CHAPTER ELEVEN

TALES OF THE MARVELOUS AND POPULAR LITERATURE OF THE TANG DYNASTY

The prosperity of fictional narrative literature made a significant land- mark in the development of literature of the Tang dynasty, and it was particularly evident after the Mid-Tang period. This would include nar- rative poetry, as represented by Bo Juyi’s “Song of Everlasting Sorrow” which has already been discussed previously, and also the “tale that passes on the strange” or “tale of the marvelous” (chuan qi) composed by the literati and works of popular literature found inside the Dun- huang grottos in recent times, such as the vernacular story (“prompt books,” huaben), the popular rhapsody (sufu), and the transformation text (bianwen). These works were composed, respectively, by authors from different social classes, and they also varied in the range of their spread and popularity, but they were nevertheless closely associated with one another. They all shared the common background, when urban economy and urban cultural life flourished during the Tang dynasty, and in terms of literary taste they shared a common inclina- tion, to various degrees, towards secularization. In addition, all these works, of different types notwithstanding, exerted influences on one another in their respective special features of composition. Meng Qi’s Original Stories behind Poems has kept a record of what Zhang Hu said to Bo Juyi: “ ‘He searched, up to the Blue Serene and down to the Yellow Spring; / At both places, boundless and vast, he failed to find her.’ If this is not from ‘Mulian Transformation,’ what is?” This indi- cates that even during the Tang, someone already noticed the popular literature’s influence on literati writing. The prosperity of fictional narrative literature during the Tang dynasty was significant in the history of Chinese literature. In freer form and greater length, it represented people’s living conditions, mentality and imagination, expanded the aesthetic implication and emotional space of literature, and also provided new formats and sub- ject matters for the development of literature in later ages. 392 chapter eleven

1. Tales of the Marvelous of the Tang Dynasty

At first, the termchuan qi was adopted by Tang authors as the title either for a single tale or for a single collection of tales. For example, Yuan Zhen’s “The Story of Yingying” was originally entitledchuan qi, and it received its current title when it was included into the Extensive Records of the Taiping Reign during the Song dynasty. For another example, the collection of tales composed by Pei Xing was also entitled Passing on the Strange or Tales of the Marvelous (Chuan qi). In later times, short stories in classical prose with strong narrative elements of the Tang dynasty have come to be called the chuan qi tales in general. Incidentally, we need to point out here that the term chuan qi has been widely used in range. In later times, not only was there the category of chuan qi in oral and performing arts, but the southern drama in the Ming dynasty and afterwards was also called the chuan qi. Before the Tang dynasty, the main type of fiction was the super- natural tale (zhi guai). Previously, we have mentioned that, towards the end of its development, some of the best supernatural tales of the Six Dynasties adopted a somewhat more complex plot, and had more touch of real life. In general, however, the supernatural tale was not so clearly meant to be a work of art, which made Hu Yinglin, the Ming author, to observe: “It was not until the Tang authors that there was a deliberate fondness for the strange events, which found its expression in the form of fiction.” Writings( from the Shaoshi Mountain Lodge) In A History of Chinese Fiction, Lu Xun developed the argument and, in even more precise terms, pointed out that compared to the supernatu- ral tale, “what was most noteworthy” about the tale of the marvelous was that “it was not until this time that their authors began to have the intention to write fiction.” Exactly because of that, the tale of the mar- velous of the Tang dynasty made remarkable improvements in various aspects of the art of fiction, like plot, structure, narrative forms and styles, and characterization. Thenceforth the appearance of the tale of the marvelous during the Tang dynasty marked that classical Chinese fiction began to move into a stage of maturity. From its course of development, we can see that the tale of the marvelous of the Tang dynasty was originated from the supernatu- ral tale of the Six Dynasties, though it was also under the influence of other elements. We have mentioned previously that, while ancient Chinese historical writings were not fictionalper se, they neverthe- less often adopted literary means to seek the effect of liveliness and