Night".Chapter 3 analyzes the inheritance and transformation of the Lu brothers in terms of their creative motives,philosophy,and mentality,starting from their two identities as Confucian scholars and publishers.In the era of the Qing Dynasty,as lower-class literati,they tried to save the nation from peril by expressing their ambitions and reflecting on the current affairs.After the fall of the Ming Dynasty,they were more inclined to express their feelings of sadness and nostalgia for the old dynasty;under the guidance of their poor situation and the market,they entered the publishing industry,which of course was accompanied by the need to earn a living and make profits.Although the two brothers put their hearts and souls into it,it was ultimately unsustainable.Chapter 4 discusses the artistic characteristics of Lu’s current affairs novels.The current affairs novels written by the Lu brothers have a distinct tendency to be faithful to history,with materials mainly coming from the newspapers,and the narrative order,narrative method,narrative structure,spirit of writing,and even some of the episodes are all based on historical biographies,and their works are permeated with a strong spirit of factual records,and their creations really have an inseparable relationship with historical literature.The commentary in Lu’s novels can be found that both of their major current affairs novels are written in a self-evaluative manner,and the historical commentary,which is based on right and wrong judgments and reveals the righteousness of rise and fall,is the main one.In creating characters,they make individualized attempts,but on the whole they do not break away from the pattern of labeling and typecasting characters.