TWO AUTHORIAL RHETORICS OF LI YU'S (1611-1680)WORKS: INVERSION AND AUTO-COMMUNICATION Ying Wang A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of East Asian Studies in the University of Toronto O Copyright by Ying Wang 1997 National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 ofCanada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. nie Wellington OttawaON K1AON4 Ottawa ON KIA ON4 Canada Canada The auihor has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant a la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seIl reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de rnicrofiche/£ïlm, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. ABSTRACT TWO AUTHORIAL RHETORICS OF LI YU'S (1611-1680)WORKS: Inversion and auto-communication Yuig Wang Doctor of Philosophy Department of East Asian Studies University of Toronto 1997 The prologue explores Li Yu's mode of innovation. A cornparison is drawn between Tao Qian's giving birth to Chinese autobiography and Li Yu's decisive impact on shaping subjective and self-reflexive mode of writing in both fiction and drama. Li Yu's mode of innovation is described as establishing a dialectical relationship with the tradition, by rejecting it and at the same time renewing it. The first chapter examines Li Yu's view on literary creativity. Li Yu's literary principle is characterized as "to create but not transmitu-a reversa1 of the Confucian creed "to transmit but not create." The significance of this principle is addressed and its historical perspective is probed. Li Yu's theory of creativity is reconstructed from three aspects: his understanding of creative personality, his discussion of the process of literary creation, and the self- conscious authorial voice he projected in his works. The second chapter conducts a concrete literary analysis of the thematic inversions (or fan'nn zuenzhnng ) appearing in both Li Yu's fictional and dramatic writings. The concept of fan'nn wenzhnng is defined in Chinese cultural context and is cornpared to the Western notion of parody. Li Yu's thematic fnn'nn is found in three major staples of Chinese literature: love, morality, and retribution. Metamorphosis, role switching, and duplicity in characterization are identified as the literary devices that produce these thematic inversions. The third chapter deals with the issue of auto-communication. The concept of metafiction is brought up in discussing Chen Chen's SIiuihu honzhzrniz, Dong Yue's Xiyou bii and Jin Shengtan's version of Xirinng ji. The integration of narrative text and critical text, the interaction between the two, and the dual role of author-cum-critic played by the writer in these three literary pieces are found even more prominently pronounced in al1 three genres of Li Yu's literary writing. The epilogue looks into the impact of Li Yu's innovation. In light of Western modern and post-modern theories of parody, Li Yu's works are considered instrumental in moving Chinese narrative toward a metanarrative art. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My first and foremost acknowledgement goes to my advisor Professor Milena DoleZelov5-Velingerov5, who has generously offered me her time, intellectual guidance, insightful comments, and constant encouragement during the period of my graduate studies and the writing of this thesis. My gratitude also goes to my good friend Hua Laura Wu for many hours of interesting and tireless discussions that inspired me a lot, and for being a kind, sincere, and generous friend who helped me in various ways. 1 am grateful to Professor Grace Fang and Professor Robin Yates at McGill University, who have always been reliable sources of support in my graduate life and my academic career. 1 also want to thank Professor Wayne Schlepp at the Department of East Asian Studies, Professor J. E. Chamberlin at the Centre for Comparative Literature, who have not only broadened my knowledge but also shown their kindnesses and support in every way. A debt is also owed to those who have given generously of their time and assistance for the editorial work of my thesis include Professor Edward Lee-Ruff at York University, Patrick Noble, Patricia Echeverria, and Victoria Su. 1 want to give my special thanks to my dear friend Liping Yu, for her enthusiastic and resourceful help that got me through some urgent situations. 1 am also much indebted to my parents for their love and moral support throughout the years. Their confidence in me made me move fonvard. Last, my genuine gratitude to my husband Mei Xiancao for his understanding and companionship in good times and difficult ones. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Prologue The mode of Innovation Chapter One Creating Vs. Transmitting The Antithesis of the Confucian Creed: To Create but not Transmit Self-Assertion, Self-Presentation, and Self-Authorization: A Historical Perspective Two Creative Agents: Zaowu and the Literary Genius Two Creative Principles: Ernphasizing Construction and Seeking Novelty Two Authorial Rhetorics: Inversion and Auto-Communication Chapter Two Generating New from Old Fan'an wenzhang vs. Parody The Thematic Fan'an of Li Yu's works The Paradox of Love The Ambivalence of Morality The Absurdity of Karma The Making of Inversions Metamorphosis Role Switching Duplicity in Characterization Chapter Three From Narrative toward Meta-Narrative The Self-Critical Texts of the Seventeenth Centi The Self-Referentiality of Li Yu's Two Novels Sex as a ~etaphorfor Fiction: The C~rnalPrayer Mat Palindrome as a Mode1 of Narrative: The Story about a Palindrome The Direct Intrusion of the Author in Li Yu's Short Stories The Dramatized Authonal Voice in Li Yu's Plays Epilogue The Fmit of Innovation Bibliography PROLOGUE THE MODE OF INNOVATION 1 claim ths rnerit-1 haven't copied the ancients. 1 hold that books, once read, are fit for the fire. Since people's hearts are as varied as their faces, Why in Our writing must we al1 be the same? So as Independent Words I name my book, And hope that none will every copy me. Innovation was to Li Yu*& (1611-1680) the most important artistic accomplishment throughout his whole literary career. Among the noted literati of the Ming-Qing period, Li Yu should probably be considered the most fervent advocate of the new. Not only did he constantly express the urge to break away from tradition and seek originality but he also did his utrnost to refresh the readerrs eyes and ears. It seems, however, that Li Yu's self-proclaimed originality has been questioned or even down-played by modem scholars. Patrick Hanan asserts that "Li Yu was not as original as he claimed to be or even as he supposed; that when he was original, he was original in conventional ways and in conventional 1Li Yu, "Yiren zhiji xing, zeng Tong Bimei shijun," Li Yu qrranji (Hangzhou: Zhejiang guji chubanshe, 1992), Vol. 2, p. 79. The English Translation is Patrick Hanan's from his The Invention of Li Yu (Cambridge and London: Harvard UP, 1988), p. 44. areas, taking vast fields of inquiry for granted; and that, in any case, his protestations were designed mainly for comic effect."z One interesting point raised by Hanan is that Li Yu, a writer whose innovation and daring knew no bounds, waç still overshadowed by tradition. The question then is that: is being original in the sense of doing something completely and absolutely new ever possible in the Chinese cultural context or indeed in any cultural context? An often-quoted aphorism from Ecclesi~stesstates that "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be: and there is no new thing under the sun." (Ecclesinstes 1:19) Celebrating the classical mode1 was considered fitting even for Renaissance writers. The enormous prestige of Classical literature, and the similar prestige of Petrarch, encouraged, when it did not oblige, sixteenth century writers to retum incessantly to the same sources. Not only allusions to Classical mythology and so on, but actual imitations of Classical (or Petrarchan) models were the rule rather than the exception in poetry, drama, satire and other ancient genres. Originality in the sense of doing something completely new, and sincerity, in a simple biographical sense, are irrelevant concepts for most of the literature under discussion. Variations on a theme and the ability to express emotion within the strict conventions of style are the Renaissance norms.3 If this comment is particularly relevant to the Renaissance in Europe, the same standards apply to Chinese literature up into the twentieth century. Compared to the West, Chinese literature is even more overburdened by tradition. "There 'Patrick Hanan, The Invention of Li Yu, p. 45. 3A. J. Krailsheimer, ed. The Continental Renaissance l5OU-16OO (Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1971), p. 15. is no more bookish civilization than China's, no civilization more prone to revere its ancient writings and to seek for guidance in its daily affairs within the pages of its traditional and even modern literature."., "The mode of creativity in China was innovation within tradition ...within the confines of such a mode, genuine creativity was not the creation of something out of nothing, but a continuous transformation of what was already there, a conformation to and variation on pre-exist, latent models."5 Thus, in China, as well as in the premodern West, literary innovation has never been a disconnection from or discontinuation of the past.