Redefining Xia: Reality and Fiction in Wang Dulu's Crane-Iron Series, 1938-1944
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Redefining xia: Reality and Fiction in Wang Dulu’s Crane-Iron Series, 1938-1944 A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2013 Hubertus M.G. van Malssen School of Arts, Languages and Cultures TABLE OF CONTENTS List of tables .............................................................................................................. 6 List of figures ............................................................................................................ 6 Conventions and abbreviations ............................................................................... 7 Abstract ..................................................................................................................... 8 Declaration ................................................................................................................ 9 Copyright Statement ................................................................................................ 9 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 10 INTRODUCTION The case for Republican-era wuxia fiction and its analysis ..................................... 12 1. To translate or not to translate? .................................................................... 14 2. Xia and wuxia fiction ................................................................................... 16 3. Methodology for the analysis of Wang Dulu’s Crane-Iron Series .............. 34 4. Chapter outline ............................................................................................. 38 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER 1 The origins of xia: identifying new interpretations .................................................. 43 1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 43 2. Historical background of the Warring States Period .................................... 45 3. Philosophical context: The first written texts containing xia ....................... 48 4. The xia becomes virtuous: definition of xia in Han texts ............................. 56 5. New interpretations: xia as virtue ................................................................. 65 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 68 2 CHAPTER 2 Development of xia: the influence of history on xia literature ................................ 70 1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 70 2. Choice of sources ......................................................................................... 71 3. Gender equality, cultural vessel, and political critique: xia-related literature from the Tang to the Qing Dynasty .................................................................. 74 4. The Republican Era and the similarities to the historical origins of xia ...... 85 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................... 89 CHAPTER 3 Wang Dulu and the Republican Era ......................................................................... 91 1. Introduction .................................................................................................. 91 2. Wang Dulu’s origins: Manchus, banner people and their fate in the Republican Era .................................................................................................. 92 3. Wang Dulu’s childhood and formative years: Modernity and Confucianism in Republican-era Society ................................................................................. 98 4. Wang Dulu’s life in Japanese-occupied China: Qingdao and the Second Sino-Japanese War .......................................................................................... 103 5. Newspapers in Qingdao: Qingdao Xinmin Bao and Xinmin Hui ............... 107 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 111 CHAPTER 4 Xia in the Crane-Iron Series – The Redefinition of xia ......................................... 112 1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 112 2. Textual analysis of xia ................................................................................ 114 3. General aspects of people defined as xia in Wang Dulu’s novels: who can be xia? ............................................................................................... 124 4. The xia and the relation with martial arts: an indissoluble link? ................ 127 5. Yu Jiaolong “Jade Delicate Dragon”: personification of Republican-era China ............................................................................................................... 130 3 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 139 CHAPTER 5 Yi: the virtuous aspect of xia and changes in Republican-era personal relations ... 142 1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 142 2. Yi in Chinese philosophy ........................................................................... 144 3. Textual analysis of yi in the Crane-Iron Series .......................................... 149 4. Prostitute xia Xie Xianniang: the xia with no fighting skills ..................... 155 5. Substitute for love: yi-bonds and the progression of the pentalogy’s love stories ...................................................................................................... 162 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 167 CHAPTER 6 Baobiao: the commercialisation of martial arts and the separation from xia......... 169 1. Introduction ................................................................................................ 169 2. Historical ancestors: Where does the figure of the baobiao come from? ............................................................................................................... 171 3. Textual analysis of the Crane-Iron Series: the baobiao as entrepreneur .................................................................................................... 174 4. Yu Xiulian: the female baobiao and her relation to the Republican Era ................................................................................................................... 181 5. Fighting skills as gap in the market: why did the baobiao become so popular?........................................................................................................... 187 6. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 193 CONCLUSION 1. Contribution to knowledge of the term xia................................................. 196 2. Suggestions for future research on xia: ancient origins and wenxia .......... 199 3. Contribution to knowledge of Republican-era wuxia literature and history ............................................................................................................. 200 4 4. Suggestions for future research on Republican-era wuxia literature .......... 202 APPENDIX A: Overview of Wang Dulu’s Crane-Iron SeriesAnd extracts from the original copies contained in the Qingdao municipal archive ................................. 205 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................ 215 Word count: 79,250 5 LIST OF TABLES Table 1 .................................................................................................................... 114 Table 2 .................................................................................................................... 120 Table 3 .................................................................................................................... 122 Table 4 .................................................................................................................... 149 Table 5 .................................................................................................................... 175 Table 6 .................................................................................................................... 205 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 .................................................................................................................. 108 6 CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS The Chinese characters used in the thesis are written in today’s simplified script, even if the original text used unsimplified characters. Only when it benefits the scope of the research, the unsimplified version of the characters is given. Unless referred to translations of other scholars, all translations from the Chinese into English are mine. Extracts taken from ancient Chinese texts are all referenced based on their own internal division, not on written publications of the texts. Hence the reference will only refer to a text’s title, chapter, and verses (if applicable). The phonetic system of transliteration overall used in this thesis is the pinyin system. Only well-established personal names, such as Sun Yat-sen, and direct quotes from other scholars,