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SHÜIHU ZHUAtl (WATER MARGIN) AS ELITE CULTURAL DISCOURSE: READING, WRITING AND THE MAKING OF MEANING

DISSERTATION

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate

School of the Ohio State University

By

Hongyuan Yu, B.A., M.A. ******

The Ohio State University

1999

Approved by

Dissertation Committee:

Kirk Denton (Adviser)

Patricia Sieber (Co-Adviser) f— ? }

Timothy Wong Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures UMI Number 9951751

UMI*

UMI Microform9951751 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code.

Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Artx)r, Ml 48106-1346 Copyright by Hongyuan Yu

1999 ABSTRACT

This study seeks to evaluate the cultural significance

involved in the writing and reading of traditional Chinese

fiction (xiaoshuo) , with the sixteenth-centurÿ^ork Shuihu

zhuan (The Water Margin) as a paradigmatic text. The focus is

on how meaning is produced through the complex interactions between the text and its ever chainging contexts. I first

survey the theorizing of fiction by literati critics in the

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with focus on the

strategies they used to not only promote fiction, but also enhance their own status as elites by manipulating the cultural roles associated with the writing and reading of

fiction. By designating fiction as a popular discourse, the

literati accorded the genre with a special license to be unorthodox and subversive, which legitimized their use of it

to voice their own discontent.

The main part of the study is devoted to an examination of the issues of kingship, loyalty and rebellion as delineated in the Shuihu zhuan, and as discussed in the commentaries written by literati commentators. Through the writing of

1 1 commentaries, tiie commentators produce a meta-discourse in which they discuss important cultural and ideological issues.

My study also investigates the new significance iiiçosed upon the Shuihu zhuan in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and examine several historical moments at which the novel was re-evaluated and re-interpretated against the background of new ideologies and political agendas in the cultural and literary transformations in China's modernization.

1X1 Dedicated to my family

IV ACKNOWLEDGEMENT S

The labor of this dissertation would not have been possible without the support of a number of people,- to whom

I would like to express my sincere gratitude.

I would like to thank my advisers. Professors Kirk

Denton and Patricia Sieber, for their inspiration, encouragement and guidance. Both of them have devoted a great amount of time and effort to guiding my dissertation through its long period of evolution. Their high standards, intellectual insights and perceptive criticisms have made the writing of this dissertation a valuable learning experience for me.

I am also profoundly indebted to Professor Timothy

Wong, my adviser during the early years of my graduate studies at the Ohio State University. This dissertation was inspired by a few seminars and individual studies I took from him. Even after he left the Ohio State University,

Professor Wong has continued to work with me through the entire period of the writing of this dissertation, carefully going over each, draft and providing invaluable instructions

and thought-provoking comments.

Others who have taught me a great deal during my

graduate studes include Professors Xiaomei Chen, David Chen,

Yan-shuan Lao, Galal Walker, Marjorie Chan and Hao Chang,

whose various courses on Chinese language, literature, philosophy and history have benefited me tremendously.

My thanks also go to my friends and fellow graduate

students: Mark Bender, Nick Kaldis, Liao Rongrong, Wu

Xiaoqi, Li Minru, Roxana Fung, Bai Di, He Dajiang, Xu Gang

and Wang Jing, whose camaraderie has been a constant source

of support in my graduate life. I am also grateful to Ms.

Debbie Knicely for her help with many practical matters.

Last but not least, my heart-felt gratitude and love

goes to my family: my parents Yu Mengde and Wang Yanshu, who have always taken pride in me; my husband Pain Jiachun, whose constant understanding and support has sustained me

throughout all these long years of my graduate studies; and my 2-year-old daughter Kaili, without whose "cooperation" this dissertation could not have been completed.

VI VITA

1988 ...... B.A. Fudan University, Shanghai, China

1992 ...... M.A. The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio

1995-Present ...... Doctoral candidate. The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio

FIELD OF STUDY

Major Field; East Asian Languages and Literatures

vri TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page Abstract ...... ii

Dedication...... iv

Acknowledgements ...... v

Vita ...... vii

Table of Contents ...... viii

Introduction ...... 1

Chapters :

1. Cultural Significance of Reading and Writing Fiction in the Late Ming and Early Qing P e r i o d ...... 23

2. Narrative Discourse: Multiplicity of Voices ...... 67

3. Context and Contention in the Discourse on Loyalty and Rebellion ...... 124

4. Reconceptua1i zing Fiction in the Late Qing and Republican Periods ...... 183

5. Reinventing the Shuihu zhuan in the People's Republic of China, 1949-1976 ...... 242

6. Conclusion ...... 271

G l o s s a r y ...... 277

Bibliography ...... 284

vxii INTRODUCTION

In 1641, after completing an extensive commentary on the

Shuihu zhuan, the commentator Jin Shengtan (1608-1661) gave the book to his ten-year-old son with the hope that after reading it, the boy would learn the hermeneutic methods which can then be applied to reading all the other books in the world.^ Over three hundred years later, Mao Zedong (1893-

1976), in a conversation with an instructor of Chinese literature from Beijing University, gave these remarks on the same book: "The merit of the Shuihu zhuan lies precisely in its depiction of capitulation. It can be used as negative teaching material to educate all the people about capitulationists." Mao's remarks, as usual, were written down and soon appeared as the latest "Maoist instructions," starting a political campaign in which all the people in

^ Jin Shengtan, "Xu San, " in Chen Xizhong, Hou Zhongyi and Lu Yuchuan, eds., Shuihu zhuan huiping ben (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 1981), pp. 8-11. China were expected to read the Shuihu zhuan in order to

"raise their consciousness.'''^

Given above are just two examples of the diverse ways that the Shuihu zhuan has been read and used from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Be it its literary qualities and/or political content, the novel^ appealed to a broad readership for a variety of reasons, and was appropriated, manipulated, and re-adapted in different manners. The readers' many different readings of as well as

^ Ye Yonglie, Yao Pengzi yu Yao Wenyuan (Hong Kong: Nanyue, 1989), pp. 319-20.

” Here the term "novel," and later on "fiction," is used for convenience's sake to refer to premodern vernacular narratives called xiaoshuo in the Chinese original. I am fully aware of the inadequacy of these terms in rendering xiaoshuo, a phrase that had a much wider and more complicated coverage in traditional China. Xiaoshuo was originally associated with a category of writings which included philosophy and other discursive writings. From the Tang onward, the term was used more and more to refer to imaginative writings distinguishable from the more verifiable narratives of history. Those designated as xiaoshuo include classical tales of the Tang as well as vernacular narratives that began to appear in the Yusin. During the Qing, xiaoshuo also included play scripts which, at the time, came to be read more than performed. See Robert Hegel, "Traditional Chinese Fiction: The State of the Field," The Journal of Asian Studies 53 (May 1994): 394-5; Sheldon Lu, From Historicity to Fictionality: The Chinese Poetics of Narrative (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1994) , pp. 37-52; and Shi Changyu, Zhongguo xiaoshuo yuanliu lun (Beijing: Sanlian, 1993), pp. 1-52. readings into the novel, conditioned by their respective backgrounds and the social, historical and political imperatives of the different times, expanded the novel from a literary text into a continuous cultural discourse, whose meaning is produced in the complex interactions and negotiations between "the world of the text" and "the world of the reader," to borrow Paul Ricoeur'^s terms.^

In this study, I would like to examine how the Shuihu zhuan was read and appropriated at certain historical moments between the sixteenth and twentieth century. My interest is in what Roger Chartier calls the "reading practices," or "the process by which a meaning is produced historically and differences in sense arise. Chartiers notion develops the idea in contemporary Western literary theory that the meanings of a text are constructed by the reader during the

Paul Ricoeur, Time and Narrative, trans. by Kathleen McLaughlin and David Pellauer, 3 vols (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984-8), vol. 3, pp. 157-79, quoted in Roger Chartier, The Order of Books, trans. by Lydia G. Cochrane (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994), p. 3.

^ Roger Chartier, Cultural History: Between Practices and Representations, trans. by Lydia G Cochrane (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1988), p. 11. See also idem. The Order of Books, esp. pp. 1-23. actual reading process.® The focus is on the processes by which meaning is constructed^ and the "plural uses and diverse readings" of a text by readers with specific competences, cultural positions, and reading strategies.^

Specifically, my investigation is devoted to a selected group of readers of the Shuihu zhuan — the cultural elite in both traditional and modern China. Though the actual readership of the novel is much wider, this elite group left written evidence in the form of commentaries on the novel or critical responses to it, of the nature, purposes auid consequences of their own reading practices. Through an examination of the diverse ways in which the Shuihu zhuan was appropriated and manipulated by different groups of elite readers at different historical times, and the multifarious meanings constructed by them and projected onto the text, I hope to explore the complex relationships between the text, the world, and the reader, none of which is divorced from their particular cultural and historical context. My investigation will try to illuminate both elements in the

® Cf. Robert C. Holub, Reception Theory; A Critical Introduction (London and New York: Methuen, 1984).

’’ Ibid., pp. 12-14. text-reader connection. On the one hand,- attention will be paid to the Shuihu zhuan and how it was transformed and recreated in the process of reading. On the other hand, the cultural and historical motivations of the elite readers, the consequences of their appropriations of the text, and how the reading practices affected their cultural identity and self­ perception will also be examined.

The first step in my study is to place the Shuihu zhuan into its traditional category of vernacular xiaoshuo — fictional narratives of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries — and explore the cultural conventions and expectations associated with this genre. Here I am influenced by recent approaches to genre in literary theory, in which "genres can be defined as the historically specific conventions and ideals according to which authors compose discourse and audiences receive it."® Compared with the classical approach to genres, which focuses on intra-textual properties, this relatively recent approach "focuses on the extra- and inter-textual assumptions that inform the writing and reading of texts in specific historical and cultural

® William F. Hanks, "Discourse Genres in a Theory of Practice," American Ethnologist 14 (1987): 668-92. circumstances — on the ways in which, people (authors and

audience) relate to texts and the ways in which they relate one text to another."^ It is these assumptions about the

origin, the nature, and the function of fiction held by the

literati in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that I

intend to examine in the first chapter. I will look at the

literati^ s theorizing of fiction, which utilizes a number of

strategies to not only legitimize the works they were writing, commenting on or selling, but also to enhance their own status as elites by manipulating the different cultural roles associated with the writing and reading of fiction. I will argue that these literati author/commentators justified their works with reference to an older tradition of xiaoshuo, a tradition that would lend an aura of legitimacy to the new genre. Fiction, a marginal discourse, was given a special license to be unorthodox and subversive, making it a

^ Robert Ford Campany, Strange Writing; Anomaly Accounts in Early Medieval China (New York: State University of New York Press, 1996), p. 22. For genre studies, see Tzvetan Todorov, The Fantastic: A Structural Approach to a Literary Genre, trans. by R. Howard (Ithaca; Cornell University Press, 1975); Heather Dubrow. Genre (London: Methuen, 1982); Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice, trans. by Richard Nice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977); and Charles Briggs and Richard Bauman, "Genre, Intertextuality, and Social Power," Journal of discursive site where the literati could express their dissident opinions as well as discuss important cultural and ideological issues.

In the second and third chapters, I will investigate the cultural significance of the reading of the Shuihu zhuan in premodern China, and examine in detail how meaning was produced in the interaction between the reader and the text.

This issue is especially worth exploring in view of the perpetually precarious nature of the text (or, rather, group of texts) of the Shuihu zhuan, which was literally transformed in the hands of actual readers at different historical times. M o d e m scholars studying the textual history of the Shuihu zhuan generally acknowledge its evolutionary nature, which means that it was not created by a single author but evolved from legends and tales about Song

Jiang, a historical figure, and his outlaw band who became rebellious in the closing years of the Northern Song (960-

1127) . Much of what was later incorporated in written versions of the Shuihu zhuan existed previously in oral storytelling, popular song narratives (cihua), and drama of the Song and Yuan dynasties. The authorship of the Shuihu

Linguistic Anthropology 2 (1992): 131-72. zhuan has traditionally been attributed to eitb.er Luo

Guanzhong or Shi Nai'an^ or both of them. Modern scholars^ howeverf have questioned this view. Luo Guanzhong has been identified as a 14th-century dramatistr to whom other works of drama and fiction, such as Sanguo yanyi (Romance of the

Three Kingdoms) , are also attributed. There is no evidence, however, that he actually wrote the Shuihu zhuetn.

Shi Nai'an's identity is even more obscure. Some scholars even believe that Shi N'ai'an is merely a pseudonym for an anonymous compiler. The various written versions of the

Shuihu zhuan resulted from textual variations and revisions or recreations in the hands of commentators or editors. From the mid sixteenth century to the mid seventeenth century, the

Shuihu zhuan existed in editions of 70, 100, 104, 110, 115, and 120 chapters. Among them are the so-called "simpler" editions, which differ from the "full" editions "on various points such as generally shorter overall length, different division into narrative units eind chapters, relative economy of narrative detail, more classical linguistic medium, and variant handling of certain key episodes."^® These different

Andrew Plaks, The Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel: Ssu- ta ch*i-shu (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987), p.

8 editions catered to a wide readership with varying degrees of literacy, social positions, and purchasing power.Variant texts bear testimony to the historically specific contexts surrounding their production and consumption, and every new edition was in a sense a transformation as well as a re­ interpretation of the existing body of discourse circulating under a unified title.

The complex textual situation of the Shuihu zhuan gives rise to a number of questions regarding the reading and interpretation of the novel: How do the textual evolution and revisions or recreations by commentator/editors affect the consistency of meaning in the text? Do they result in contradictions of meaning within the same edition or between different editions, and if so, how does the reader handle such contradictions? Chapter Two of this study attempts to

296.

In his recent study of illustrated fiction in late imperial China, Robert Hegel has convincingly demonstrated that "Ming and Qing editions of novels specified their audience by use of varying grades of illustrations and printing, matching the differing selling prices due to production costs with the differences in financial resources, and hence to at least some degree differences in training and abilities, among the literate in old Chinese society." Reading Illustrated Fiction in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998), p. 302. answer these questions by examining the multiple layers of

narrative discourse in the novel. I will propose that

contradictions or discrepancies exist between the different

modes of representation in the novel, which results in the

absence of any unified meaning inherent in the text. I will

also consider the commentary tradition surrounding the novel,

a factor that further complicates its reading and

interpretation. Recent studies of traditional Chinese fiction

commentary have greatly enhanced our understanding of the

complex picture of how fiction was read in premodern China.

For several centuries prior to this one, the Chinese read

their fiction in commentary editions. The comments were printed along with the narrative proper, on the margins of

the pages, between the lines, and before or after each

chapter. In these designated spaces the commentators gave

their remarks or interpretations of the text. The extent and

significance of the practice of fiction commentary in

The most comprehensive studies in English on this topic are David Rolston, ed. How to Read the Chinese Novel (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), and idem. Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary: Reading and Writing Between the Lines (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997).

10 premodem China can be seen in the fact that comrcientary

became an indisposable part of fiction:

Commentary editions of famous novels became so popular that earlier editions without commentary or only rudimentary commentary went out of circulation and became rare books, some only to be rediscovered in the twentieth century... Editions without commentary appeared with titles promising that they contained commentary.

As David Rolston further points out, although the fiction

commentary tradition in premodem China was not "unique""

among world litereury traditions, it was more "robust" and

influential than the medieval tradition of commentary in the

West

This practice of fiction commentary complicates in

significant ways the relationships between the author, the

reader, and the text. In a text with commentary, the commentary is often separated from the narrative proper

through the use of different sizes of characters and the placement of the commentary, as described above. However, this distinction is not always maintained; in some editions, the commentary is virtually indistinguishable from the text

Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, p . 4.

Ibid., pp. 11-17.

11 proper. Fur thermo re y textual boundaries were transgressed when commentator-editors rewrote parts of the narrative, which was a very common practice. This is the case, most notably, in the Jin Shengtan edition of the Shuihu zhusui where Jin cut off the last third of the work, and rewrote extensively the last chapter (Chapter 71) as well as many other parts of the text. Jin Shengtan was by no means the only commentator who took liberties with the text. Neither was the Shuihu zhuan the only work that suffered (or, perhaps, bene fitted) from such a practice. As David Rolston has pointed out, the lines between author and commentator, author and reader, reader and commentator, and extratextual commentator and narratorial commentator were frequently transgressed in many of the commentary editions of fiction in the Ming and Qing.^® Furthermore, whether editorial changes took place or not, the relationship between the narrative proper and the commentary was more than symbiotic. The commentary made up a meta-discurs ive space where interpretations of the narrative were given. Such

Ibid., p. 1.

16 Ibid., p. 1.

12 interpretations were clearly intended to be read together with or prior to the narrative itself, thus in no small measure influencing the reader's understanding of the text.

An especially interesting aspect of traditional fiction commentary is the role played by the commentators, who were readers as well as authors. Questions arise as to the hermeneutic significance of the position of the commentator, and how he viewed himself in relation to the author, the text, and the reader. Both David Rolston and Martin Huang have explored the many strategies that premodern commentators used to manipulate their dual roles as readers and authors, impose their own interpretations on the texts, promote themselves as "privileged" readers, and raise their own positions over those of the authors.Building on their observations, I will look at a few commentary editions of the

Shuihu zhuan published in the Ming and Qing, and examine in detail what the commentators did to the text and how they contributed to the construction of meaning. I will argue that commentaries form an important part in the multiple and often

Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, pp. 105-90; Martin W. Huang, "Author(ity) and Reader in Traditional Chinese Xiaoshuo Commentary, " Chinese Literature; Essays, Articles, Reviews 16 (1994): 41-67.

13 conflicting layers of formal and representational components within the text of the Shuihu zhuan^ and meaning is produced through a constant negotiation between the reader of the finished product and the many intratextual as well as extratextual factors. Furthermore, the commentators themselves manipulated the multiplicity of narrative discourses in the text in order to orient the reader towards their own interpretations. Such efforts, I will argue, were not always successful, and the attempts to impose control sometimes created the opposite effect.

While Chapter Two deals with the formal aspect of the

Shuihu zhuan. Chapter Three focuses on its themes and discusses what cultural issues are represented in the novel, and why they were attractive to the literati reader/commentators of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. I will argue that the literati commentators consciously responded to earlier commentaries on the same novel and debated such important issues as loyalty, rebellion. Heaven's mandate and the right to rule. This animated discourse expanded the Shuihu zhuan from a literary text into an on-going cultural discourse, which continued to be developed at different historical moments.

14 In the fourth and fifth chapters, I will take the discussions of premodem fiction and the Shuihu zhuan beyond the traditional period, eind examine several historical moments in the twentieth century, moments at which either fiction in general or the Shuihu zhuan in particular were re­ evaluated and re-interpreted against the background of new ideologies and political agendas in the cultural and literary transformations in China's modernization. The first historical moment to be examined is the late Qing period

(1895-1911) . I will investigate the use of fiction in the political agendas of such intellectual-reformers as Liang

Qichao (1873-1929) and Yan Fu (1853-1921), focusing on their re-evaluation of traditional fiction in relation to their advocacy of new fiction. I will also examine the re­ interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan against the social- historical background of the time, focusing on the very language used in these interpretations, including such neologisms as "democracy," "human rights," and "socialism," which framed the reading of the novel with a new kind of political agenda. Next I will look at the early Republican era (1911-1949) and examine how the perception and reception of traditional fiction fit into the May Fourth agenda of

15 building a new culture and literature. A. key focus of my inquiry in this chapter is the complex interaction between tradition and modernity in Chinese intellectuals' responses to the historical and cultural imperatives of the late Qing and Republican periods. I will argue that the intellectuals' radical discourse of reform was nevertheless rooted in a traditional world view, and their call for a new culture or literature entailed a reconstruction of the nation's cultural past and a re-writing of its literary history. The case of the Shuihu zhuan illustrates the intellectuals' active appropriation of and negotiations with traditional as well as

Western literary values to serve their contenç»orary political agendas. The novel itself was also transformed and re—cast in a new light. The cultural issues represented in it, such as loyalty and Heaven's mandate, were appropriated and changed into new concepts that were meaningful only in their new contexts.

A similar kind of inquiry is carried out when I look at the reception of the Shuihu zhuan in the People's Republic of

China (est. 1949) . My focus is again on the complex relationships between the text and its historical context, and how meaning was constructed in the interactions between

16 the two. I will first look at the reception of the Shuihu zhuan during the early years of the PRC before the Cultural

Revolution (1966-1976), when the novel was hailed as a revolutionary saga glorifying peasant rebellions. I will try to demonstrate that the interest in the novel was closely tied to the need of the new regime to consolidate its rule by creating an "epic" or a history of itself which would justify its past and present, and envision its future. A key element in the writing of this epic was the construction of a revolutionary tradition which existed before and therefore legitimized the birth of the Communist Party. The interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan in terms of peasant revolution and class struggle helped to create a collective cultural memory from which the revolutionary cause of the

Communist regime would appear as a natural progression of history.

The official evaluation of the Shuihu zhuan changed drastically during the "Shuihu Campaign" in the mid 1970s.

Instead of a eulogy of peasant rebellion, the Shuihu zhuan was now condemned as a reactionary novel that propagated capitulationism. Instead of being glorified as a revolutionary leader, the character Song Jiang was

17 caricatured as a traitor and most treacherous enemy of the

revolutionary cause. This different reading of the novel was

nevertheless motivated by a similar need to appropriate it in

order to serve contemporary political agendas. The example of

the polar evaluations of the novel before sind during the

Cultural Revolution further supports my argument that meaning

does not lie within the text. Instead, it is constructed in

the interactions between the text and the ever-changing

cultural and historical contexts and produced by a multiplicity of factors affecting the processes of reading

and interpretation.

This study thus builds on the enormous Shuihu

scholarship and hopes to contribute to the field by focusing on the novel as a continuous cultural discourse and its role

in the elite cultural/political agendas in the past four hundred years. Though vast and almost impossible to categorize without running the risk of over-generalizing a diverse body of critical approaches, the contemporary field of Shuihu studies may be roughly divided into three categories in terms of their respective focuses on the author, the text, the world or the reader. Textual studies deal with the identity of the author of the novel and the

18 evolution of its text.^® While social/historical factors

relevant to the life of the author are taken into

consideration, the role of the reader and the reading process

are generally excluded from textual inquiries. Critical

studies of the Shuihu zhuan in the West, following the model

set by C.T. Hsia in his path-breaking The Classic Chinese

Novel,focus on the structure and/or meaning in the text.

Works in this category are too many to list in full. Representatives include Richard Irwin, The Evolution of a Chinese Novel: Shui-hu chuan (Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press, 1953); idem, "Water Margin Revisited," T'oung Pao 48 (1960): 393-415; Yan Dunyi, Shuihu zhuan de yanbian (Beijing: Zuojia, 1957); He Xin, Shuihu yanjiu (Shanghai: Gudian wenxue, 1957), pp. 1-90; and Zheng Zhenduo'^s "Introduction" to Shuihu quan zhuan, 4 vols. (Beijing: Remain wenxue, 1954), pp. 1-7. For a more detailed report on the state of the field of traditional Chinese fiction studies, including studies of the Shuihu zhuan, see Hegel, "Traditional Chinese Fiction — The State of the Field," and its exhaustive list of references.

C.T. Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel: A Critical Introduction (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968) . Representatives of studies in this category also include Phillip S. Y. Sun, "The Seditious Art of The Water Margin — Misogynists or Desperadoes?" Renditions 1 (Autumn, 1973) : 99- 106; Plaks, The Four Masterworks, pp. 279-359; idem, "Shui­ hu Chuan and the Sixteenth-century Novel Form: An Interpretive Reappraisal. " Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews 2 (1980): 3—53; Deborah Porter, "The Style of 'Shui-hu chuan’." Ph.D dissertation, Princeton University, 1989; Peter Li, "Narrative Patterns in San-kuo and Shui-hu. " In Andrew Plaks, ed. Chinese Narrative : Critical and Theoretical Essays (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977), pp. 73-84; and Andrew Hing-bun Lo, "San-kuo-chih yen-i

19 Textual concerns and the cultural/historical contexts are

often taken into consideration in such studies. Little

attention, however, is paid to the reader and the reception

of the novel at different historical times. The group of

inquiries which does pay attention to the reader are the

afore-mentioned studies of traditional fiction commentary and

literary aesthetics. The focus of this group is on the

sources, development, forms and terminology of traditional

fiction commentary and the aesthetic theories regarding

fiction by important commentators in the Ming and Qing. By

analyzing how the traditional commentators read and wrote

and Shui-hu chuan in the Context of Historiography: An Interpretive Study." Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1981.

In addition to David Rolston's How to Read and Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, Martin Huangs "Author (ity) and Reader," we can also add John C.Y. Wang, Chin Sheng-t ' an (N.Y. : Twayne, 1972) ; Shan Te-hsing, "The Aesthetic Response in Chin-p^i shui-hu: An Iserian Reading of Chin Sheng-tan^ s Commentary Edition of The Shui-hu chuan." In John C.Y.Wang, ed. Chinese Literary Criticism of the Ch^ ing Period (1644-1911) (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1993), pp. 171-209; Hua Laura Wu, "Jin Shengtan (1608-1661) : Founder of a Chinese Theory of the Novel." Ph.D dissertation. University of Toronto, 1993; Ding Naifei, "Tears of Ressentiment; or, Zhang Zhupo's Jin Ping Mei," Positions 3:3 (1995): 663-94; Wang Xianpei and Zhou Weimin, Ming Qing xiaoshuo lilun piping shi (Guangzhou: Huacheng, 1988); and Ye Lang, Zhongguo xiaoshuo meixue (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 1982) .

20 fiction, these studies explore the complex relationships between the author, the reader and the text.

It is to this last group of Shuihu criticism that my current study is most indebted. My study, however, tries to expand the scope of inquiry in two ways. First, I emphasize the interactions between the text, the reader and the world by investigating, on the one hand, how the novel was transformed in the process of reading, and on the other hand, how the elite readers appropriated the novel to enhance their cultural positions or to serve their respective political agendas. Secondly, I attempt a historical overview of the elite reception of the Shuihu zhuan from the sixteenth to the twentieth century, focusing on how the important cultural issues represented in the novel were developed and reinterpreted in the socio-political contexts at different historical moments. The chapters dealing with the modern reception of the Shuihu zhuan, a topic which has been little explored, examine the role of the novel in the complex interactions between tradition and modernity in the broad realm of cultural practices in China in the past hundred years. By studying the cultural significance of the reading and writing of the Shuihu zhuan, I aim at treating the novel

21 in. particular and traditional fiction in general not as literary relics front the past but as dynamic cultural discourses which have played significant roles in the social and ideological transformations in both traditional and modern Chinese societies.

22 CHAPTER 1

CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF READING AND WRITING FICTION

IN THE LATE MING AND EARLY QING PERIOD

The period from late Ming to early Qing (approximately from the early sixteenth century to the late seventeenth century) is generally regarded as a period of great development for traditional fiction and fiction commentary.

A number of historical and cultural factors contributed to this flourishing, including the development in print technology, the expansion of the book trade, increased urbanization which led to greater cultural diversity, and, most of all, a growing literati dominance in the writing, commenting and producing of fiction. ^ Parallel with this

^ Andrew Plaks, Four Masterworks, pp. 3-54. See also Robert Hegel, The Novel in Seventeenth-Century China (New York: Columbia University Press, 1981), pp. 1-32; Evelyn S. Rawski, "Economic and Social Foundations of Late Imperial Culture," in David Johnson et al. eds., Popular Culture in Late Imperial China (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), pp. 17-28; and W.L.Idema, Chinese Vernacular Fiction: The Formative Period (Leiden, 1974), pp. XLIV-

23 development, however, was an increasing awareness of fiction's potential subversiveness, which led to repeated govenmental censorship against it in the Yuan, Ming and

Qing.^ In addition, orthodox Confucians of the time continued to voice oppositions to fictional works, condemning them for instigating brigandage and teaching licentiousness. ^

For this reason, fiction writers and commentators at that time felt obliged to defend it against such charges by resorting to a number of strategies, including endowing apparently "lewd" works with the function of moral instruction to the reader. Whether these authors/commentators seriously believed in fiction's didactic function is not important. What seems significant to me is the kind of strategies that they used to not only legitimize the works

LXIV.

^ See Wang Liqi, Yuan Ming Qing sandai jinghui xiaoshuo xigu shiliao (Shanghai: Guji, 1981); and Ma Tai-loi, "Novels Prohibited in the Literary Inquisition of Emperor Ch'ien- lung, 1722-1788," in Winston Yang and Curtis Adkins, eds.. Critical Essays on Chinese Fiction (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1980), pp. 201-212.

^ Examples of negative opinions of fiction are given by Hua Laura Wu in "Jin Shengtan (1608-1661): Founder of a Chinese Theory of the Novel" (Ph.D dissertation. The University of Toronto, 1993), pp. 3-4, n. 9.

24 they were writing, commenting or selling, but also enhance their own status as elites by manipulating the different cultural roles associated with the writing and reading of fiction. In this chapter, I would like to look at how fiction as a genre was manipulated by the literati in the late Ming and early Qing, and investigate the purposes of and strategies involved in their theorizing of fiction. I will argue that these critics tried to legitimize the fictional works they were promoting by associating them with an older tradition of xiaoshuo. My focus is on the cultural significance associated with the writing and reading of fiction, and how the literati manipulated their complex relationships with the people as well as the ruler in order to enhance their own symbolic power and cultural authority.

I. Fiction as the "People's Discourse"

The term most frequently used during the Ming and Qing to refer to such vernacular narratives as the Shuihu zhuan is xiaoshuo (literally, "small talk"). Xiaoshuo in early China meant "other" works that did not fit into the major category

25 of narrative y i.e./- history. Classified under the zhuzi

(various writers of expositoiry and argumentative prose) section in the Han shu (History of the Former Han), ^ xiaoshuo was assumed to be generally "discursive/ " though less significant than philosophical works. ^ From early on/ discussions of xiaoshuo reveal an ambivalent attitude towards it on the part of the literati. The following is one of the earliest remarks on xiaoshuo. It was made by the historian

Ban Gu (A.D. 32-92) in the "Yi wen zhi" (Record of Arts and

Writings) section in the Han shU/ and regularly quoted since

Lu Xun'’s (1881-1936) A Brief History of Chinese Fiction

(Zhongguo xiaoshuo shi lue) was first published in 1924:®

The xiaoshuo writers succeeded those minor officials (baiguan) whose task it was to collect the gossip and

See Rolstou/ Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary/ p. 132.

^ Robert Hegel/ "Traditional Chinese Fiction: The State of the Field/" p. 394. See also Sheldon LU/ From Historicity to FictionalitV/ pp. 42-3.

® Ban Gu placed xiaoshuo last in a list of ten "schools"/ which include Confucianism/ Taoism/ Mohism/ Legalism and Yin-yang school. See Sheldon LU/ From Historicity to Fictionality/ pp. 42-3. Ban Gu's classification built on the earlier efforts by Liu Xiang (79-8 B.C) and his son Liu Xin (d. 23 A.D.) . See Robert Ford Campany/ Strange Writing/ p. 131.

26 rumor of the streets and alleys. Confucius said^ "Even by-ways are worth exploring. But if we go too fax we may be bogged down. Therefore^ gentlemen do not undertake this."^ But neither do they dismiss such talk altogether. [The xiaoshuo writers] collected the sayings of the common people^ because some of them may prove useful. This was at least the opinion of country rustics.®

Ban Gu traced the origin of xiaoshuo writers to the ancient office of baiguany collectors of local talks and anecdotes to inform the imperial court of public opinion.® The humble but useful position of the baiguan suggests something about the status of xiaoshuo. According to Ban Gu^ a Confucian scholar should not pay too much attention to xiaoshuo because it is trivial and insignificant ("gossip and rumor"). He should not, however, dismiss it altogether either, because it

^ In the Lunyu, this passage (19:4) is uttered by one of Confucius' disciples, Zi Xia. See Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, p. 25, n. 3.

® Ban Gu, Han shu 12 vols. (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962), p. 1745. The translation is based on Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang's in Lu Xun, A Brief History of Chinese Fiction (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1959), p. 3, with modifications. Translations in this study are mine unless otherwise indicated.

® Cihai (1 vol. Shanghai, 1989) , p. 1976. According to Yan Shigu's commentary on Han shu, baiguan was a minor official whose task was to report to the ruler about local customs. See Ban Gu, Han shu, p. 1745.

27 represents the sayings of the common people which should be collected and kept for a certain purpose. What purpose were sayings of the people supposed to serve? The following passage, found in the ”Jing ji zhi" (Record of Classics and

Documents ) in the Sui shu (History of the Sui Dynasty) , further clarifies this issue:

Xiaoshuo were the talk of the streets. Thus the Zuo zhuan (Zuo Commentary) quotes chair-beeirers' chants while the Shij ing (The Book of Songs) praises the ruler who consulted rustics. In days of old when a sage was on the throne, the official historians wrote records, blind minstrels made songs, artisans recited admonitions, ministers gave advice, gentlemen discoursed and the common people uttered complaints. Clappers sounded in early spring as a search was made for folk songs, while officers on tours of inspections understood local customs from the popular songs; and if mistakes had been made these were rectified. All the talk of the streets and highways was recorded. Officers at court took charge of local records and prohibitions, while the officers in charge of civil affairs reported local sayings and customs. Thus Confucius said: "Even by-ways are worth exploring. But if we go too far we may be bogged down.

From this passage, we can see that xiaoshuo was endowed with a socially beneficial function of providing admonitions and complaints in aid of government. This passage paints an idealistic picture of the "days of old" when an orderly

Based on Yang & Yang's translation, with modifications, in Lu Xun, A Brief History, p. 4.

28 hierarchy was maintained through opening the channels of

advice and admonition. It was believed that folk songs and

the talk of the streets were the media through which the

common people expressed their opinions and complaints, and

these local songs and sayings were collected and reported to

the ruler for his information. Folk songs and xiaoshuo were

therefore believed to have the function of informing the

sovereign and his ministers of the opinion of the people, and

to serve the purpose of facilitating effective communications

between the ruler and the people.

What is most important to my argument here is the theory

in both Ban Gu's remarks and the passage in the Sui shu that

xiaoshuo was the discourse of the common people which was

collected and written down by officials. As one critic has pointed out, this feature of xiaoshuo is unique in that,

except for the Book of Songs, "the works of no other school

are said to have been produced in this way.""^ As "sayings

of the common people" or "talk of the streets," xiaoshuo was

viewed as an oral discourse, which was transformed into

11 Robert Ford Campany, Strange Writing, p. 133

29 written discourse through the process of being collected and recorded by minor officials (baigusin) or xiaoshuo writers.

In the passage of the Sui shu quoted above, we can see an implied hierarchical distinction between the oral folk tradition (songs made by blind minstrels, admonitions and complaints uttered by the common people) and the written tradition of the elite (records written by the official historians) It is through the transition from oral discourse to written discourse that the sayings and songs of the people were appropriated by the elite, relocated into their ideological and discursive system, and endowed with political and moral functions which were primarily the concerns of the elite.

Xiaoshuo is not the only place where the folk discourse is displaced and appropriated by the elite. An important example of the elite's appropriation of popular discourse is the Book of Songs, one of the Confucian classics. We are told that Confucius selected the 305 songs from an earlier

12 I am grateful to Mark Bender who pointed out such a distinction to me.

30 collection of over three thousand. Although we do not know

whether this is true, we do know from the Lunyu (Analects)

that Confucius had a high opinion of these songs. Later

Confucians further made the Book of Songs a classic of the

Confucian school, accorded with significant political, social

and cultural value. In the "Great Preface" (Da xu) to the

Book of Songs, we can see clearly the bestowing of political

and social significance on the folk discourse:

The government employs the popular song [feng] to influence the people. The governed employ it for the purpose of offering barbed admonition to their princes. When an indirect admonition is chiefly noted for its mellifluousness, he who dares to speak cannot be regarded as offensive, and he on whose ears it falls can afford to take counsel. This is why popular songs [feng] are said to be admonitory [ feng]

The word feng refers to the first section of the Book of

Songs, the "Guo feng" (Airs of the States) , which contains

Sima Qian, Shi ji (10 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959), juan 47, p. 1905.

See Steven Van Zoeren'^ s excellent study of the textual and historical context and cultural significance of the "Great Preface" in Poetry and Personality: Reading, Exegesis, and Hermeneutics in Traditional China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1991), pp. 80-115.

The translation is Siu-kit Wong's in Early Chinese Literary Criticism (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing Co., 1983), p. 2.

31 folk songs. By its interchangeability with the word feng^ "to

criticize," the folk songs are accorded with the function of

social criticism.. At the beginning of the "Great Preface, " a

more detailed exposition is given to the semantic meanings of

the word feng:

"Guan ju" is a reflection on the virtues of the Empress. It is placed at the beginning of the Feng Section of the Shi j ing; its purport is to influence [ feng] the entire world in the rectification of the relationship between husbands and their wives. The poem is as valid to the humblest dwellers of villages as it is of ceremonial use on national occasions. The word "feng" means "influence"; by extension it means "teaching." Men are affected by influences, they are educated through teaching.

Here feng is used as a verb, meaning "to influence," and "to

teach." "Guan ju," a popular love song, is interpreted to

refer to the virtues of the Empress, and thereupon the

virtues of King Wen.^^ It is after this "eliticizing"

process that the folk song is granted the moral power of

influencing the world and teaching and educating the people.

In this way, the folk discourse is appropriated by the elite,

colored by the elite's social concerns, and then used by the

Ibid., p. 1.

17 Ibid., p. 5, n. 2.

32 elite as a discourse of social criticism and moral

instruction.

As seen in Ban Gu's statement and the passage in the Sui

shu quoted above, xiaoshuo, like the folk song, was also

regarded as the discourse of the common people. However,

unlike the Book of Songs, which was institutionalized as a

Confucian classic and occupied a central position in the

literary canon, xiaoshuo remained a marginal discourse in the

official view. It was granted a right to existence based on

the idea that xiaoshuo, as the discourse of the common people, had the social function of providing admonitions and

complaints in aid of government. This view was echoed and

expanded in later scholars' comments on xiaoshuo. For

example, Liu Zhiji (661-721), the Tang historian who was generally critical of the trivial intent and inelegant style of many xiaoshuo works, nevertheless acknowledged their value based on the assumption that "a wise ruler always listens to the talk of the country rustics.

Liu Zhiji, "Za shu," in Huang Lin and Han Tongwen, eds., Zhongguo lidai xiaoshuo lunzhu xuan. Vol. 1 (Nanchang: Jiangxi remain, 1982), p. 35.

33 I am not concerned with whether the origin of xiaoshuo as described by Ban Gu and in the Sui shu is true or not.

What seems important to me is the fact that xiaoshuo was theorized as the discourse of the common people, a notion that helped to carve out a place for it in the traditional literary canon as a marginal yet legitimate and useful discourse. The reading and writing of xiaoshuo was thus framed as a meaningful cind warranted activity in the early discourse on the genre. It was exactly the authority granted by this ancient tradition of xiaoshuo or baiguan that critics in the Ming and Qing appealed to when arguing for the legitimacy of the works they were promoting.If we consider the increasing literati participation in the writing and producing of fiction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it becomes clear that the association of their activities with the ancient tradition of collecting the folk discourse was the literati's strategy to justify their

In the discussions by critics in the Ming and Qing, we see frequent allusions to the ancient tradition of xiaoshuo. See, for just a few examples, Lin Han (1434- 1519), ''Sui-Tang zhi zhuan tongsu yanyi xu;"" Xiong Damu, "Xin kan Da Song yanyi zhongxin yinglie zhuan; Chen Jiru (1558-1639), "Tang shu yanyi xu;"" and Tang Xianzu (1550- 1616), "Dian jiao Yuchu zhi xu, all in Huang and Han,

34 writing and reading of fiction and claim for it a particular social value as well as a special license.

The relationship with the people was important to the literati'" s self-perception and identity in traditional China.

Educated in the Confucian tradition emphasizing social participation and one'"s moral obligations, the literati or

"scholar-officials" viewed it as their responsibility to speak for the people and bring the interests or sufferings of the people to the attention of the ruler. When they remonstrated with the ruler, they would act as the people's representative in order to claim moral support for themselves. On the other hand, it was also the self-assigned responsibility of the literati to educate the people with moral principles in order to ensure order and stability. In this respect, they acted as the spokespersons of the Son of

Heaven, the ultimate source of moral power, disseminating his teachings and instructions among the people.

In his study of the sociology of cultural production,

Pierre Hour dieu contemplates the uses of the "people" within political, religious and artistic fields and points out that

Lunzhu xuan. Vol. 1, p. 109, 117, 135, 179.

35 t±ie "people" or "the popular" is one of the things at stake

"in the struggle between intellectuals. The people is a strategy used by intellectuals to enhance their own status and power as elites (e.g. the power of speaking about or for the people) . From my discussions above, we can see that the conception of xiaoshuo by the traditional Chinese literati reveals their complex relationship with the people. In fact, the idea of the "common people" was itself an ideological construct by the literati. Ban Gu used the term churao

(wood- and grass-cutters) to refer to people outside the literati class. This and another term, shuren (commoners), often appear in literati' s discussions of xiaoshuo. These terms imply a generalized and over-simplified classification which disregards the vast social and economic differences among the people who were outside the literati class. In fact, "common people" is an imaginary and symbolic group which is projected as morally superior but culturally and

Pierre Bourdieu, "The Uses of the 'People'^, " in In Other Words; Essays Towards a Reflexive Sociology. Trans, by Matthew Adamson, (Cambridge; Polity Press, 1990), p. 150.

See, for example, the comments by Liu Zhiji in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 35.

36 politically disadvantaged. The literati can both identify with and distance themselves from this constructed "other" by playing the dual role of both the representative and educator of the "common people". This is seen most clearly in the dual

functions that they accorded to xiaoshuo : as both the discourse of the people and the discourse for the people.

Early remarks on xiaoshuo made by Ban Gu and found in the Sui shu identify the people as the source of xiaoshuo. In discussions by Ming and Qing scholars, however, we see that the people are now the targeted audience of xiaoshuo.

Xiaoshuo was endowed with a didactic and utilitarian function of moral instructions to the masses. For example, Tiandu

Waichen^^, in the preface to the 1589 edition of the Shuihu zhuan, recommends the work for its ability to "admonish" the world.

The emphasis on the social, didactic function of literature was of course a prevalent view in traditional

Generally identified as the poet, playwright and high official Wang Daokun (1525-1593), though some scholars have raised doubt over it. See Plaks, Four Masterworks, pp. 286-7

Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian (Beijing; Zhonghua shuju, 1980), p. 3.

37 China. However^ traditional critics were able to link fiction's didactic function to its unique character of being tongsu (accessible to the populace)r a. trait that distinguishes it from the classics or histories. For example,

Xiuran Zi, in a foreword to one edition of the Sanguo zhi yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 1522) , explains the importance of this fictionalized work despite the existence of official historical records:

The historian records detailed events in an archaic style, conveying subtle meanings and profound messages. [For that reason, ] few except for the most knowledgeable scholars are able to read them without instantly falling asleep. Therefore someone concerned put together [the events of the Three Kingdoms] in the common and contemporary language so that people all over the world can comprehend the events, understand their meanings, and be emotionally stirred. Even without prolonged and concentrated contemplation, people would know why the legitimate ruler must be supported, the usurpers must be executed, the principles of loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness must be followed, and the evils of treachery, greediness and flattery must be eliminated. [This work] lets people understand clearly what is right and what is wrong. Its educational benefits are broad and grand. How can it be accused of being superfluous?^^

Identified as Zhang Shangde of the 16th century. See Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. Ill, n. 1.

Xiuran Zi, "Sanguo zhi tongsu yanyi yin, " in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 111. Similar arguments were made by a Yongyu Zi in the preface to the earliest printed edition of the

38 The author of the above passage attributes the easy accessibility of the novel to the common and contemporary language it employs, in contrast to the archaic style of historical writings. Promoters of fiction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries believed that, because fictional works were easy to understand, they could reach an audience not educated enough to comprehend more sophisticated forms of writing such as the classics or the histories. Through fiction, then, profound meanings in the histories would be made apparent, and the masses would be educated with correct moral principles. In this way, fiction could function as an effective means of moral instruction to the masses.

As one m o d e m critic has proposed, the term yanyi in the titles of many historical novels can be understood as the illustration or "playing out" of moral principles for the reader.^' From the above quotation, we can see that the purpose of such illustration was clearly understood to be

Sanguo zhi yanyi in 1494. See Lunzhu xuan, p. 104.

Andrew Hing-bun Lo, "San-kuo-chih yen-i and Shui-hu chuan in the Context of Historiography: An Interpretive Study" (Ph.D. dissertation, Princeton University, 1981), pp. 113-14. See also Martin W. Huang, "Author (ity) and Reader," p. 67, n. 87.

39 moral instruction to the masses y and fiction's popularity and accessibility was believed to effectuate such a benefit. As another important Ming critic Chen Jiru (1558-1639) announces, "the principle of yanyi is being accessible to the populace (tongsu) . " He further speculates that the importance of yanyi as popular books lies in their ability to make historical figures and events recorded in standard histories accessible to the common readers.

In addition to the use of common and contemporary language, fiction's popularity was also accounted for in terms of its ability to portray scenes and emotions vividly, an area where fiction was believed to be superior to the classics. For example, the author of one of the prefaces to

Feng Menglong's (1574-1646) Sanyan (Three Collections of

Tales) compares fiction's depiction of feelings and narration of events to the storyteller's live performance and concludes that the classics such as the Xiao j ing (The Book of Filial

Piety) or Lunyu cannot move people as deeply and directly as

Chen Jiru, "Tang shu yanyi xu, " in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 135.

40 fiction does.^® As testimony to the power of fiction, the critic gives the example of a townsman who cut his finger accidentally, but did not cry out in pain because he had just heard the telling of the story of Guan Yunchang, a hero of extraordinary valor in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, who, laughing, underwent an operation without anesthesia.

With such influence over people, the critic concludes, xiaoshuo cam really be used to teach filial piety, loyalty, chastity and righteousness.

Fiction, therefore, was viewed by its literati promoters in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as a means of moral edification for the masses. In the remarks by the critics cited above, we can clearly see that moral teaching through fiction is targeted at people of lesser education and

Liitianguan zhuren, "Gujin xiaoshuo xu, " in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 217. There is scholarly dispute as to whether the prefaces to Feng Menglong's S any an collections were written by Feng himself or one or more of his friends. See Hua Laura Wu, Jin Shengtan, p. 12, n. 26; Wang Xianpei and Zhou Weimin, Ming Qing xiaoshuo lilun piping shi (Guangzhou: Huacheng, 1988), p. 8, 201; Hu Wanchuan, "Sanyan xu ji meipi de zuozhe wenti," in Feng Menglong yu Sanyan (Taibei: Tianyi, 1982), pp. 90-96.

Wu'ai jushi, "Jingshi tongyan xu, ” in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 222.

41 lower social status. For example, the afore-mentioned author of one of the prefaces to Sanyan attributes the need for fiction to the fact that "in the world, people with a literary mind are few and people with common ears are many.Therefore, while "the learned scholars and erudite

Confucians" can benefit from the classics and the histories,

"village men, children, village women and merchants" have to rely on popular fictional works for obtaining knowledge amd moral enlightenment.^^ Similar sentiments are found in a comment by Dadi Yuren^^ on the ability of the Shuihu zhuan to

"use the popular to transform the populace," because "while standard histories cannot attract those down and low, minor discourses (baishuo) may awaken the whole country.

The theory that fiction could reach a mass audience and be used as an effective means of mass education was a

Lutianguan zhuren, "Gujin xiaoshuo xu, " in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 217.

Wu'ai jushi, "Jingshi tongyan xu, " in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 222.

Unidentified. See Irvine, Evolution, p. 100, n. 41.

Dadi Yuren, "Ke Zhongyi Shuihu zhuan yuanqi," in Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, pp. 14-15.

42 strategy used by the literati in the Ming and Qing to claim a legitimate position for fiction. As I will argue in the following discussion^ whether the literati truly believed in the educational benefit of fiction or not, their construction of fiction as a discourse both by the people and for the people ultimately enabled them to use the voice of the other to express their own dissident opinions.

II. Fiction as Expression of Literati "Resentment"

The literati promoters of fiction in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries tried to claim a legitimate position for fiction by identifying it with an earlier tradition of xiaoshuo. This view also acknowledged xiaoshuo * s unorthodox and subversive potential. Ban Gu, as mentioned, characterized xiaoshuo as representing the "opinion of country rustics, " in which the word "opinion" (yi) implies a disagreement or a dissident view.^^ Jin Shengtan was fully aware of the discontent expressed in the Shuihu zhuan when he made the

See the second definition of the character yi in Cihai (Shanghai: 1989, 1 vol.) p. 434.

43 following observations in his comments to Chapter One of the work:

... [This minor history] records the affairs of these 108 people. What is the basis of calling the record of 108 people a history? Since times of old,^ histories have always recorded the opinions of the common people. But how do the common people dare to express their opinions [of disagreement] ? The common people do not dare to express their disagreement. But why do the common people in fact express their disagreement though they do not dare to? If the world is governed by right principles, then the common people do not dispute. But now the common people are disputing.

There are three important points in Jin Shengtan's arguments.

First of all, he believes that the Shuihu zhuain records the

"opinions of the common people" (shuren zhi yi) . Secondly, it is precisely the expression of the "opinions of the common people" that, in Jin's argument, elevates this "minor history" (baishi) to a status similar to history proper.

Thirdly, the opinions that the common people expressed are necessarily opinions of discontent, because only when the world is not governed by the right principle do the common people need to complain. This view is traceable to Confucius, whose ideal society is based on a strictly defined hierarchy:

35 Chen Xizhong et. al., eds., Hui ping ben, vol. 1, p. 54,

44 Confucius said-r "When good government prevails in the empirer ceremoniesr music, and. punitive military expeditions proceed from the son of Heaven. When bad government prevails in the empire, ceremonies, music, and punitive military expeditions proceed from the princes. When these things proceed from the princes, as a rule, the cases will be few in which they do not lose their power in ten generations. When they proceed from the great officers of the princes, as a rule, the cases will be few in which they do not lose their power in five generations When right principles prevail in the kingdom, government will not be in the hands of the Great officers. When right principles prevail in the kingdom, there will be no discussions among the common people.^®

The view of xiaoshuo as a discourse of social criticism immediately places it on the dangerous borderline between what is acceptable admonition and what is unacceptable subversion and heresy. In a sense, xiaoshuo s marginal ity is also its advantage: it is given a special license that is denied the more orthodox forms of writing to express thoughts of discontent. The literati found in xiaoshuo a relatively safe place for discussing dangerous issues. As Wu Cheng*en

(1500? - 1582?) in "Preface to the Yuding zhi" (Yuding zhi xu) argues, "although I do not dare to discuss dynastic

Lunyu 16:2. The translation is James Legge's, in Confucian Analects, the Great Learning & the Doctrine of the Mean (New York: Dover, 1971), p. 310.

45 histories, why should I refrain from, [expressing my opinions

in] unofficial histories

Constructing fiction as the discourse of the common people enables the literati to use the voice of the other to express their own dissident opinions. It also provides the literati with a theoretical safeguard when they needed to argue for a legitimate position for those fictional works which were being accused of subversion or heresy. We are not surprised to find that, in order to justify fiction, literati critics often invoke the canonical authority of the Book of

Songs, the prime example of the elite's appropriation of the people's discourse. For example, Xinxin Zi, author of one of the prefaces to the Jin ping mei (Golden Lotus ), in order to defend it against charges of debauchery, invoked Confucius's comment on the Book of Songs as expressing enjoyment without being licentious.^® Jin Shengtan also alludes to the Book of

Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 122. Yuding zhi was a collection of chuangi tales by Wu Cheng'en, of which only this preface is extant.

Xinxin Zi, "Jin ping mei cihua xu, " in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 193.

46 Songs when pointing out that baishi works should, follow the principle of criticism and indirect remonstration.^®

We can see that,- by associating the fictional works of their time with an older tradition of xiaoshuo which was believed to issue from the people, literati in the late Ming and early Qing were in fact utilizing fiction as a means to voice their own discontent. This use of fiction is seen most clearly in the idea of "fa fen zhu shu" (writing for the release of anger) , which attributes the motivation for writing fiction to the author (s) ' pent-up emotions or resentment. For example, Li Zhi (1527-1602), the iconoclastic thinker, in his "Zhongyi Shuihu zhuan xu"

(Preface to Zhongyi Shuihu zhuan),described "resentment" as the source of all great literature:

39 Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 342

Though the authenticity of many of the commentaries on the Shuihu zhuan attributed to Li Zhi has been generally questioned, this preface is considered authentic because it was included in Li's Fenshu (Books to be Burned, 1590), a collection believed to have been compiled and published by Li himself. See Ray Huang, 1587: A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline (New Haven : Yale University Press, 1981), p. 197. For the authenticity of Li Zhi commentaries on the Shuihu zhuan, see David Rolston, "The Authenticity of the Li Chih Commentaries of the Shui-hu chuan and Other Novels Treated in This Volume," in How to

47 The Grand Historian (Sima Qian) remarked, "'Shui nan' (The Difficulty of Persuasion) and 'Gu fen' (Resentment Over Being Alone) were written by a sage to express his resentment." From this we can see that sages and worthies of ancient times wrote only when they wanted to express their resentment. Writing not motivated by resentment is like trembling without feeling cold or moaning without being sick. This kind of writing is not worth reading!

According to Li Zhi, great writings are those which express their authors' subjective thoughts and feelings. Furthermore, these are not ordinary thoughts or feelings, but

"resentment," which implies feelings of discontent. The

Shuihu zhuan, says Li Zhi, was written out of its author's bitterness over the corruption of the Song court which allows evil men to be in power and virtuous men to be mistreated.

Jin Shengtan, in his commentary on the same work, expresses similar sentiments over situations where righteous men have to endure the abuses by incompetent and corrupt officials. He

Read, pp. 356-63.

"Shui nan" and "Gu fen" were essays by Han Fei Zi (ca. 280-233 B.C.). See Sima Qian's biography of Han Fei in Shiji, 10 vols. (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959), juan 63, pp. 2147-8.

Li Zhi, "Zhongyi Shuihu zhuan xu," in Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, p. 3-4.

Ibid.

48 even went so far as to interpret the character "nai" in Shi

Nai'’an, name of the putative author of the Shuihu zhuan^ as

"endure," referring to the injustice and mistreatment that he had to bear.“‘* Chen Chen (1614-after 1666), author of the

Shuihu hou zhuan (Sequel to Shuihu zhuan) , also referred to both the Shuihu zhuan and his own sequal as works of resentment.The Shuihu zhuan was not the only work which was believed to have been written out of resentment. Zhang

Zhupo (1670-1698) , for example, wrote that "The Jin Ping Mei is characterized by an air of resentful indignation, but then its author is certainly a reincarnation of Sima Qian.""*®

The idea of writing for release was clearly associated with Sima Qian (1457-90? B.C.) and his writing of the Shiji

(Records of the Grand Historian) . In his famous "Letter to

Ren An," Sima Qian associates writing with the author's

Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 167, 342.

Chen Chen, "Shuihu hou zhuan lunlue, " in Zhu Yixuan and Liu Yuchen, eds., Shuihu zhuan ziliao huibian (Tianjin: Baihua wenyi, 1981), p. 554.

Hou Zhongyi and Wang Rumei, eds., Jin Ping Mei ziliao huibian (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 1985), p. 41, trans. by David Rolston in Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, p. 156.

49 misfortunes by giving the examples of ancient worthies whose works were the products of suffering and frustration. His own workr the Shijiy is viewed by later literati as the prime example of literary greatness created out of moral indignation. It became a symbol of the literati^ s sense of personal righteousness and moral mission. Moreover^ the

Shiji itself was viewed by some as a "slanderous book"

(bangshu) in which the author used his personal judgment to criticize authority.'*® What the Shiji was to them was the release of pent-up anguish through writing, conveying the author's own interpretation of the persons and events he writes about. The writers and commentators mentioned above, by associating their works with the Shiji, consciously utilized them as vehicles for the venting of their own spleens.

In the case of the Shuihu zhuan, the kind of ainger or resentment was over the mistreatment of men of virtue and

Sima Qian, "Letter to Ren An," translated by J.R. Hightower, in Cyril Birch ed., Anthology of Chinese Literature: From Early Times to the Fourteenth Century (New York: Grove, 1965), p. 101.

David Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, pp. 156-7.

50 talent in an unjust world. It was this feeling of

"cherishing unrecognized talent" (huaicai buyu) that the literati critics such as Li Zhi and Jin Shengtan could identify with more than cinything else. This feeling was of course typical of the literati tradition, with a locus classlcus in Qu Yuan, who was, incidentally, the first person to associate writing with the expression of resentment."*^

Injustice and mistreatment may have been even more keenly felt by the literati in the late Ming because of the political atmosphere of the time, characterized by a weak and disintegrating court and brutal power struggles among different factions.The causes for literati resentment may be political, personal, and/or libidinal, and the writing of fiction was viewed as a means to express personal

Wang Xianpei suid Zhou Weimin, Ming qing xiaoshuo lilun piping shi, p. 150.

See Albert Chan, The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty (Norman: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1982), pp. 151- 86.

Ding Naifei explores Zhang Zhupo's strategies of reading/writing the Jin Ping Mei with reference to seventeenth-century literati's complex feelings of fear, resentment as well as attraction towards sexually lascivious women. See "Tears of Ressentiment," pp. 663-94.

51 indignation as well as to criticize social conditions.

Furthermore, "writing for the release of anger" relates not only to writing fiction but also to commenting on fictional works. For example, the reason for Li Zhi's undertaking of commenting on the Shuihu zhuan was attributed to his

"bellyful of untimely thoughts" (bu he shi yi) , which could be released only through commenting on the Shuihu zhuan.

Returning to Jin Shengtan'^s comments quoted above, in which he claimed that the Shuihu zhuan represented "the common people's discourse," I want to point out a paradox in

Jin's arguments, a paradox which in fact underlies his attitude towards the whole book. On the one hand, he seems to justify the common people's complaints against an unjust government by invoking the notion that only in an unjust society do the people need to complain. On the other hand, however, he deleted the last third of the original Shuihu zhuan because he did not like the ideas portrayed in it, which to him advocated rebellion. Jin Shengtan, though acknowledging and defending the subversiveness of the Shuihu

"Piping Shuihu zhuan shuyu" signed "Huai Lin" (a friend of Li Zhi), in Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 25.

52 zhuan, never went so far as to allow it to be a glorification

of rebellion, i^parently there were historical reasons for

Jin's ambivalent attitudes towards the rebels, which will be

discussed at a later point. What I am interested in doing now

is to investigate further what Jin Shengtan meant by "the

common people's discourse." Or, in other words, exactly

whose discourse, according to Jin Shengtan, is to be

represented in a literary work?

In the first of three prefaces for his edition of the

Shuihu zhuan, Jin Shengtan presents a lengthy treatise on the

legitimacy of "authoring writings" (zuoshu) . He starts by

saying that only a sage or the Son of Heaven had the

authority to be an author. Even Confucius, who had the

virtue of a sage but not the position of the Son of Heaven,

could only claim to have transmitted (shu) earlier records

rather than authored (zuo) them. Many misguided people of

later ages presumed that they had the authority to write all

kinds of harmful books, which undermined the order and peace

in the world. Jin maintains that he may help to put a stop

Summary of this part of the preface is adapted from Martin Huang in "Author(ity) and Reader," pp. 43-44.

53 to this harmful practice of "commoners authoring books"■

(shuren zuoshu) :

As a commoner with no power to forbid people to write, I analyze and dissect the work of a hard-working author. If by so doing future writers are intimidated and stop writing and the written books are banned all of a sudden, my contribution to the world will be more wonderful than the fire set by the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty... I dare not regard myself as a great contributor to cultural history. But at least I may serve as an exterminator.

We can see that Jin Shengtan gave himself a lot of authority by comparing his commenting on the Shuihu zhuan to Confucius' transmitting of ancient records. Jin also drew a parallel between his act of commenting with the burning of books by the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (259-210 B.C.) . Both actions, according to Jin, aimed at prohibiting unauthorized writing. As Martin Huang has pointed out, Jin Shengtan elevated the status of "transmitting", and henceforth his own status as a literati commentator, to the height of an

"authoritative" act.

Chen Xizhong et al., Huiping ben, p. 6. The translation is Shan Te-hsing's, with modification, in "The Aesthetic Response in Chin-p'i shui-hu," p. 173.

55 Martin Huang, "Author (ity) and Reader," p. 44.

54 Furthermore, Jin played with the notion of "commoner"

(shuren) to enhance his own symbolic power. Though he seems modest by referring to himself as a commoner, he is in fact elevating his own status by associating himself with

Confucius, who is also a commoner. Thus when Jin Shengtan states that the Shuihu zhuan expresses the commoner's dissent, he is in effect claiming the right of speech for himself. The idea of shuren also relates in significaint ways to the notion of wenren (literary man; literatus) , another important concept in Jin's arguments. Though the literati were the cultural elite in traditional China, not all members of the literati belonged to the ruling class. This was especially ture in the last years of the Ming dynasty when the political situation made it both difficult and undesirable for scholars to become officials. In this sense, literati such as Jin Shengtan himself, who never held any official position,^® were indeed "commoners." However, they were privileged commoners in that, though not in the center of political power, the literati clearly held fast to cultural and symbolic power. In the following comments on

John C.Y. Wang, Chin Sheng-t' an, pp. 24-36.

55 tiie Shuihu zhuaiiy Jin unmistakably states that the production

of discourse was the literati'’s privilege, the one power they were entitled to:

Compiling histories is the responsibility of the state, but it is up to the literary man [wenren] to actually write these histories. The state is concerned with recording the events [shi] irrespective of the literary quality [wen] . But the literary man should not merely care about writing down the events. He must also ... strive to produce a piece of writing that is the most marvellous in the world [juedai qiwen] ... When Sima Qian wrote the biography of Bo Yi, the events were about Bo Yi, but the intention was not necessarily Bo Yi's intention. . . What is the intention? Nothing but literary excellence [wen] ... The great events of an entire era are merely materials for Sima Qian to compose his marvellous piece of writing, and no ruler or minister can interfere. When it comes to the affairs of the state, the ruler and his ministers have the power [to decide], which the Confucian scholar should not discuss. But when it comes to holding the pen and writing down [these affairs], this is within the power of the literary man (wenren) . Although the ruler and the ministers are superior, how dare they put in one word of interference?^^

A key concept in Jin's arguments is "wen", which does not simply mean "writing" or "literariness. " Wen in the Chinese tradition embodies immense cosmological, moral and political power.We can see that, in the passage quoted above, Jin

Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 539.

See Steven Owen's discussion of the significance of wen

56 Shengtan is clearly claim ing this power of wen to challenge the political power of the regime. According to Jin, only through writing are the deeds of the ruler and the ministers preserved and known to posterity. Thus tremendous power of moral judgment is bestowed on the writer, whose pen can honor as well as condemn. The power of the literati, therefore, comes from their claim to this discursive privilege. Jin

Shengtan frequently referred to this idea of wen when commenting on the Shuihu zhuan;

I have said that the Shuihu zhuan is superior to the Shiji, but nobody believes me. Really, I wasn't talking nonsense. The truth is that in the Shiji words are used to carry events [yi wen yun shi], while in the Shuihu zhuan events are produced from the words [yin wen sheng shi] . When you use words to carry events, you first have events that have taken place in such-and-such a way, and then you must figure out a piece of narrative for them. To use words to produce events, on the other hand, is quite different. All you have to do is follow where your pen leads. To cut down what is tall and make tall what is short is all up to you.^®

I hate those young people who, when they read, ignore the art of writing [wenzi] . As long as they can remember in Traditional Chinese Poetry and Poetics: Omen of the World (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985), pp.18-27.

The translation is John C.Y. Wang's, with modifications, in Rolston, How to Read, p. 133.

57 a few incidents from the book;, they consider themselves to have read it.®°

For Jin Shengtan, the emphasis on wen was not merely a

literary- or aesthetic issue. Wen or literary excellence was

endowed with a symbolic power, offering the literati a

position from which to challenge the political authority of

the regime. By the same token, Jin Shengtsin accords his own

commentary on the Shuihu zhuan with a high literary authority

and pedagogical significance, for he sees himself as the only

one who can "elucidate the spirit and principle"®^ of the

novel:

Formerly when young people read the Shuihu zhuan they learned many irrelevant matters from it. Although the punctuation and commentary of my edition is only rough and incomplete, after the young people read it, they will have learned many literary devices. They will not only know that there are numerous literary devices in the Shuihu zhuan, they will also be able to detect even the literary devices in the Zhanguo ce (Intrigues of the Warring States) and the Shiji. Formerly, when young people read the Zhanguo ce and the Shiji, they would

The translation is John C.Y. Wang's, with modifications, in Rolston, How to Read, p. 139.

Jin Shengtan, "Xu san," in Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 11.

58 only pay attention to the irrelevant matters. This is really laughable.®^

According to Jin Shengtan, it is the ability to recognize, understand and illuminate the literary qualities of a piece of writing that is the true indication of a literatus. He is not only entitled to produce literary works, but he also monopolizes their consumption, for, as Jin Shengtan argues, the privilege to compose literary works and the right to enjoy them should not be available to everyone:

Formerly the Shuihu zhuan was read even by peddlers and y amen runners. Although not a word has been added or subtracted in this version,®^ it is not destined for lowly people. Only those with refined thoughts and feelings can appreciate it.^“*

These remarks show clearly that, though he appeals to "the common people's discourse" in order to justify the political subversiveness of the Shuihu zhuan, Jin Shengtan is actually claiming the power of discourse for himself. Elite critics

Jin Shengtan, "How to Read the Fifth Book of Genius, " trans. by John C.Y. Wang, with modifications, in Rolston, How to Read, p. 145.

Referring to Jin's own commentary edition.

Jin Shengtan, "How to Read the Fifth Book of Genius, " tans, by John C.Y. Wang, with modifications, in Rolston, How to Read, p. 145.

59 such, as Li Zhi and Jin Shengtan merely manipulate the notion of fiction as popular discourse in order to justify their use of it and to enhance their cultural status.

Now I would like to take up an issue which has puzzled many modern critics of Jin Shengtan, an issue regarding his interpretation of the authorial intention behind the Shuihu zhuan. Earlier I pointed out that Jin claimed, in several places in his commentary, that the Shuihu zhuan was written out of "resentment." What is confusing, however, is that Jin was inconsistent in this regard, and sometimes even self­ contradictory. In his "How to Read The Fifth Book of Genius, " an essay intended to teach the reader the correct way to read the Shuihu zhuan, Jin made the following remarks:

When reading a book the first thing to be taken into account is the state of mind of the author when he wrote it. For example, the Shiji was the product of Sima Qian's bellyful of stored-up resentment... The Shuihu zhuan, on the other hand, is a different matter. Its author, Shi Nai ' an, had no bellyful of stored-up

See David Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, pp. 155-6.

Jin Shengtan attributes his 70-chapter (70 hui plus xiezi) version of the Shuihu zhuan, a product of his own excision and rewriting of the 120-chapter edition, to Shi Nai' an, the putative author of the work, aind claims that it is the old and authentic edition (gu ben) which he found in a friend's house. See John C.Y. Wang, Chin Sheng-t'an, p. 54; Rolston,

60 resentment h.e needed to let out. Well-fed, warm, and without anything else to do, carefree at heeurt, he spread out paper and picked up a brush, selected a topic, and then wrote out his fine thoughts and polished phrases [jinxin xiukou] . Therefore his judgments do not go against those of the sages. People of later times were unaware of this and went so far as to add the characters for "loyal" and "righteous" to the title and considered its writing to be similar to Sima Qian*s writing of the Shiji to express his resentment [fafen zhushu] . This is precisely what ought not to be done.®^

In this passage, Jin Shengtan differentiated the Shuihu zhuan from the Shiji on the basis that the latter was written to express the author's "stored-up resentment," while the former was merely an exercise of the author's literary talent

(jinxin xiukou) . While writing to express resentment may be a subversive political act, writing to exercise one's literary talent seemed apolitical. Jin Shengtan described

Shi Nai'an's state of mind when writing the Shuihu zhuan as a state of pleasant leisure: "well-fed, warm, and without anything else to do, carefree at heart." In the "Preface" which Jin himself wrote but claimed to be written by Shi

Nai ' an and found in the "old edition, " Jin, in the persona

How to Read, p. 131, n. 4.

The translation is John C.Y. Waing's, with modifications. in Rolston, How to Read, pp. 131-132.

61 of t±ie author, described the authoricil intention with similar words and asserted that the work was a leisurely product written for the reading pleasure of the author's friends.®®

This explanation of the authorial intention seems opposite to what Jin said elsewhere in his commentary that the author of the Shuihu zhuan wrote to express his anger or resentment.

How shall we understand the seeming inconsistencies and contradictions in Jin Shengtan's ideas? Several critics have proposed that Jin's downplaying of any serious intent in the

Shuihu zhuan should be viewed as a kind of "protective coloration"^® or "a smoke screen designed to deflect criticism of the unorthodox content of the novel. This explanation is persuasive considering the Shuihu zhuan was banned in 1642, and Jin was probably completing his

®® Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, pp. 23-24.

See, e.g., Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 167 and 342.

Zhang Guoguang, Shuihu yu Jin Shengtan yanjiu (Henan: Zhongzhou shuhua she, 1981), p. 235; Ye Lang, Zhongguo xiaoshuo meixue (Beijing: Beijing daxue, 1982), p. 58.

Rolston, How to Read, p. 131, n. 5.

Wang Liqi, Yuan ming qing sandai, pp. 16-18.

62 commentary, i.e. writing the prefaces and the "How to Read" essay, between 1641 and 1644,^^ However, I would like to argue that Jin's seemingly conflicting views as regards the authorial intention behind the writing of the Shuihu zhuan can be easily resolved because both views were strategies to promote his own status as the commentator and his own reading of the novel. In other words, in view of Jin's liberal modification of the text, which includes but is not limited to the forgery of a preface by the original author, we may safely conclude that Jin Shengtan never seriously cared about what the author's intentions were. To interpret the intentions of the author of the Shuihu zhuan was just one of the strategies for Jin to manipulate the role of the author in order to promote his own interpretative authority. This can be seen clearly in the following comment on the Xixiang ji (Romance of the Western Chamber), where Jin openly

"usurped" the position of the author : "The text of Xixiang ji which Jin Shengtan has commented on is Jin Shengtan's text

Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, p. 30.

63 and is no longer the text of [the old] Xixiang

Furthermore, both portraits of the author painted by Jin

Shengtan — one a righteous man full of moral indignation, and the other a recluse who hides away from society and passes time with cultured pursuits — exemplify exactly the double image of an ideal literatus, who embodies both the

Confucian goal of moral responsibility and social engagement, and the Taoist-Buddhist ideal of self-cultivation and social detachment. Both images were constructed by Jin Shengtan as marks of distinction for the author as well as the commentator of the Shuihu zhuan.

My examination in this chapter of the strategies used by the literati in their theorizing of fiction has been selective rather than exhaustive. I have given more of my attention to Jin Shengtan than to any other commentator/critic not only because he was undoubtedly the most influential commentator from the premodern period, but also because his commentary on the Shuihu zhuan, the subject

Jin Shengtan, "Du Diliu caizi shu Xixiang ji fa,"” in Jin Shengtan quanji (Nanjing: Jiangsu guji, 1985), p. 19, cited and translated by Martin Huang in "Author (ity) and Reader,"

64 of the current thesis, is unquestionably the most importeint

among all the commentaries on the novel in terms of both

quality and quantity. This is not to deny, however, that Jin

Shengtan's theory and use of fiction clearly grew out of the

cultural milieu of the late Ming. His understanding of the

origin and nature of fiction was steeped in tradition, and he

shared the ideas of those unconventional fiction advocates

such as Wang Daokun, Li Zhi, Feng Menglong and Ye Zhou

regarding the function of fiction.

My intention in this chapter is to provide a cultural

context for my more detailed reading, in the next two

chapters, of the Shuihu zhuan and some of its intertextual

and intr a textual issues. In order to do so, I have tried to

discuss the complex and multifarious cultural meanings

involved in the act of reading or writing fiction in the late

Ming and early Qing period. Fiction, whose traditional

assumptions and expectations were manipulated by literati

authors/commentators to lend symbolic power to their own act

of writing or commenting, became a promising discourse

through which the literati could exercise their literary

p. 58.

65 talent, vent their bellyfuls of resentment, as well as discuss important cultural and ideological issues. In this sense, fiction, "privileged" as a marginal discourse, played an important part in the profound social contentions and negotiations which took place constantly in the intellectual spheres in traditional China.

6 6 CHAPTER 2

NARRATIVE DISCOURSE: MULTIPLICITY OF VOICES

In Chapter One, I have discussed, a few import aunt views of fiction held by literati scholars in the late Ming and early Qing period. Fiction was viewed as a cultural discourse with multiple functions and purposes. One of these functions, as I have proposed, is the use of fiction as a discursive site for the expression of dissident views and the discussion of certain cultural and ideological issues. In this and the next chapters, I would like to explore how the novel was read and rewritten by its literati commentators. I will investigate, in this chapter, the multiple layers of formal and representational components within the text as well as the relationship between the text and its commentaries. I will argue that the narrative discourse in the Shuihu zhuan is highly dialogic (to borrow the term from

M. Bakhtin, the qualification of which will be discussed later) both within and beyond the boundary of the text. As a

67 consequence, meanings or moral messages are left to be

negotiated between the reader and the text.

As I noted in the Introduction, the Shuihu zhuan was an

evolutionary text which was not created by a single author.

The various written versions of the Shuihu zhuan were results

of textual variations, and revisions or recreations in the

hands of commentators or editors. A result of the textual

evolution and the work of commentator/editors is the presence

of apparent discrepancies and contradictions in meaning both

within a particular edition and between different editions.

Early studies of traditional Chinese fiction tend to treat

such inconsistencies as evidence of its "inferiority." C.T.

Hsia, though undoubtedly a pioneer in the study of

traditional fiction, attributes "the artistic inferiority

of the old Chinese novel" to its failure to demonstrate a

consistent point of view and an individual style of the

author — formal standards derived from the modern

(Western) novel which Hsia believes should be the criteria by which to judge all fiction.^ John Bishop also declares

^ C.T. Hsia, The Classical Chinese Hovel (New York: Columbia University Press, 1968), pp. 5-6.

68 that traditional Chinese fiction is "inadequate" when compared with Western fiction partly because it fails to demonstrate a sense of "philosophical realism by which the author's personal judgment of a social condition or of a human problem is made clear. It is obvious that both critics elevated the criteria of the m o d e m novel to a state of universal standard against which traditional

Chinese fiction should be judged, an approach which limited instead of aided their exploration of the genre in question. More recently, a few critics have attempted to explain the inconsistencies or ambiguities of meaning in the

Shuihu zhuan in terms of "irony." Andrew Plaks, in his justly celebrated study of the Shuihu zhuan, Jin Ping Mei, Xiyou ji, and Sanguo yanyi, identifies irony as a main rhetorical feature of all four novels.^ According to Plaks, irony, defined as "disjunction between what is said and what is meant, was consciously used in these novels to undermine

^ John Bishop, "Some Limitations of Chinese Fiction, " in Bishop, ed., Studies in Chinese Literature (Cambridge; Harvard University Press, 1966, pp. 237-245), p. 238.

^ Andrew Plaks, The Four Masterworks, p. 123.

^ Ibid.

69 popular views of figures and events. This ironic treatment of

prior sources in the popular tradition, maintains Plaks, is

what characterizes the "literati novel." In the case of the

Shuihu zhuan, Plaks believes that subtle ironic devices are

systematically used by the "author" to undermine the heroic

images of the rebels in the popular tradition in order to

carry out a critical attitude towards them. ^

Responses to Plaks'’ study have pointed out some

problematic elements in his approach. Chao yang Liao, for

example, has remarked that the attempt to account for

contradictory elements in the text in terms of irony "is

firmly grounded on the modern ideas of intentional act and

the autonomous text."® Indeed, in view of the evolutionary

nature and the multiple hands involved in the creation and

recreation of the Shuihu zhuan, no convincing argument has been offered by Plaks to demonstrate that there is one single

® Plaks, The Four Masterworks, pp. 304-58; idem, "Shui-hu Chuan and the Sixteenth-century Novel Form: An Interpretive Reappraisal," Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews 2 (1980): 3-53. See also Deborah Porter, "The Style of 'Shui-hu chuan'." Ph.D dissertation, 1989.

® Chaoyang Liao, "Three Readings in the Jinpingmei cihua, " Chinese Literature; Essays, Articles, Reviews 6 (1984): 78.

70 authorial intention in the text. An ironic reading in this case restricts rather than enhances our understanding of the work's complexity. Other critics have questioned Plaks' singling out of the more elite editions in disregard of the more popular editions of the four "masterworks." Those popular editions relegated to the background may undermine

Flaks' construction of a unified literati vision in these works.^

I agree with the above critiques of Flaks' somewhat reductive approach to Ming fiction. The attempt to account for ambiguous or contradictory elements in the text of the

Shuihu zhuan in terms of irony disregards the evolutionary nature of the work, and the simultaneous existence of different versions intended for different reading groups. I would like to argue further that, even within the literati editions, ambiguities and contradictions exist, which cannot be simply explained away in terms of irony. The fact that different literati commentators held different, and sometimes

^ Anne E. McLaren, "Ming Audiences and Vernacular Hermeneutics: The Uses of The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, T'oung Fao LXXXI (1995): 55-6.

71 polar, attitudes towards the Shuihu rebels undermines the unified literati vision as constructed by Plaks.

In this cind the next chapter, I will examine a number of the "full" editions of the novel with literati commentaries published in the Ming euid Qing.® These are generally

® In this study, I rely on the variorium edition edited by Zheng Zhenduo et. al., Shuihu quan zhuan 4 vols. (Beijing: Remain wenxue, 1954) . According to the editor, it is based on the Tiandu Waichen edition (1589, preface by Tiandu Waichen, 100 chapters in 100 juan) , with variations from six other editions recorded in the notes, including: (1) Rongyu Tang edition, 1610, 100 chapters in 100 juan. Prefatory essays attributed to Li Zhi and his monk friend Huai Lin. The comments, though attributed to Li Zhi, are believed to be written by Ye Zhou (fl. 1595-1624); (2) Yuan Wuya edition, 1612, 120 chapters. Prefatory essays attributed to Li Zhi and one of his disciples, Yang Dingjian. The comments are attributed to Li Zhi, but are believed to be written by more than one hands; (3) Zhong Xing edition, 1625-27, 100 chapters in 100 juan. Preface and comments are attributed to Zhong Xing (1574-1625), but are largely indebted to similar material in the Rongyu Tang edition; (4) Jiezi Yuan edition, late Ming or early Qing, 100 chapters. Preface signed Dadi Yuren. The comments are attributed to Li Zhi, a large proportion of which are similar to those in the Yuan Wuya edition. Some hold that this edition is very early and actually predates the Yuan Wuya edition; (5) Jin Shengtan edition, 1644, 70 chapters plus xiezi in 71 juan. The comments are by Jin Shengtan. Zheng Zhenduo's variorium edition makes it easy to compare the textual variations among the different editions. For commentaries in these editions, I rely on Chen Xizhong et. al. eds. Shuihu zhuan hui ping ben, which includes the commentaries found in the afore­ mentioned 5 editions, plus the Wang Wangru edition, 1657, 70 chapters plus xiezi in 71 juan. It contains the original Jin Shengtan comments plus new post-chapter comments by

72 considered representative of the elite editions, on which

Plaks bases his theory of the "literati novel."' I will argue that, within each edition, the multiplicity of narrative voices in the novel gives rise to ambiguities and contradictions, which cannot be adequately explained in terms of irony. Contradictions also exist between different editions, partly the natural result of textual evolution, and partly the deliberate editorial work by commentator/editors.

Some commentators did intend to impose control on the text by eliminating some of the contradictions and/or inserting their own interpretations into the text, resulting in a certain degree of consistency. Their views, however, were sometimes in conflict with the text itself, an unstable and ambiguous text at that. Furthermore, the physical co-existence of commentaries and the text proper constitutes an additional layer of discourse which inevitably affects the reader's understanding and interpretation of the novel.

Wang Wangru. The bibliographic information of the above editions is found in David Rolston, How to Read, pp. 404- 30.

^ See Plaks, Four Masterworks, pp. 279-303, 532-3.

73 I. The Multiplicity of Narrative Discourses

Of the more than twenty editions of the Shuihu zhuan^°

extant from the pre-modern period^ many have the word zhong

yi (loyal and righteous) in their titles. This practice

followed the example of Li Zhi, who praises the 108 outlaws of the marsh as embodying the true spirit of loyalty and

righteousness.^^ Editors' and publishers' repeated claims to

loyalty and righteousness, key ideals in Confucian morality, was an attempt to justify the moral correctness of the text, and to appeal to readers of all social strata. Jin Shengtan,

for example, was well aware of the super imposition of the term zhong yi in the titles of some editions of the Shuihu

zhuan and its potential to influence the reader ' s

interpretation of the text. However, the need to

For a list of the different editions of the Shuihu zhuan, see Zheng Gongdun, Shuihu zhuan lunwen ji, 2 vols. (Yinchuan: Ninxia remain, 1983), vol. 1, pp. 87-94; Yan Dunyi, Shuihu zhuan de yanbian, pp. 140-205; Sun Kaidi, Zhongguo tongsu xiaoshuo shumu (Beijing: Remain wenxue, 1982), pp. 209-16, and Andrew Plaks, The Four Masterworks, pp. 532-33.

See Li Zhi, "Du Zhong yi shuihu guan zhuan xu, " in Chen Xi zhong et al., Hui ping ben, pp. 28-29.

74 foreground the moral legitimacy of the text may in itself

suggest that such a claim is not beyond contention.

Perhaps no other work of traditional fiction has

aroused as much controversy as the Shuihu zhuan did

throughout history. It suffered repeated governmental

censorship in the late Ming and the Qing.^^ It is not

surprising that the work should be controversial, for it

deals with such important issues as loyalty and rebellion,

order and disorder, and kingship and the right to rule. The

cultural elites of the time voiced polarized comments on

the work, either praising it for exemplifying loyalty and

righteousness or condemning it for advocating brigandage.

See Jin Shengtan, "Xu Er", in Chen Xi zhong et al., Hui ping ben, pp. 6-8. Jin Shengtan's comments on the issues of loyalty and righteousness in the Shuihu zhuan will be discussed in more detail later in my study.

The Shuihu zhuan was banned in 1642 in the Ming. During the Qing, it was banned in 1753, 1754, 1851 and 1868. See Wang Liqi, Yuan Ming Qing sandai jinhui xiaoshuo xigu shiliao, pp. 16-18, 43-45, 76-77, and 122.

The sentiments against this work can be seen from the belief that its putative author, Shi Nai'ain or Luo Guanzhong, had three generations of mute offsprings, a "befitting retribution" for discoursing unscrupulously. See Zhu and Liu, Shuihu zhuan ziliao huibiein, p. 131 and 140.

75 The dispute focuses on whether or not the group of outlaws

portrayed in the novel can be viewed as exemplifying the

virtues of loyalty and righteousness. Yu Xiangdou (1550-

1637), the well-known Fujian publisher, ardently praises the

outlaws as epitomes of royalty and righteousness.^^ By

contrast, Yu Zhi of the Qing dynasty says, " [The Shuihu

zhuan] calls robbers and thieves by the noble names of

heroes, good fellows, and righteous men — there is no worse distortion [of right and wrong] than this ! Even Yuan

Zhongdao (1570-1624), who had a generally tolerant attitude

towards vernacular fiction in general, believes that the

Shuihu zhuan is not praiseworthy because it "advocates brigandage" (hui dao)I n fact, among the various

criticisms, the Shuihu zhuan was most frequently charged with

"advocating brigandage, " and was repeatedly held responsible

for instigating rebellions and social upheavals. Brigandage

is the direct opposite of loyalty and righteousness, and the

Yu Xiangdou, "Ti Shuihu zhuan xu, " in Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, p . 9.

Yu Zhi, "Yihua tang zhangcheng anyu", in Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, p. 393.

Quoted from Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, pp. 354-55.

76 claim that the Shuihu zhuan advocates robbery of course denies it moral legitimacy and brands it as a work of subversion.

Although the controversies over the moral evaluations of the Shuihu outlaws occur in reader's responses, similarly contradictory attitudes towards the rebels are also found within the text. Let us take a look at the opening section of the narrative, composed of the Prologue and Chapters One and Two. This section has been meticulously analyzed by a modern critic in order to show that the novelist intended to produce an "ironic vision" through the interplay between the different modes of discourse.Although this study

The primary text of the Shuihu zhuan used in this study is the Tiandu Waichen edition (1589) , the earliest extant complete "full" edition. I will point out variations in other editions in the course of analysis. The Tiandu Waichen edition is the base text in the variorium Shuihu quan zhuan edited by Zheng Zhenduo et. al. Quotations in this study are from Zheng's edition, cited by the chapter number followed by the page number. Jin Shengtan in his version combines the original Prologue with Chapter One into what he calls the "Wedge" (xiezi). Therefore the chapter number in Jin's version precedes that in the Shuihu guan zhuan by one.

Deborah Porter, "Setting the Tone: Aesthetic Implications of Linguistic Patterns in the Opening Section of Shui-hu chuan," Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews 14 (1992): 51-75.

77 successfully demonstrates the multiple modes and levels of discourse present in the text, the critic's pursuit of a unified authorial vision inevitably leads her to look for how these multiple modes of discourse are harmonized by the single device of irony. In the following, I would like to argue that the multiple levels of discourse in the opening sequence of the Shuihu zhuan contend with each other and disrupt rather than integrate the narrative into a unified whole.

From the very beginning of the text, the reader is presented with an ambiguous treatment of the outlaws in terms of their moral status. The title of Chapter One is "Divine

Master Zhang prays to dispel the plague; Marshal Hong mistakenly releases the demons (yaomo) In the rest of the chapter, the star spirits are also repeatedly referred to as mowang or mojun (demon kings) . The apparently inauspicious connotation of the term "demon" may lead us to believe that the Shuihu bandits are cast in a negative light. However, one soon discovers that this derogatory attitude towards the outlaws is by no means consistently present in the text. The

20 Shuihu quan zhuan 1:1.

78 names used for the future bandits and their implications are inconsistent even in the opening sections of the text.

Alongside such negative terms as "demons, " words with positive connotations are also used. In the closing poem to the Prologue, for example, the Shuihu bandits are explicitly called "virtuous knights" (jiexia) and "heroes"

(yingxiong) Given the importance of proper naming, zhengming, in the Confucian tradition, the reader is reasonably puzzled by the contradictions and the ambiguous attitude towards the bandits they engender.

The ambiguity or ambivalence is further attested to by discrepancies between what Patrick Hanan calls the mode of commentary and the mode of presentation in regard to the moral evaluation of the bandits. Hanan identifies three modes of narrative in short vernacular fiction: commentary, description, and presentation.^^ The mode of commentary

21 Shuihu quan zhuan 0:3.

22 For the importance of zhengming in Confucian philosophy, see Feng Yu-lan, Zhongguo zhexue shi (Hong Kong: Taiping yang tushu gongsi, 1959), pp. 84-93.

Patrick Hanan, "The Early Chinese Short Story: A Critical Theory in Outline." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 27 (1967):168-207.

79 "includes the introductory remarks or prologue, explanations

given during the course of the narrative, comments both in verse and prose, the summaries. The mode of description

refers to the passages of parallel prose in classical

language, which usually serve the purpose of describing a character or an object. The mode of presentation is the major part of the narrative, which "consists of dialogue and narrated action. Although primarily concerned with the vernacular short story, Hanan's observations hold true for the Shuihu zhuan as well. The Shuihu zhuan is a vernacular narrative interspersed with verse and parallel prose. In the mode of commentary are the opening verses to each chapter, verses scattered throughout the course of presentation, often framed by the phrase zhengshi (precisely) or you shi wei zheng (proved by a poem), the narrator ' s explicit comments during the course of the narration, and the closing comments to each chapter, often framed by the phrase you fen jiao (in conclusion) . The mode of description includes verse or

Ibid., p. 174.

Ibid.

See also Patrick Hanan, The Chinese Vernacular Story

80 parallel prose, usually framed by the phrase danjian (to behold)

Obvious discrepancies can be found between the mode of presentation and the mode of commentary. In Chapters One and

Two, in the course of the building up of narrative suspense leading to the release of the demons, we hear repeated warnings from the Taoist priest that the demons will bring harm to people if they ever escape.^® On the other hand, however, when Marshal Hong finds that on the stone tablet suppressing the demons are written four characters, "open when Hong comes, " the narrator remarks: "First, heavenly spirits are fated to be released; secondly, the Song dynasty is destined to witness loyal and righteous men (zhongliang) ; thirdly, [the heavenly spirits] happen to meet Hong Xin — isn't this heaven's will?"^® This remark suggests that the

(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1981), pp. 1-27.

The actual amount of verse and parallel prose in the Shuihu zhuan differs from edition to edition. Jin Shengtan, for example, deleted most of them in his version of the Shuihu zhuan.

See Shui hu quan zhuan 1:8; 1:9; 2:15.

Shuihu quan zhuan 1:9. This narrator's comment is deleted in Jin Shengtan's version.

81 thirty-six stars of "Heavenly spirits" (tiangang) and the seventy-two stars of "Earthly Fiends" (disha) are going to be the incarnation of loyalty and righteousness. The alarming discrepancy between vicious demons and loyal heroes causes the commentator of the Rongyu Tang edition to question the credibility of the narratorial comment.

Contradictions exist not only between the mode of commentary and the mode of présentation, but also within the mode of commentary itself. On the one hand, the narrator predicts that the star spirits will be incarnated as loyal and righteous heroes, but on the other, a contrasting prediction that the bandits will "disturb" the imperial reign and bring chaos and disorder to society is repeatedly given in the narratorial comments. The narrator gives the

Translation by Sidney Shapiro, in Outlaws of the Marsh (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1988), Vol. 1, p. 15.

Rongyu Tang ben Shuihu zhuan, 2 vols. (Shanghai: Guji, 1988), Vol. 1, 1:10. The commentary in the Rongyu Tang edition, though attributed to Li Zhi, is generally believed to be written by Ye Zhou (fl. 1595-1624) . See Zhang Peiheng's preface, pp. 1-4. See also Rolston, "Appendix 2" in How to Read.

See the closing comments in the Prologue and Chapter One, Shuihu quan zhuan 0:3; 1:10. Both comments are deleted in Jin's version.

82 clearest warning about the subversive potential of the

bandits in the opening poem to Chapter Two, in which Hong

Xin's mistake of releasing the star-spirits is viewed as even

more disastrous in the long run than the treacherous deeds of

Gao Qiu (7-1126): "Although Gao Qiu's craftiness is

detestable,/Hong Xin has now planted the seed of disaster.

This couplet becomes even more significant if read against

the remainder of the chapter. The main part of this chapter

is about Gao Qiu's rise to power through improper channels,

which reveals the corruption of the court and the fatuousness

of Emperor Huizong (r. 1100-1125) . The placing of Gao Qiu

early on in the text, before any of the 108 characters, leads

Jin Shengtan to believe that the author's intention is to

reveal that "disorder originates from the top" (luan zi shang

zuo) Jin Shengtan's observation is consistent with the

popular understanding that the Shuihu bandits are "forced to

go up Mount Liang" (bi shang Liangshan) by evil officials.

The poem, therefore, seems to cast doubt on this theme and

Shuihu guan zhuan 2:15. This poem is not found in Jin' version.

Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 54.

83 suggest that even with evil officials at court/- the bandits*

action of rebellion is unpardonable. If we compare this poem

with the closing poem to the Prologue in which the bandits

are referred to as "heroes" and "virtuous knights," the

contradiction is obvious.

The many contradictions existing either between the mode

of commentary and the mode of presention, or within the mode

of commentary itself in the form of inconsistent narratorial

comments, calls into question the function of the narrator in

the Shuihu zhuan. Critics have pointed out that it is

characteristic for vernacular fiction to employ a narrator who "assumes the persona of the public story-teller

addressing his audience.Until recently, this

characteristic was often identified as part of the "oral

conventions" and understood as demonstrating vernacular

fiction's origins in the practices and techniques of professional storytelling. For example, the vernacular short

story (huaben) had long been understood as storytellers' manuals or promptbooks.^® Likewise, the colloquial style and

35 Hanan, "The Early Chinese Short Story," p. 173.

For a review of the use of the term "huaben", see Charles

84 "oral conventions" present in the Shuihu zhuan were understood as "wholesale importation" from storytellers ' practices.However^ critics have recently shown that the so-called "storyteller's manner" or "oral conventions" in vernacular fiction are not remnants of the oral storytelling tradition which prove the folk origin of vernacular fiction.

Instead, they should be understood as deliberate and conscious devices of the elite authors of written vernacular fiction^® attempting to imitate the professional storyteller or to create a "simulated context.The use of the persona of a public storyteller as the narrator is a deliberate generic choice rather than unconscious copying of the oral tradition. The question arises, then, of the purpose and

J. Wivell, "The Term "Hua-pen* . " In David Buxbaum and Frederick W. Mote, eds. Transition and Permanence; Chinese History and Culture (Hong Kong: Cathay Press, 1972), pp. 295- 305; and Masuda Wataru, "Lun 'Huaben' yi ci de dingyi." Tr. Maeda Kazue, in Zhongguo gudian xiaoshuo yanjiu zhuanji, 6 vols. (Taibei: Lianjing, 1979-83) vol. 3, pp. 49-68.

37 Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel, p. 75.

See W.L. Idema, "Storytelling and the Short Story in China." T'oung Fao LIX (1973): 1-67.

Hanan, "The Nature of Ling Meng-ch'u's Fiction," in Plaks, ed., Chinese Narrative: Critical and Theoretical Essays (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1977) p. 87.

85 function, of written literature's imitation of the oral tradition. According to Patrick Hanan, the use of a storyteller-narrator in the vernacular short story generally gives "the effect of conventional public wisdom. It also

"leaves less room for the reader's imagination and much less room for different kinds of response.We can conclude from our above observations that this is not true in the case of the Shuihu zhuan. The narratorial comments, being inconsistent in themselves, do not serve the purpose of controlling the reader's response or guiding him or her towards one "correct" interpretation of the text. Instead, they open up the issue to debate, present both sides of the

Hanan, "The Early Chinese Short Story," p. 174.

Ibid., p. 174, note 12. It should be noted that Hanan also points out that when the narrator is at variance with the implied author, "No ironic use is made of the narrator's platitudes, and the reader is led to accept, perhaps unconsclously, a certain duality of vision." Hanan, "Ling Meng-ch'u, " p. 88-89. Jaroslav Prusek made a similar observation of the storyteller-narrator in the vernacular short story, whose comment is "a judgement of a general character, a kind of consensus omniumr and not a personal opinion." See Prusek, "The Realistic and Lyric Elements in the Chinese Medieval Story," in Chinese History and Literature (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1970), p. 391.

86 argument, and invite the reader to join the discussion and to reach his/her own conclusion in evaluating the characters.

Viewed in this light, I would like to suggest that the use of the persona of a professional storyteller as narrator in vernacular fiction helps to create in the text the imaginary environment surrounding a public storytelling situation, where audience participation is welcome, and where it is not unusual for the storyteller to change his story and the way it is told according to his own sense of audience preferences or to actual audience feedback. The deliberate use of the persona of a professional storyteller as narrator is also socially significant inasmuch as it designates the imaginary locus of the narration to be the public marketplace, before an audience made up of people of all social strata, but most of whom belong undoubtedly to the lower levels. In Chapter I, I discussed the literati's theorizing of fiction as the discourse of the common people, and their subsequent use of it to discuss pertinent social

For this reason, it is not surprising that Jin Shengtan, who does intend to guide the reader's interpretation of the text, would delete most of the narratorial comments in his version of the Shuihu. The narratorial comments on which I base my above arguments are all excised in Jin's version.

87 issues. I also argued that fiction.^ constructed as a popular discourse, was viewed by the literati as an effective means of moral instruction to the masses. The use of the persona of a professional storyteller in the Shuihu zhuan seems to fulfill the dual expectations implied in the literati’s theorizing of fiction. The imaginary location of the public marketplace creates the illusion that a communication across different social strata is taking place, and fiction is indeed a discourse of and for the people.

The above analysis of the opening section of the Shuihu zhuan reveals an intermingling of different modes of discourse in the text. Contradictory moral assessments of the Shuihu characters exist between the mode of commentary and the mode of presentation, and within the mode of commentary itself, inviting the reader to note the opposing sides on the issue of loyalty and to experience the tensions of the ambiguous presentation.

In addition to the contrasting narrative voices, another dimension — that of extratextual commentaries written by commentators — joins the multiplicity of narrative

88 discourses. The multiplicity of discourses in a narrative text is not exclusive to Chinese fiction.'*^ Mikhail Bakhtin uses the term "heteroglossia" to characterize the discourse in the novel;

The novel can be defined as a diversity of social speech types (sometimes even diversity of languages) and a diversity of individual voices, artistically organized. . .. Authorial speech, the speeches of narrators, inserted genres, the speech of characters are merely those fundamental compositional unities with whose help heteroglossia [raznorecle] can enter the novel; each of them permits a multiplicity of social voices and a wide variety of their links and interrelationships (always more or less dialogized) . These distinctive links and interrelationships between utterances and languages, this movement of the theme through different languages and speech types, its dispersion into the rivulets and droplets of social heteroglossia, its dialogization — this is the basic distinguishing feature of the stylistics of the novel.

The use of the term "extratextual commentary" versus "narratorial commentary" is borrowed from Rolston, Traditional Chinese Fiction and Fiction Commentary, p. 1.

See Prusek's comparison of the synthesis of the prosaic and the lyrical in Chinese vernacular story with that in the European novel in "The Realistic and Lyric Elements in the Chinese Mediaeval Story, " in Chinese History and Literature (Dordrecht, Holland: D. Reidel, 1970), pp. 385-95.

M.M. Bakhtin, "Discourse in the Novel" in The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, ed. by Michael Holquist, trans. by Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1981), pp. 262-3.

89 We can indeed find this dialogized heteroglossia in the

Shuihu zhuan. On the other hand/- however, whereas

heteroglossia in the novel as defined by Bakhtin is located

within the boundary of the literary text, and works towards

"a higher unity"of the text, the kind of multiplicity of

discourses we have detected in the Shuihu zhuan breaks open

textual boundaries, and threatens the "unity" of the

narrative structure. The "heteroglossia" is "dialogized"

not only between different voices within the text, but also

across textual boundaries in the extratextual commentaries.

In fact, the narratorial comments and the extratextual

comments are so similar in nature that the very distinction

between them has been called into question."*® Indeed, the

line between the two is most unclear in cases of obvious

Ibid., p. 263.

For example, C.T. Hsia thinks of the narrative form of the Shuihu zhuan as "synthetic, " auid therefore inferior to that of the Sanguo yanyi. See Hsia, The Classical Chinese Novel, p. 76.

Timothy Wong, "The Commentator and the Evolutionary Xiaoshuo Text, " unpublished paper presented at the meeting of the American Oriental Society, Western Branch, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, October 21-23, 1994.

90 editorial changes in the hands of commentator-editorsr which are abundant in the many Shuihu editions. I would like now to give one example to illustrate such alteration of the text by commentator-editors, and the effect it has on our interpretations.

The first seventy chapters of the Shuihu zhuan portray the adventures of individual bsmdit-heroes ^ and their eventual gathering on Mount Liauag. The narrative reaches a culmination in Chapter Seventy-One, where the bandits receive a Heavenly script honoring them for "acting on Heaven's behalf" (ti tian xing dao) and for their "loyalty and righteousness complete" (zhong yi shuang quan) The ranking among the bandits is also established. This chapter, therefore, is important in that it provides a final evaluation of the bandits and their actions. In the Ticindu

Waichen edition and the Rongyu Tang edition, after the deciphering of the Heavenly script and the establishing of ranks among the outlaws, a passage in parallel prose is given in praise of the grand gathering. Although the righteousness among the Liangshan heroes is eulogized at the beginning, the

Shuihu quan zhuan 71:1195.

91 bulk of the passage merely lists again the special talents of

each bandit.^® In the Yuan Wuya and Jiezi Yuan editions,

whose commentators consistently express an appreciation for

the bandits' loyalty and righteousness, we find that this

whole passage is replaced by a different one, also in

parallel prose. This latter piece of parallel prose greatly

accentuates the brotherly love, the heroic demeanor and the

celestial predestination of the outlaws. More importantly,

loyalty to the sovereign is emphasized. This is seen most

clearly in a comparison of a line in the two passages found

respectively in the Tiandu Waichen/Rongyu Tang (a) and the

Yuan Wuya/Jiezi Yuan (b) editions:

(a) Don't say [the bandits] merely ganged up in the greenwood. They really are capable of striving for kingship and hegemony.

(b) Don't say [the bandits] merely ganged up in the greenwood. They have long obeyed the imperial court.

50 Shuihu quan zhuan 71: 1204-5.

51 Shuihu quan zhuan 71: 1205.

52 Shuihu quan zhuan 71: 1210, n. 40

92 It is clear that the two lines are in disagreement with regard to the bandits' loyalty to the sovereign. Whereas line (a) points out the subversive power of the banditsr line

(b) argues that the bandits are loyal to the sovereign. The fact that these two contrasting evaluations of the bandits are found in different editions of the Shuihu strongly suggests the possibility that one or both of the passages in question were modified or written by the commentator-editors of those editions.

The purpose of the above analyses is not to exclude the possibility that either of the parallel prose passages may indeed be written by the "original author, " or to determine which commentator is responsible for which piece of prose.

What I want to show through the above example is that the

Shuihu zhuan, with its long history of textual evolution and variation, is better viewed as what one critic calls a

"multiple narrativein whose creation editors and commentators of different times played their parts. As a result, ambiguities or discrepancies in terms of meaning are

Anne E. McLaren, "Ming Audiences and Vernacular Hermeneutics," p. 52.

93 inevitable. The Shuihu zhuan^ as a collective and changeable

text, continually invites alterations from readers,

commentators, and editors. The result of such liberty is the

presence, within the boundary of the text, of a multiplicity

of voices and points of view reinforcing, interacting, or

contending with each other.

The alterations of the text in the hands of commentator-

editors make us question the stability of the line between

what Hanan calls the mode of commentary within the text and.

the extratextual commentary written by commentators. As the

aforementioned contrasting passages show, the commentators

not only write their marginal, interlinear, pre- or post­

chapter comments to note their interpretations of the text,

they also sometimes intrude into the text by putting their

comments into the mouth of the narrator. We can see from

this practice that the commentator-editors were not concerned

with m o d e m notions of textual integrity. Furthermore, by putting their comments into the mouth of the narrator, the

commentators also manipulate the voice of the author in order

to legitimize their own readings. Commentaries cam be viewed

as spaces within or surrounding the text where

94 interpretations, critiques, and evalutions of the tale being presented are given.

In the discussion above, I have tried to expose discrepancies within a certain edition of the Shuihu zhuam. as well as between different editions. These discrepancies, being the natural product of textual evolution and the work of different commentator/editors, leave the text in a state of disunity, which in turn accords the reader with much interpretive freedom. The traditional commentators, being themselves readers, took advantage of this and inserted their own interpretations in the interlineal or marginal spaces surrounding the text. Some also changed part of the text in order to legitimize their own interpretations. While the extent and consistency of this editorial change varies from edition to edition, it does show an effort on the part of the commentators to impose control on the text. This effort, however, does not always achieve its intended result. In the following, I would like to look at some examples of the commentators' attempts at controlling the text and promoting themselves as, in Martin Huang's term, "privileged

95 readers. I will first show how the physical presence of commentaries in the text greatly affects the reader in his/her interpretation of the novel. I will then argue that commentaries and editorial changes, even those as extensive as those made by Jin Shengtan, ultimately fail to impose complete control on the text auid sometimes even create more contradictions.

II. Commentator in the Text: Dual Perspectives

Jin Shengtan's derogatory comments on the rebel leader

Song Jiang in the Shuihu zhuan are well-known. He is, however, not alone in his negative evaluation of this character popularly perceived as a model of loyalty and righteousness. The commentator of the Rongyu Tang edition precedes Jin Shengtan in pointing out the hypocrisy in Song

Jiang's character, and as we will see, Jin Shengtan in many instances is influenced by the Rongyu Tang commentary.

Though it is attributed to Li Zhi, scholarly opinion is now

Martin Huang, "Author(ity) and Reader," p. 59, Ye Lang, Zhongguo xiaoshuo meixue, p. 26.

96 generally in agreement that the Rongyu Tang commentary was composed by Ye Zhou (fl. 1595-1624) Not much is known about Ye Zhou. He seems to have been a poor and luckless scholar who was very fond of wine, which he would sometimes buy with the profits from his writing. This background of his may help to account for the sometimes bitter and sometimes playful tone in his commentary. The sarcastic tone often used when commenting on Song Jiang provides a sharp contrast to the praise the narrator showers upon the character. In the following, I would like to quote concrete examples from the Rongyu Tang commentary to illustrate the dual points of view that the co-existence of the narrative and the commentary presents to the reader.

In the short piece entitled "The Merits and Demerits of the One Hundred and Eight People of Mount Liang" which precedes the narrative. Ye Zhou describes Song Jiang as follows: "As for Song Jiang, he bows to everyone he meets, and cries in front of everyone he sees. He calls himself

See Rolston, How to Read, pp. 356-63.

Rolston, How to Read, p. 38. See also Ye Lang, Zhongguo xiaoshuo meixue, p. 25.

97 'the inferior officer, ' or confesses to be 'the criminal, ' but he is in fact a false moralist and real robber (jia daoxue zhen qiangdao) This remark characterizes the commentator's attitude towards Song Jiang throughout the rest of the commentary. As it is placed before the narrative, it leaves the reader with a powerful negative first impression of Song Jiang.

Song Jiang first appears in Chapter Eighteen, in which he, as a court clerk, informs Chao Gai that the latter is wanted for the robbery of birthday gifts. The following is how Song Jiang is described by the narrator:

He [Song Jiang] made friends only in the gallant fraternity, but he helped everyone, high or low, who sought his aid, providing his guest with food and lodging in the family manor, tirelessly keeping him company, and giving him travelling expenses when he wanted to leave. Song Jiang scattered gold about like dust! He never refused a request for money. He was always making things easy for people, solving their difficulties, settling differences, saving lives. He provided the indigent with funds for coffins and medicines, gave charity to the poor, assisted in emergencies, helped in cases of hardship. And so he was famed throughout the provinces of Shandong and Hebei, and was known to

58 Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 26.

98 all as the Timely Rain, for like the rain from, the heavens he brought succor to every living thing,

The image of Song Jiang as a generous and chivalrous man is reaffirmed repeatedly by the words of Chao Gai and the high regards in which Song is held by all the "good fellows" (hao han) who have or have not met him. Indeed, Song Jiang's helping Chao Gai to flee is presented in a most positive light as a model of gallantry and righteousness. By contrast.

Ye Zhou gives a different interpretation of Song Jiang's release of Chao Gai. In a marginal comment which is placed above and before the part in the narrative which relates Song

Jiang's informing of Chao Gai of the impending danger. Ye

Zhou writes that "The root of the Liangshan disaster lies entirely here. Isn't Song Jiang the head of criminals and chief culprit?"®® This comment provides a different point of view not only for this incident and for the role of Song

Jiang, but also in relation to the entire issue of loyalty and righteousness as represented in the narrative.

Shuihu quan zhuan 18:259-60. The translation is Sidney Shapiro's, Outlaws of the Marsh, p. 280.

Chen Xi zhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 331.

99 As I have shown in previous discussions, traditional

readers and commentators had split opinions about the moral evaluation of the Shuihu bandits. Some praised tbem as embodiments of loyalty and righteousness, while others accused them of brigandage. Few, however, seemed to notice the internal conflict between loyalty ( zhong) and righteousness (%i). As one modern critic argues, the kind of yi or yiqi among the bandits in the Shuihu zhuan is actually a sense of "fraternity, " or "the solidarity and mutual support of likeminded persons, rather than the traditional

Confucian idea of right action."®^ C.T. Hsia also points out that the dictates of yi demand that one choose friendship over anything else in times of conflicts of interests. By helping Chao Gai to escape. Song Jiang proves disloyal to the emperor.®^ There exists, therefore, internal conflicts between loyalty to the sovereign and solidarity of the outlaws, and these conflicts, as we will see in later discussions, re-emerge repeatedly at key moments in the

®^ Phillip S. Y. Sun, "The Seditious Art of The Water Margin — Misogynists or Desperadoes?" Renditions, no. 1 (Autumn, 1973):103.

®^ Hsia, The Classic Chinese Hovel, p. 86.

100 narrative. Ye Zhou was perhaps the first to imply such a

conflict between zhong and yi when he points out that it is

Song Jiang's act of friendship that eventually leads to the

Liangshan rebellion. The comment quoted above, brief as it

is, offers a contrasting point of view to that in the

narrative and reminds the reader that there may be a negative

outcome of Song Jiang's chivalrous action. The symbiotic

relationship between the narrative and the commentary thus

provides the reader with dual perspectives.

Perhaps we can find the best evidence of the

commentator's influence on the reader in the remarks by

another commentator. Jin Shengtan, for example, was clearly

influenced by Ye Zhou's negative assessment of Song Jiang.

Jin uses similar words to call Song Jiang "chief of all the bandits.In the pre-chapter comments, Jin elaborates on

the reason why Song Jiang should be considered the head

criminal:

. .. Song Jiang is the chief of the bandits, and for this reason his crime is one degree greater than the others. It has always been the case, however, that readers of Shuihu often overpraised Song Jiang's loyalty and righteousness, as though they

63 Chen Xi zhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 331,

1 0 1 would like to meet him any day or night. This is not because they would like to be friends with the bandit — they simply cannot comprehend the hidden mecining of what they read. In my view, the reason Song Jiang* s crime is greater than that of the other bandits is less because he wrote a seditious poem than because he set Chao Gai free. Why? After Chao Gai was freed, he led and assembled various dissidents, and brought disorder to the imperial court. [The whole trouble] started from here. If Song Jiang had been a loyal and righteous man, he certainly would not have freed Chao Gai. It follows then that since Song Jiang did free Chao Gai, he could not have been a loyal and righteous person. This is the beginning of Song Jiang's biography. But the author first writes nothing but how Song secretly set Chao Gai free. So this immense crime of Song Jiang's even the author cannot conceal for him.

We can see that Jin Shengtan follows Ye Zhou in attributing the origin of the Liangshan rebellion to Song Jiaing's initial releasing of Chao Gai. Jin further points out the conflict between the so-called yiqi in the Shuihu, as exemplified by

Song Jiang, and the true Confucian ideas of loyalty and righteousness. Indeed, according to Jin, the gap between the two is almost unbridgeable. More importauitly, he is aware that the character of Song Jiang was generally received most positively by the reader. Jin Shengtan believes, therefore.

Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 325. The translation is John C. Wang's in Chin Sheng-t'an, p. 62. The Wade-Giles spellings in the original are changed to Pinyin.

1 0 2 that his commentary would point out to the reader the "hidden

meaning" of the text, and provide the reader with a "correct"

interpretation.

Unlike Jin Shengtan, Ye Zhou generally goes no further

than expressing his opinions of the characters and events or

his distaste for certain parts of the narrative, some of

which he brackets and marks with the word "to delete" (shan) .

The reader is still presented with two different

perspectives, one offered by the text and the other by the

commentator. Jin Shengtan, on the other hand, goes a step

further by changing the text liberally to suit his own

interpretations. He is more concerned with guiding the

reader towards what he sees as the one "correct" reading of

the text. There is, therefore, a much stronger voice of the

commentator in the Jin Shengtan edition than in the Rongyu

Tang edition (and all the other commentary editions, for that matter) . Nevertheless, even in the Jin Shengtan edition, the physical co-existence of the commentary and the text

inevitably offers the reader more than one point of view, and

Jin's efforts to excise and rewrite, rather than usurping the voice of the narrator, sometimes make the ambiguities and

103 inconsistencies already present in the text even more

conspicuous. In the following, I would like to take a look

at a few instances of Jin's rewriting of the text in order to

discuss further such important issues as the role of the

commentator in traditional fiction, the relationship between

the commentary and the text, and the interaction of a multiplicity of voices in the text.

Besides writing an extensive commentary, Jin Shengtan is best known for the editorial liberty he took with the text of the Shuihu zhuan. According to one critic's calculation, Jin

Shengtan made more than three thousand alterations of the text in his edition. His editorial changes can be classified into the following major types: (I) Structural changes, including the combination of the Prologue and

Chapter One into a "Wedge," and the deleting of the last forty-nine chapters; (2) the excision of certain verses and descriptive parallel prose; (3) changes that affect the

Chen Jinzhao, "Li Zhuowu pidiain Shuihu zhuan zhi yanjiu, " Shumu jikan, vol.7, no. 4 (March 1974): 64. For studies of Jin's editorial changes of the text, see also idem, "Tan Guanghua tang Jin Shengtan pi ben Shuihu zhuan, " Shumu jikan, vol. 7, no. 2 (Winter 1972): 59-64; John C. Wang, Chin Sheng- t'an, pp. 53-65, and He Xin, Shuihu yanjiu, pp. 74-90.

104 portrayal of the characters; (4) changes that mostly have

literary/aesthetic effects. The third type is in fact hard

to single out because all the other kinds of changes more or

less affect the presentation of the characters, especially

the deletion of the last forty-nine chapters, which is

controversial because it leads to ambivalent moral evaluation

of the bandits. In the following, I would like to focus on

several instances where Jin's rewriting of the text results

in changed presentation of the character Song Jiang, and

discuss the dynamic presence of the commentator in the text,

and the effect he has on the reading of the narrative as a

whole.

M o d e m readers and critics cannot fail to notice Jin

Shengtan's contradictory attitudes towards the bandits. As

one critic has accurately pointed out, the conflicts lie in

"his sympathy with the individual bandit-heroes on the one

hand and his condemnation of outlawry on the other."®®

Indeed, Jin speaks highly of many of the major characters,

such as Li Kui, Wu Song, and Lu Da. He calls Lu Da "a pinnacle among men, " and praises Wu Song as a "heavenly god. "

66 John C. Wang, Chin Sheng-t'an, p. 60

105 He even quotes the following saying of Mencius to commend. Li

Kui: "Wealth and honor cannot lead him to immoderation, poverty and obscurity cannot change his purpose, external authority cannot force him to kneel down. On the other hand, however, Jin also categorically denounces the rebellious action of the Shuihu band and the disorder they brought to the kingdom:

The reason why Shi Nai'an wrote the biography of Song Jiang and entitled his book "Shuihu" is because he detested [the bandits] so much that he would not want to live in the same country with them. However, somebody in later ages who was intent on creating disorder added the terms "loyal" and "righteous" to the title. Alas, how can loyalty and righteousness belong to the Shuihu bandits? . . . [They were] the vicious of the world, whom the world should attack together; [they were] the evil of the world, whom the world should reject together.

Jin's ambivalent attitude towards the Shuihu rebels can only be explained in terms of the historical context. As Hu Shi has suggested, Jin Shengtan witnessed the chaos caused by the rebel bands of Li Zicheng (1605-1645) and Zhang Xianzhong

(1605-1647) , which in no small part contributed to the demise

Jin Shengtan, "How to Read The Fifth Book of Genius", trans. by John C. Wang, in Rolston, How to Read, pp. 136—37

"Xu Er, " in Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, pp. 6-7.

106 of the Ming, and therefore believed that outlawry should not be encouraged.®^ For this reason, Jin singles out Song

Jiang, the rebel leader, as the main target of his criticism.

Jin's antipathy towards rebellion also accounts for his truncation of the last forty-nine chapters of the novel, in which the rebels receive imperial pardon and are employed in the suppression of other bandit groups. Jin's editorial effort, though aimed at reinforcing his condemnation of rebellion, nevertheless produces ambiguous results. As

Andrew Plaks has noticed, though Jin Shengtan deprives the bandits of their chance to perform honorable service to the nation, "at the same time his truncation leaves them unscathed, and unpunished, at the height of their powers."^®

In his statements quoted above, which condemn the rebels, Jin Shengtan consciously contends with previous commentators who held a positive attitude towards the bandits. By "somebody ... intent on creating disorder," Jin

Shengtan was probably referring to Li Zhi, whom many of the

See John Wang's summary of Hu Shi's views in Chin Sheng- t'an, pp. 63-64.

Plaks, Four Masterworks, p. 311.

107 editions with, the words "loyal" and "righteous" in their

titles claimed as commentator. Li Zhi did indeed, call the

Shuihu bandits loyal and righteous heroes. In his "Zhongyi

Shuihu zhuan xu, " he singles out Song Jiang as the exemplar

of loyalty and righteousness:

None [among the Shuihu heroes 1 is more loyal and righteous than Song Jiang... Though he was physically in the water margin^ his heart yearned for the imperial court. He sincerely waited for imperial pardon and earnestly wished to dedicate himself to the service of the country.

Obviously,- Li Zhi believes that Song Jiang is most

commendable for his unconditional loyalty to the imperial

court and his sincerity and earnestness of conduct. By

contrast, Jin Shengtan sides with the Rongyu Tang commentator by not only denying Song Jising the title of loyalty and

righteousness, but also seeing hypocrisy in Song Jiang’s character. The term that Jin Shengtan uses most frequently to describe Song Jiang is "jianzha" or "quanzha" (crafty or scheming), and he never hesitates in his commentary to explain Song Jiang’s every action as examples of his hypocrisy and craftiness.

71 Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, p. 4.

108 In the following, I would like to summarize the major

aspects of Jin Shengtan's comments which seem to shed a

different light on the character of Song Jiang. Jin Shengtan

first points out that the narrative technique involved in the

portrayal of the character Song Jiang is unique and special.

In the following pre-chapter comments, he cautions the reader

not to view Song Jiang as similar to the other characters;

The easiest thing in this book was to describe the 107 characters, and the hardest thing was to portray Song Jiang. Therefore, when you read this book, it is also the easiest to read the stories of the 107 people, but the hardest to read the biography of Song Jiang. This is because the 107 characters are described using the straight-forward method (zhi bi) . If they are portrayed as good people, then they are truly good people. If they are described as bad people, then they are truly bad people. But this is not the case with Song Jiang. When you first read about him, you get the impression that he is an entirely good person. When you read further, you find that he is half good and half bad. When you read still further, you discover he is more bad than good. Then when you finish reading, you realize he is all bad and no good.^^

Jin Shengtan believes that Song Jiang is portrayed in the

"indirect style" (qu bi), which means that something else is

72 Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 658

109 implied beneath the surface meaning of the text. Therefore

it is the commentator's responsibility to reveal the deep or

hidden meaning to the reader and guide the reader towards a

correct understanding of the characters, sind this is

precisely what Jin Shengtan takes upon himself to do.

Based on the assumption that the author, when

portraying Song Jiang, implies censure beneath the surface

level of praise, Jin Shengtan sets out to give a negative

interpretation of Song Jiang's seemingly commendable actions.

First of all, Jin attacks Song Jiang's self-proclaimed image

as a loyal subject. As discussed above. Song's release of

Chao Gai is viewed by Jin as an act of disloyalty to the

sovereign. Likewise, Jin regards Song Jiang's repeatedly

pronounced wish for the imperial pardon as insincere and

deceitful.Jin's conclusions of this sort are not without

textual support. For example, a careful reader cannot fail

to notice Song Jiang's wavering back and forth between

As summarized by Andrew Plaks, the idea of "qu bi" is related to such ideas as "Chunqiu bifa" or "pi li yangqiu" (style of The Spring and Autumn Annals) , which come from early commentaries on the Confucian classic Chunqiu. See Rolston, How to Read, p. 76, n. 1.

74 Chen Xizhong et al., Hui ping ben, p. 599, 1263.

1 1 0 joining the rebels and remaining loyal to the court. In

Chapter Thirty-Five, Song Jiang, on the run after killing his mistress, is captured by the local official and then rescued by the robber band on Qingfeng Mountain. When the government sent forces after them. Song Jiang suggests that they go to join Chao Gai's band on Mount Liaing. Here, as Jin Shengtan points out. Song Jiang is not only willing to join the rebel band himself, but is also guilty of instigating others to become rebels.In the next chapter, however. Song Jiang has a sudden change of heart which is interpretable in different ways. After receiving a letter saying that his father has died — a trick that his father used to call him home so that the family could be together again — Song Jiang hurries back only to be arrested by the local government and sentenced to exile. Before he sets off, his father tells him not to join the brigands but to endure his sentence and remain loyal and filial. Presumably out of respect for his father's wish, when the Liangshan band comes to his rescue.

Song Jiang refuses to go with them. This may serve to demonstrate Song Jiang's filial piety, as pointed out by the

Ibid., p. 641.

Ill commentator of the Yuan Wuya edition.^® However, Song

Jiang’s refusal to be rescued can also be interpreted in a different way. According to Jin Shengtan, this proclamation of loyalty by Song Jiang, placed immediately after his joining the brigands in the previous chapter auid before writing a rebellious poem three chapters later, serves only to highlight the hypocrisy and craftiness of Song Jiang's character.Indeed, his refusal to be rescued is so exaggerated that it appears false and hypocritical. For example, he repeatedly threatens that he would rather kill himself than commit disloyalty and unfiliality by joining the band, to which both the Rongyu Tang commentator and Jin

Shengtan respond with the comment "false.Jin Shengtan further points out that it is Song Jiang's falsity towards his friends that is most detestable. For example, when Hua

Rong demands that the guards remove the cangue placed around

Song Jiang's neck. Song Jiang refuses most solemnly, saying that nobody should dare to do that because the cangue

Ibid., p. 664.

Ibid., p. 667.

Ibid., p. 662, 664

1 1 2 represents government law. Later on, however, when the guards, having accepted a handsome bribe of silver from Song

Jiang, suggest that the cangue may be removed since there is nobody around. Song Jiang readily complies. Jin Shengtan does not hesitate to point out that the whole business illustrates Song Jiang's hypocrisy and craftiness.^*

Jin Shengtan also questions Song Jiang's popular image as a righteous man. In the text. Song Jiang appears to be a most generous person who constantly presents gifts of silver to the good fellows he encounters. This generosity, apparently viewed by the good fellows as tokens of friendship and appreciation, is interpreted in a different way by Jin

Shengtan. According to Jin, Song Jiang has not won the respect of the good fellows by his virtue. Instead, he merely buys their respect and manipulates others for his own gain. In the pre-chapter comments to Chapter Thirty-Six, Jin points out the author's intention behind the portrayal of the character Song Jiang:

Song Jiang is merely a cunning court clerk, but he managed to buy the whole world with nothing but

Ibid., p. 677. See also Jin's pre-chapter comments to Chapter Thirty-Six, ibid., p. 674.

113 some silver. Eventually he even wanted to establish himself as the "Filial and Righteous Song Jiang" and plotted to usurp Chao Gai's position. Row can such hideous behavior be tolerated? The author [of this work] was deeply disgusted with the abundance of such people in the world. Therefore he borrowed Song Jiang as an exan^le and wrote a biography of him, which reveals him as someone who buys people everywhere he goes. This style of the author indeed hits home.^°

According to Jin Shengtan, Song Jiang is a representative of all the cunning and plotting people in the world, and the author ' s intention behind the creation of this character was to criticize the corrupt world which values monetary gain over everything else.

To support his interpretation of Song Jiang, Jin

Shengtan also rewrote many parts concerning this character.

By comparing Jin's rewriting with the original, I will discuss how the changes affect the portrayal of the character in question and the meaning of the text as a whole. In particular, the relationship between Jin's rewritings and his own comments on these rewritings will be examined.

Ibid., p. 674,

114 The episode in question surrounds the death of Chao Gai.

The following is this episode as it appears in the Shuihu quan zhuan;

[Hearing about the Five Tigers of the Zeng Family, ] Chao Gai was enraged. "How dare those animals be so unmannerly!" he fumed. "I'm going down there personally. If I don't capture those rogues I won't return!" "You're the leader of our fortress, brother," said Song Jiang. "You mustn't lightly take action. Let me go." "It's not that I want to steal your thunder," said Chao Gai, "but you've gone many times. You must be weary from combat. This time I'm going. Next time, brother, it will be your turn. " Song Jiang pleaded in vain. The furious Chao Gai selected five thousand men and twenty chieftains and set forth. The remainder stayed with. Song Jiang to guard the stronghold. Who were the twenty chieftains? They were: Lin Chong, Huyan Zhuo, Xu Ning, Mu Hong, Liu Tang, Zhang Heng, Ruan Xiao'er, Ruan Xiaowu, Ruan Xiaoqi, Yang Xiong, Shi Xiu, Sun Li, Huang Xin, Du Qian, Song Wan, Yan Shun, Deng Fei, Ou Peng, Yang Lin, and Bai Sheng. The twenty-one chieftains led three brigades of men down the mountain, ready to march on Zengtou Village. Song Jiang, Wu Yong and Gongsun saw them to the Shore of Golden Sands. While they were drinking a sudden wind snapped the pole supporting Chao Gai's standard. Everyone blanched. "An evil omen, " said Wu Yong. "Choose another day for your expedition, brother." "The wind snaps your standard, brother, just as you're about to set forth. It's not auspicious for military action," said Song Jiang. "Wait a bit longer and then deal with those knaves. There'll still be time."

115 "The movement of wind and clouds is nothing to be alarmed about," retorted Chao Gai. "Now is the time, in the warmth of spring. If we wait until they build up their strength and then attack, it will be too late. Don't try to stop me. I'm going, come what may ! " Song Jiang couldn't dissuade him. With his troops, Chao Gai ferried across the river. Sunk in gloom. Song returned to the fortress. He sent Dai Zong down to watch developments and report.®^

What is apparently emphasized in this episode is Chao Gai's rash decision to attack Zengtou Village despite the bad omen and Song Jiang's repeated pleadings. Song Jiang's concern for Chao Gai's safety is described as truly genuine. Jin

Shengtan, however, rewrote this episode eind added comments to explicitly accuse Song Jiang of causing Chao Gai's death. To illustrate the effect of the physical co-existence of the commentary and the "text proper," I include Jin's double­ column inter lineal comments®^ in parentheses {} :

[Hearing about the Five Tigers of the Zeng Family, ] Chao Gai was enraged. "How dare those animals be so unmannerly'" he fumed. "I'm going down there personally. If I don't capture those rogues I won't return! I'll only take five

®'^ Shuihu quan zhuan 60:1006-1007. The translation is Sidney Shapiro's in Outlaws of the Marsh, pp. 990-91, with modifications.

®“ David Rolston's rendering of shuang hang jia pi, see How to Read, p. 55.

116 thousand men and ask for the help of twenty chieftains. The remainder shall stay with Song Jiang to guard the stronghold. " That day Chao Gai called Lin Chong^ {Lin Chong was called first, what marvelous technique!} Huyan Zhuo, Xu Ning, Mu Hong, Zhang Heng, Yang Xiong, Shi Xiu, Sun Li, Huang Xin, Yan Shun, Deng Fei, Ou Peng, Yang Lin, Liu Tang, Ruan Xiao'er^ Ruan Xiaowu, Ruan Xiaoqi, Bai Sheng, Du Qian and Song Wan {The last several people suddenly turned out to be those who initially captured Mount Liang. What marvelous technique !} The twenty chieftains led three brigades of men down the mountain. Song Jiang, Wu Yong and Gongsun saw them to the Shore of Golden Sands. {In previous chapters, whenever there was military action, the author wrote that Chao Gai wanted to go, but Song Jiang pleaded with him not to. Only this time Song Jiang did not plead, and Chao Gai died. Deep meaning is implied in indirect style, auid one cannot help but shudder upon reading this. This old edition does not have any of the things that the popular edition unscrupulously added. The old edition is therefore worth treasuring. } While they were drinking a sudden wind snapped the pole supporting Chao Gai's standard. Everyone blanched. {The author specifically pointed out that everyone blanched, to imply that Song Jiang did not blanche. Otherwise, why didn't he write "Song Jiang and everyone?"} Wu Yong pleaded, {The author specifically pointed out again that Wu Yong pleaded, to imply that Song Jiang did not plead. Deep meaning is implied in indirect style, which is no different from the Chunqiu technique. } "The wind snaps your standard, brother, just as you're about to set forth. It's not auspicious for military action. Wait a bit longer auid then deal with those knaves. " "The movement of wind and clouds is nothing to be alarmed about," retorted Chao Gai. "Now is the time, in the warmth of spring. If we wait until they build up their strength and then attack, it

117 will be too late. Don't try to stop me. I'm going, come what may L" How could Wu Yong alone dissuade him? {In every sentence the author points out Song Jiang's crime. Deep meaning is implied in indirect style.} With his troops, Chao Gai ferried across the river. Song Jiang returned to the fortress and secretly sent Dai Zong down to watch developments and report. (There is nothing following this sentence. It is not that Shi Nai'an omitted anything. In fact, this is exactly the implication of deep meaning in indirect style to make explicit that the defeat at Zengtou Village was not unexpected by Song Jiang. However, nothing was said of Song Jiang's wish to go to Chao Gai's rescue, and this made clear Song Jiang's crime. When one first reads this passage, it seems to be praising Song Jiang. But when one reads it carefully, one realizes that the author is accusing Song Jiang. The greatness of a piece of writing lies beyond words. How can ordinary people be expected to understand this !}

It becomes clear on comparing the two versions of the episode that Jin Shengtan ' s rewriting plus his comments have completely changed the image of Song Jiang from a loyal friend to a sneaky usurper. First of all, Jin deleted the

Ying yin Jin Shengtan pi gai Guanhua Tang yuan ben Shuihu zhuan (Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, 1934, photocopy) , ce 21, juan 64, pp. 12-14. This edition was photo reproduced from the personal copy of Liu Fu (1891-1934), who believed that it was from the original printing. See Rolston, How to Read, p. 413. This edition is referred to here in order to examine the physical layout of the commentary sind the text. For the sake of comparing Jin Shengtan' s rewritings with the original, I use Sidney Shapiro's translation (Outlaws of the Marsh, pp. 990-91) as the base, which I revised according to Jin's rewritings.

118 part where Song Jiang asked to lead the attack in Chao Gai's stead. He also put Song Jiang's words to dissuade Chao Gai into Wu Yong's mouth, and added that Wu Yong was the only one who tried to stop Chao Gai. By merely chauiging the order of the list of the chieftains, Jin created the insinuation, which he drew attention to in his comment, that most of the bandits had been won over by Song Jiang, and Chao Gai could only depend on those who followed him initially. At the end? of the episode, Jin added one word, "secretly (^) , " to describe Song Jiang's sending Dai Zong to watch developments, thus changing Song Jiang's apparent action out of concern for

Chao Gai into a stealthy act of usurpation.

It is clear that Jin's interlinear comments placed immediately after the passages to which they refer are an important factor in generating the meaning of the episode.

Reading the text with and without the comments can result in very different impressions and understandings. Jin Shengtan seems to designate different roles to the rewriting and to the commentary respectively. In his rewriting of the text,

Jin seems to believe that he is simply carrying out the original author's intention. In his commentary, on the other

119 hand, Jin thinks his job is to interprète or make explicit

what he claims the author was "indirectly" implying. In his

rewritings, Jin Shengtan does try to imitate what he believes

to be the author's "indirect style" in portraying Song Jiang.

Jin insinuates through the addition or omission of certain

suggestive words, or through implied analogy or contrast.

For example, according to Jin, to say that Wu Yong tried to

stop Chao Gai is to indirectly criticize Song Jiang for not

trying. Although Jin's claims for this "indirect style" is

often far-fetched, as in the case where he reads "everyone

blanched" as suggesting that Song Jiang did not, he seems to

have put much effort into maintaining the indirectness in his

rewritings. This gives rise to a series of questions: why is

the indirect style important to Jin? Since he wanted to

change the image of Song Jiang, why did he not do so more

explicitly? What ensures that the indirect style is

understood correctly by the reader?

To answer these questions, we need to look further at

Jin Shengtan's self-appointed role as the commentator. As

Martin Huang has pointed out, Jin Shengtan and other fiction

commentators viewed themselves as "privileged" or

1 2 0 "authorized" readers, who alone could truly understand the

author's intentions. In order to construct himself as the privileged reader, it is important for the commentator to

emphasize the difficulty or complexity of the text and the need for him to guide the ordinary reader towards a correct understanding of it. Therefore the idea that a deep meaning

is necessarily hidden beneath the surface meaning of the

text, an idea imbedded in the Chinese hermeneutic tradition,®^ is manipulated by Jin Shengtan to establish himself as the privileged reader and to authorize his own

interpretation of the text.

We can see that Jin's purpose in playing the role of the authorized reader is to try to lead his readers towards his

interpretation, and in so doing, he does not hesitate to rewrite the text so that it fits his interpretation.

However, by imbuing the text with his own voice, he in fact creates more textual ambiguities and inconsistencies. For

Martin W. Huang, "Author(ity) and Reader," p. 59.

See David Rolston, "Sources of Traditional Chinese Fiction Criticism," in How to Read, pp. 3-34, for a study of the connection between fiction commentary and other types of commentaries, esp. those on the classics such as the Chunqiu (Spring and Autumn Annals) and the Shijing.

1 2 1 example, the image of Song Jiang as a scheming usurper

created by Jin's rewriting contradicts the impression that

the narrator conveys. Jin's commentary on his own rewritings,

furthermore, forms an additional layer of meaning with a

multiplicity of narrative perspectives and possible

interpretations, from which the reader needs to draw her/his

own conclusions. Jin Shengtan's efforts at unifying the text

and convincing the reader of his own interpretations were not

always successful; he did not elude criticism by those of his

contemporaries who failed to understand his "deep meanings. "

In spite of his massive changes to the ending of the novel in

order to condemn rebellion, for example, some readers of his

version failed to see his "good intention" and still

denounced the revised work as one that instigates brigandage.

In this chapter, I have looked at several elite editions

of the Shuihu zhuan and pointed out some examples of

discrepancies or contradictions concerning the representation

Gui Zhuang, Gui Zhuang ji (Shanghai: Guji, 1984), vol. 2, pp. 499-500, quoted in Hua Laura Wu, "Jin Shengtan," p. 270.

1 2 2 and evaluation of figures and events both, within the same edition and between different editions. My purpose is to argue that discrepancies of this kind exist even among the elite editions, and cannot all be explained in terms of the literati "author's" ironic treatment of popular sources.

Instead of trying to find a unified aind singular authorial vision in the many versions of the Shuihu zhuan, it is more fruitful, I believe, to look at what the literati readers actually did with the novel, and how and why it attracted them. In the next chapter, I would like to examine a few key issues in the Shuihu zhuan, how they are represented in the text, and how they are discussed by the literati commentators in the meta-discursive space of the commentaries.

123 CHAPTER 3

CONTEXT AND CONTENTION

IN THE DISCOURSE ON LOYALTY AND REBELLION

In the previous chapters^ I have attempted to establish a critical approach to the Shuihu zhuan which pays attention to the multiplicity of voices and points of view inherent in the work, and the use of it by the literati commentators as a discursive space for cultural issues. We have seen that reading activities (and writing activities, in the case of commentators) contribute a great deal to the making of meaning in the text. In this chapter, I would like to examine a number of important themes represented in the

Shuihu zhuan, and address how these themes are discussed by the commentators, whose presence contributes to the multiple levels of discourse in the text. I will argue that the novel^ s appeal to the literati readers of the late Ming lies very much in the similarity between the political backgroud of the late Ming and that of the last years of the Northern

124 Song, the historical setting of the novel. Through reading and commenting on the novel, the literati reader/commentators expressed their dissatisfaction over the contemporary political situation, and discussed issues with a lasting significance in Chinese culture.

I. Loyalty and Its Dilemma

It may be puzzling why the literati readers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries were attracted to the

Shuihu zhuan, a book that portrays a group of outlaws who broke social norms, took justice into their own hands, and openly defied law and authority. We find that the characters who were praised most highly by the literati commentators were those who displayed the freest spirit, the strongest sense of abandon, and flagrant disregard for social rules or restrictions. For example, Li Kui, the

"Black Whirlwind," who asserts that he would let the emperor have a taste of his battle-axes, was loved universally by the commentators, and praised as a heavenly god and true hero. Scholars have looked to the

125 philosophical and intellectual background of the time for a connection between the unconventional and iconoclastic thought of such literati as Li Zhi and the free spirit symbolized by the Shuihu rebels.^ A totally uncivilized and therefore uncontaminated character, Li Kui exemplifies well

Li Zhi's idea of the "childlike mind" (tongxin) .

In addition to the intellectual background of the sixteenth century, we can also relate the literati/s fascination with the Shuihu zhuan to the historical and political situations of the time. The Shuihu zhuan is set in the last years of the Northern Song dynasty, during the reign of the emperor Huizong, a period that very much parallels the late Ming in terms of the weakness of the central court, which gave rise to both domestic unrest and incursions by "barbarians."^ In a preface to the Shuihu

^ See, for example, Plaks, Four Masterworks, p. 357; Wang Xianpei and Zhou Weimin, Ming Qing xiaoshuo lilun piping shi, pp. 112-90; and Jean Chesneaux, "The Modern Relevance of Shui-hu chuan: Its Influence on Rebel Movements in Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century China, " Papers on Far Eastern History 2 (March 1971) : 2.

^ For domestic unrest and the increasing threat from the Manchus in the late Ming, see Albert Chan, The Glory and Fall in the Ming Dynasty, pp. 329-95; and Lawrence D. Kessler, K^ang-Hsi and the Consolidation of Ch^ing Rule

126 zhuan (1625-27) attributed to the famous literati figure

Zhong Xing (1574-1624), its author laments the chaotic situation in the empire caused by bandit revolts and threat from the Manchus and expresses his longing for heroes like the Shuihu group who may eradicate bandits and barbarians alike.3 The attraction of the novel for this reader clearly lies in its high degree of relevance to the contemporary situation.*

The author of one of the earliest prefaces to the Shuihu zhuan (1589) , attributed to the poet, playwright and high

1661-1684 (Chicago and London; The University of Chicago Press, 1976), pp. 1-19.

^ Zhong Xing, "Shuihu xu, " in Zhu and Liu, Shuihu zhuan ziliao huibian, p. 22 6.

* As an example of the late-Ming literati novelists and publishers'^ experiment "with subversive ways of utilizing received narrative materials," Robert Hegel calls our attention to the Yingxiong pu (The Register of Heroes) , an imprint that divided each page into upper and lower sections with Sanguo yanyi along the bottom and Shuihu zhuan on the top. Illustrations are accompanied by poems attributed to famous literati of the recent past, including several Donglin partisans famous for their struggles against the eunuch faction at court. As Hegel observes, "the poems thus link the fiction to contemporary events for the discerning reader," and the novels "become a kind of allegorical commentary on matters of contemporary relevance." Hegel, Reading Illustrated Fiction, pp. 40-41.

127 official Wang Daokun (1525-93) , points out the deteriorating

political situation brought about by the incompetence of the

emperor and the corruption of evil officials such as Gao Qiu

and Cai Jing (1074—1126) ^ suid scheming eunuchs such as Tong

Guan (1054-1126) in the last years of Northern Song as the

direct cause for the rise of rebels. ^ Another famous

literati scholar Zhang Fengyi (1527-1613), in his preface to

the novel (ca 1588-89)®, remarks that the evil officials of

the Northern Song are the real outlaws Li Zhi, moreover,

attributes such noble virtues as "loyalty'' and

"righteousness" to the Shuihu rebels. According to him the

author (s) of the Shuihu zhuan portrayed a group of loyal and

righteous outlaws in order to criticize the Song court which drove talented men to the marshes and lost the country to the

® Wang Daokun, "Shuihu zhuan xu," in Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, pp. 1-2.

® See the biography of Zhang Fengyi in L. Carrington Goodrich and Chaoying Fang, eds., Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368-1644 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976), p. 64.

^ Zhang Fengyi, "Shuihu zhuan xu, " in Zhu Yixuan and Liu Yuchen, Shuihu zhuan ziliao huibian, p. 190.

128 invading barbarians.® This approach^ established in these early prefacesr of justifying the Shuihu rebellion on account of the political situation of the last years of the Northern

Song was echoed in other late-Ming discussions on the novel.®

We can see, therefore, that the issue of loyalty and rebellion is a key theme in the literati readers' approach to the Shuihu zhuan, who could not fail to see the resemblance between the political situation in the last years of the

Northern Song and that in the late Ming. Furthermore, the representation of loyalty and rebellion in the novel, and how and whether these two seemingly contradictory ideas may be resolved, were issues debated among literati commentators in the sixteenth and seventeen centuries. As we will see in the following discussions, individual commentators' responses to these issues were heavily conditioned by the political situations under which they wrote.

® Li Zhi, "Zhongyi Shuihu zhuan xu (1590)in Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, pp. 3-5.

® See, e.g., the preface to the Yu Xiangdou edition, in Ma Tiji, Shuihu ziliao huibian, p. 9.

129 As mentioned, before^ the portrayal of Gao Qiu and his

rise to power in the Shuihu zhuan gives the reader the

impression that "disorder originates from the top.” However^

Gao Qiu is not the only one to be criticized. The "top"

includes none other than the emperor himself. Whereas the

condemnation of Gao Qiu is spelled out explicitly, the

criticism of Huizong is more subtle, but no less sharp. Gao

Qiu is described as a dilettante who is skilled at all forms of amusement, but "as for virtues such as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, proper behavior and

loyalty, he did not know a thing. Although there is no direct mention of Emperor Huizong's lack of virtue, he is also described as a less than serious ruler, one who shares all the frivolities that Gao Qiu enjoys. The analogy between the two is clearly intended, as pointed out by the commentator of the Yuan Wuya edition.

Very much in keeping with traditional concepts regarding rulers, Huizong's lack of virtue is viewed as the ultimate source of disorder in the world. The way of a sovereign.

Shuihu quan zhuan 2:16.

See Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 57

130 according to Confucian political thou.gb.tf is to rule by personal virtue:

The Master said, "When a prince's personal conduct is correctf his government is effective without the issuing of orders. If his personal conduct is not correctf he may issue orders, but they will not be followed.

Therefore, if a ruler embodies perfect virtue, the state will be well-governed and needless of laws or penalties. On the other hand, if the ruler behaves in an unbefitting way, the people will follow his example and the state will then plunge into chaos. Both good and bad are transmitted from the top down. Huizong, therefore, is an example of "the sovereign losing his Way" (shang shi gi dao) .

In addition to ruling by personal virtue, it is also a sovereign's duty to recognize and employ wise and righteous men for office. Huizong again falls short of this ideal.

His irresponsibility and lack of judgment result in the promotion of such unworthy persons as Gao Qiu, and the

James Legge, Confucian Analects 13:6. Translation by James Legge.

Jin Shengtan's comment, in Chen Xi zhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 55.

131 consequent slighting of truly talented and loyal individuals.

Chapter Two of the Shuihu zhuan contains an example of a good

man wrongly treated. Wang Jin is portrayed as a filial son

and talented arms ins t rue to r^ who becomes the first victim of

Gao Qiu's abuse of power. The antagonism between Gao Qiu and

Wang Jin illustrates the theme, which is repeated in the

narrative, that men of talent and noble character are not

recognized by the sovereign, and are persecuted by evil ministers. As we know, this is a popular theme represented

across genres in traditional Chinese literature, with a locus

classlcus in Qu Yuan' s Li sao (Encountering Sorrow) . In the

Shuihu zhuan, this theme seems to set the narrative pattern of moral conflict between the corrupt leader and righteous

subjects, and provides justification for the latter to take

to robbery and rebellion.

Although the theme that "the Way does not prevail in the world"^"* is firmly established as the social background for the Shuihu story, it remains an open question how people of true loyalty should behave in a morally chaotic world. In an ideal situation where "a ruler employs his ministers with

Jin Shengtan's comment, ibid., 1:1.

132 propriety, and ministers serve their ruler with, loyalty,

the issue of loyalty does not present itself as a question.

The true meaning of loyalty and what one should do to be

loyal only becomes debatable when the right moral order does not prevail in the world. The portrayal of the social background in the Shuihu zhuan successfully underscores the moral dilemma faced by people living in a world of injustice:

Does the Huizong emperor's lack of virtue and Gao Qiu's abuse of power justify the rebellious actions of the bandits? This

is one of the central issues discussed by the commentators.

We need to remember that Wang Jin does not become an outlaw.

He flees the capital with his mother, and sets out for Yan' an

Prefecture to join the border garrison because the frontier is the only place where talented men can function. We can see that Wang Jin responds to unjust treatment differently from those who gather on Mount Liang. Whereas the bandits take to rebellion, Wang Jin still seeks to serve the sovereign. The difference between the two is viewed by Jin Shengtan as fundamental: "When Wang Jin leaves, the 108 people arrive.

James Legge, Confucian Analects 3:19.

Chen Xi zhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 54

133 Wang Jin is viewed as a counter-example of the bandits in that he stays loyal even when the sovereign is less than virtuousr whereas the bandits respond to injustice with rebellion. To Jin Shengtan, Wang Jin obviously represents the true meaning of loyalty. He goes so far as to state that whereas Wang Jin is truly a subject worthy of a sage ruler, the 108 bandits deserve to be executed under proper rule.

Jin Shengtan's view of the irreconcilability of loyalty and rebellion was questioned by Wang Wangru, editor- commentator of the Pinglun chuxiang Shuihu zhuan (Shuihu zhuan with commentaries and illustrations, 1657) which consists of Jin Shengtan's commentary edition and Wang's own post-chapter comments. Wang tries to apologize for the bandits, tracing the source of disorder to Emperor Huizong:

The Daoist Sovereign is a leader of demons. When demons are installed in the court, the common people will follow at large; when the way of small men prevails, the way of noble men diminishes; when Gao Qiu comes, Wang Jin leaves — this is inevitable. Among the 108 people of the Shuihu, Wang Jin is mentioned first. This shows that he is not a brigand, and that the 108 people are not b o m brigands.

Ibid

18 Chen Xi zhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 80.

134 Wang Wangru seems to justify the rebellious acts of people

living in a world of moral chaos. He also draws a parallel

between Wang Jin and the 108 bandits; they are all victims of

injustice. Jin Shengtan and Wang Wangru display a difference

of opinion over the issue of how a moral person should act in

an unjust society. Wang's comments here at the end of Chapter

One are clearly put in as a variation of Jin's comments

before the chapter. Togetherthe two form a meta-discourse

over the narrative.

The issue presented in the Shuihu zhuan has been a profound moral dilemma for Chinese intellectuals. When right principles do not prevail in the world and the sovereign does not prove himself a virtuous leader, people have two choices :

stay loyal to the sovereign regardless of his unworthiness or

take justice into one's own hands. The former is based on the belief that the sovereign is the unquestionable object of absolute loyalty, whereas the latter recognizes a higher order in the form of Heaven's will or mandate (tianming) .

The idea of the "Mandate of Heaven" is deep-rooted in Chinese historical thought. According to this idea. Heaven confers

135 the right to rule upon a virtuous founder of a dynasty, and

only by continuing to exemplify virtue can subsequent rulers

retain this mandate. If they stray from virtue, they lose

their Heavenly right to rule, giving a virtuous new leader a

divine justification to set up a new dynasty in place of the

old. In other words, it is justifiable to overthrow an evil

ruler, as Mencius argues:

The king Xuan of Qi asked, saying, "Was it so, that Tang banished Jie, and that king Wu smote Zhou?" Mencius replied, "It is so in the records." The king said, "May a minister then put his sovereign to death?" Mencius said, "He who outrages the benevolence proper to his nature, is called a robber; he who outrages righteousness, is called a ruffian. The robber and ruffian we call a mere fellow. I have heard of the cutting off of the fellow Zhou, but I have not heard of the putting a sovereign to death, in his case.

Therefore, when a sovereign deviates from benevolence and

righteousness, he loses his right to rule and deserves to be

replaced. We can see that this idea of the Mandate of Heaven

is contrary to the actual practice of hereditary kingship.

As pointed out by Burton Watson, th.e theory of dynastic

change based on the idea of Mandate of Heaven is

James Legge, The Works of Mencius (New York: Dover, 1970), p. 167. I have changed the Wade-Grles romanization system used by Legge to Pinyin.

136 controversial because it could easily "be interpreted as an excuse for revolt and regicide. The gist of the question is how one knows whether a sovereign has lost the Mandate of

Heaven or not, and who, if anyone, is entitled to take his place. From, a different angle, one can argue a posteriori that a very loss of kingdom proves that the Mcindate of Heaven has been withdrawn. Likewise, the fact that a new leader is able to triun^h and establish a new dynasty is proof that he has earned Heaven's approval through his virtue. According to this logic, one can arrive at a cynical interpretation of history: He who wins is the sovereign; he who loses the rebel

(Cheng ze wei wang, bai ze wei kou) . The ideal moral order and the actual world of power struggle become two sides of the same coin, and the moral dilemma embedded in the choice between loyalty and rebellion remains unresolved. Where then do we draw the distinction between rebellion and "carrying out the will of Heaven" (ti tian xing dao) , as claimed by the

Shuihu outlaws?

Burton Watson, Early Chinese Literature (New York: Columbia University Press, 1962), p. 31.

137 In the following, I would like to examine further the complex issue of loyalty as analyzed above, and see how it is contested and dialogized both within and across the textual boundary of the Shuihu zhuan.

II. The Ambiguity of Heaven's Will

In studying the narrative structure of the Shuihu zhuan, critics have pointed out that the structure of the work is "a sequence of cyclesor a "system of linked plots" organized beneath a "superstructure."^^ Hanan uses the example of the chapters on Wu Song to illustrate this :

Each of Wu Song's adventures consists of an almost perfect unitary plot in itself... But although the Wu Song chapters form a system of linked plots, they are themselves linked to other systems, for example the chapters that deal with Song Jiang. There is a master-link between the two systems, in this case the recurring motif of the chance confrontation that ends in firm friendship. Therefore, in the Shuihu zhuan and in certain other works, there is a level of organization above the

21 Peter Li, "Narrative Patterns in San-kuo and Shui-hu, " in Plaks, ed. Chinese Narrative, p. 80.

Hanan, "The Early Chinese Short Story," pp. 183-4.

138 kind we have been speaking of, a superstructure — in this work the assembling of the heroes, the birth and death of the rebellion — which controls the various systems of linked plots.

I would like to add to Hanan's components of this

superstructure the supernatural theme of predestination.

Being mainly concerned with depicting characters and events

of a worldly nature, the narrative of the Shuihu zhuan is

nevertheless interspersed with supernatural themes and motifs

which combine to add another dimension of meaning. The

heavenly origin of the 108 outlaws and the stone tablet

bearing testimony to it compose the main supernatural

framework which is superimposed on the narrative. In

addition, amid depictions of worldly affairs, the narrative

is dotted with occasional clues and hints which call the

reader's attention back to the main supernatural theme.

Examples of this include Song Jiang's encounter with the

Mystic Maid of Nine Heavens,a children's ditty predicting

23 Ibid. Also quoted in Li, "San-kuo and Shui-hu, " p. 80. I have changed the Wade-Giles romani z at ion used by Hanan to Pinyin.

24 Shuihu quan zhuan; 42,

139 his role in the rebellion, and the gathas that the Buddhist monk gives Lu Da and Song Jiang. I believe that the supernatural theme in the Shuihu zhuan is closely tied to the idea of Heaven's will or predestination. The supernatural segments provide an area where the moral legitimacy of the characters' actions is discussed.

As I have noted, the "demonic" origin of the outlaws is foregrounded in Chapter One of the narrative. Although the term "demon" has clearly inauspicious connotations, it does not mean that the outlaws are to be perceived as unambiguously negative, as one critic has suggested.Upon further examination, we find that the very composition of the

108 star-spirits indicates an ambivalent moral assessment of the outlaws. As revealed to Marshal Hong and to the reader as well, the "demons" consist of thirty-six tiangang stars and seventy-two disha stars. These two groups of stars have their origins in Chinese mythology. The number and names of

Shuihu quan zhuan; 39.

Shuihu quan zhuan chapters 5 and 90.

Andrew Plaks believes that the origin of the rebels as the "baneful" star-spirits is a warning about their immorality. Four Masterworks, p. 308.

140 the stars in. the Shuihu match those celestial stars in popular belief.^® It is noteworthy that, according to mythology, the thirty-six tiangang stars are believed to be auspicious, whereas the seventy-two disha stars are considered evil spirits, adversaries of the tiangang stars.

In the Shuihu zhuan, however, there is no such discrimination in the representation of the 108 bandits. Although those who are incarnations of tiangang stars are indeed more important characters than those who are incarnations of disha stars, there is no polar distinction or antagonism between the two groups in terms of moral behavior.

Furthermore, within each group, there are stars whose names have positive and auspicious associations and stars whose names sound more negative or ominous. For exanple, the tiangang group consists of such stars as "Heaven's First"

For a list of tiangang and disha stars in mythology, see E.T.C. Wemer, A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology (Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, 1932), pp. 496-7; 506.

See ibid.

Xuanhe yishi (Forgotten Events from the Xuanhe Period) already gives the celestial origin of the Shuihu bandits, but it only mentions thirty-six stars of "the Hall of Ursa Major." See Section Four of Xuanhe yishi, translated in Richard Irwin, The Evolution of a Chinese Hovel, pp. 26-31.

141 (tiankui) r "Heaven's Wisdom" (tianhui), "Heaven's Valor"

(tianyong), "Heaven's Nobility" (tiangni) r and "Heaven's

Fortune" (tianfu), the names of which have positive implications. However, it also includes stars such as

"Heaven's Executioner" (tiansha), "Heaven's Moan" (tianku),

"Heaven's Wound" (tianshang), "Heaven's Defeat" (tianbai), and "Heaven's Hurt" (tiansun), which have negative associations.^^ We Ccin find the same mixture of positive and negative elements in the ensemble of disha stars. The fact that the Shuihu bandits are incarnations of both good and evil stars re-enforces their ambivalent presentation in the narrative. Rather them serving to illustrate the negative treatment of the bandits, as suggested by Andrew Plaks, the supernatural origin of the bandits further complicates the moral ambiguities surrounding the evaluation of the bandits in the text.

It is indeed questionable whether the star-spirits are

Heaven's agents to set things right in the world, or merely

The English translations of the names of the stars are E.T.C. Werner's in his A Dictionary of Chinese Mythology, p. 506.

Plaks, The Four Masterworks, p. 308.

142 evil forces accidentally released to create chaos and

disaster. This sense of ambiguity is accentuated further when

a heavenly origin is also assigned to the founding emperor of

the Song Dynasty, Taizu:

In time, the way of Heaven took a new turn. At Jiamaying, Tai Zu, the Emperor of Military Virtue, was born. A red glow suffused the sky when this sage came into the world, and fragrance still filled the air the following morning. He was in fact the God of Thunder descended to earth. Brave and magnanimous, he was superior to any emperor who had ever lived. With a staff as tall as himself he smote so hard that four hundred prefectures and districts acknowledged his sovereignty.^^

The case of the Taizu emperor provides both a contrast to and

a parallel with the 108 star-spirits. The contrast is

obvious: whereas the 108 Shuihu stars are called demons,

Taizu is called a sage. Jin Shengtan, for example,

immediately notices the contrasting metaphors used in the

respective descriptions of Taizu and the 108 star-spirits:

Whereas the birth of the former is accompanied by an

auspicious red light suffusing the sky, the release of the

Shuihu quan zhuan 0:2. The translation is Sidney Shapiro's, Outlaws of the Marsh, 4 vols. (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1988), Vol. 1, pp. 1-2.

143 latter brings about an ominous black cloud. Taizu's

celestial origin, therefore, can be viewed as testimony of

Heaven's blessing on him and the new dynasty he is founding.

On the other hand, the supernatural origin of the Taizu

emperor also foreshadows that of the 108 star-spirits.

Particularly noteworthy is the brandishing of a single staff

through which the emperor establishes his sovereignty. As

Jin Shengtan is again quick to point out, "We can see that

all the spears and sticks that appear later [in the story]

follow the example of this emperor.There is a clear

parallel between the founding emperor's military prowess and

the martial talent demonstrated by so many of the bandits.

The fact that the founding emperor establishes his

sovereignty through the exercise of military power also

corresponds to the later practice of the band and their possible claim to the throne. Furthermore, an ironic light

is cast on the reference to Taizu as a sage, for his reliance

on military power is opposed to the Confucian ideal of a

sage-king who governs by personal virtue. The example of the

Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 39.

Ibid., p. 39.

144 founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, therefore, uncovers the

reality of power struggles behind the ideal of Heaven's

mandate. Taizu and the means by which he establishes

sovereignty are depicted as morally ambivalent. In a sense,

his exairç>le legitimizes the Shuihu outlaws' subsequent

military rebellion, but at the same time casts a shadow of

doubt on the so-called will of Heaven they claim to be

carrying out.

The circumstances surrounding the release of the star-

spirits present anoth.er duality of perception to the reader.

The fact that on the stone tablet suppressing the demons are written four characters predicting that the cave will be

opened by Marshal Hong, the imperial envoy, may indicate that

the emergence of the star spirits is Heaven's will. On the

other hand, however, as several commentators agree, the

character Marshal Hong is far from an ideal agent to carry

out Heaven's willHe is depicted as an obtuse person whose arrogance and tendency to abuse power foreshadows the

See the comments on the character Marshal Hong by Jin Shengtan, the commentator of Rongyu Tang edition, the commentator of Yuan Wuya edition and the commentator of Jiezi Yuan edition, in Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, pp. 43- 50.

145 two evil ministers Gao Qiu and Cai Jing.^^ The release of

the star-spirits in. the hands of such a person^ therefore,

undercuts the sense of Heaven's will implied in the

inscription on the stone tablet.

As part of the supernatural framework, the stone tablet

is a recurrent image in the narrative. Jin Shengtan assigns

much structural significance to this image: "The three

appearances of the word 'stone tablet* mark the major

divisions of the Shuihu zhuan. The appearance of the

stone tablet in Chapter One is followed by two more

emergences, respectively in Chapters Fifteen and Seventy-One.

To be precise, in Chapter Fifteen, there is no appearance of

an actual stone tablet, but the word shijie (stone tablet) is mentioned in a subtle way.^^ This chapter tells about Wu

Yong's efforts in persuading the Ruan brothers to participate

See Jin Shengtan's pre-chapter comments, ibid., p. 39.

Jin Shengtan, "Du di wu caizi shu fa," in ibid., p. 16. See also his pre-chapter comments to the Xiezi (Wedge) and Chapters 15 & 71, in ibid., p. 39, 270, and 1262.

The stone tablet is called shibei in Chapter One. Jin Shengtan changes it to shi j ie in his version to accentuate the correspondence. See Shuihu quan zhuan, vol. 1, p. 13, n. 70.

146 in intercepting the birthday gifts for Cai Jing. Wu*s

efforts consequently bring about the first miniature gathering of heros in the narrative. Not by conincidence, the village where the Ruan brothers live is called Stone

Tablet Village (shljie cun) . Jin Shengtaui marks the event at that village as a turning point in the narrative; "The journey of the one hundred and eight to Mount Liang definitely starts here."^° What Jin alludes to is not merely the structural importance of this episode. As C.T.

Hsia points out, the motive for the capture of the birthday gifts is greed instead of righteousness, and what is exemplified is cunning and deceit instead of personal valor or honor. The episode of the birthday gifts signals the transition from individual heroes to a collective band.On the one hand, although the clue of the stone tablet in this episode clearly brings up the recurrent motif of predestination, the moral consequence of that predestination is still in question. On the other hand, it is exactly because of the disputable nature of the characters' actions

Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 270.

See C.T. Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel, pp. 93-4.

147 that a divine sign is called for to counterbalance their less them honorable image. What is presented to the reader is not a one-sided evaluation of the outlaws^ but a dual perspective. It is left to the readers to make their own judgment about the moral acceptability of the characters. For example/ Wang Wangru remarks that the plot to capture the birthday gifts does not match the good name of Chao Gai/ who supposedly slights wealth and values righteousness. The commentator of the Rongyu Tang edition explicitly calls the conspirers "thieves. " He points out, however, that these little thieves all follow the example of the big thief, Cai

Jing. The commentator of the Yuan Wuya edition, on the contrary, believes that the episode really shows Wu Yong's wisdom and Chao Gai ' s ability to recognize fellow heroes. He also argues that it is indeed fate that brings the heroes together.

The stone tablet appears again in Chapter Seventy-One, entitled "In Loyalty Hall a Stone Tablet Bears a Heavenly

Script; The Heroes of Liangshan Marsh Take Seats in Order of

42 See Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 269,

148 Rank."”*^ The significance of this episode is two-fold. On

the structural level, there are a number of correspondences between this chapter and Chapter One, as listed in the

following chart:

Chapter One Chapter Seventy-One star spirits released Star spirits reunified stone tablet unearthed stone tablet dispatched from. Heaven heavenly script undeciphered heavenly script deciphered

There is clearly a question-and-answer relationship between the two chapters. The stone tablet in Chapter One, whose cryptic inscriptions cannot be deciphered, provides a riddle to be resolved in Chapter Seventy-One. For this reason, Jin

Shengtan calls Chapter Seventy-One the "grand finale" (da jieshu) : " [The narrative] begins with the stone tablet and

Shuihu quan zhuan 71:1193. The translation is Sidney Shapiro's, Outlaws of the Marsh, vol. 3, p. 1164.

44 Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 1262

149 ends with, the stone tablet."'*® His belief in the structural completeness of the narrative up to Chapter Seventy-One is part of the reason for his deletion of the last forty-nine chapters

On the interpretive level, the recurrence of the stone tablet in Chapter Seventy-One brings up again the issue of the Mandate of Heaven. Given the cultural—mythological belief in the mysterious manifestation of divine will in stone inscriptions,*^ the final revelation of the heavenly script inscribed on the stone tablet would serve as a sign of

Heaven's approval of the outlaws' conduct, a sign that the outlaws — Song Jiang in particular — repeatedly plea for.

In fact, the heavenly script serves two functions. One is to legitimize the bandits' actions, as implied in the couplet:

Ibid.

John C. Wang provides a balanced evaluation of Jin Shengtan's emendations of the text in Chin Sheng-t'an, pp. 53-65.

*' For a study of the inscribed stone and its moral implications, see Jing Wang, The Story of Stone: Intertextuality, Ancient Chinese Stone Lore, and the Stone Symbolism in Dream of the Red Chamber, Water Margin, and the Journey to the West (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1992), pp. 72-75, 251-68.

150 "Carry out the Will of Heaven" and "Loyalty and Righteousness

Complete."^® The other is to establish Song Jiang's authority over the band, for the script dictates the ranking of the 108 bandits. However, from their responses to the presentation of events surrounding the appearance of the stone tablet, we can see that the reader-commentators do not take the divine justification at face value. Instead, they turn this section of the narrative into another realm of contention, and we can see another fine example of how the extratextual commentary invades the narrative proper and breaks down textual boundaries.

At the ritual held by Song Jiang and his group, placating the dead and celebrating the gathering of the 108 brothers, a stone tablet is dispatched from Heaven in answer to their entreaties;

Suddenly, there was a sound like the ripping of fabric in the northwest corner of the sky. Everyone looked. They saw an object resembling an up-ended golden platter, narrow at both ends and broad in the middle. Known as Heaven's Gate, or Heaven's Eye, it was dazzlingly bright and resplendent as sunset clouds. A column of fire, shaped like a willow basket, twirled down from the center of the Eye towards the altar. It circled the altar once.

Shuihu quan zhuan, 71:1195.

151 then plunged into the earth near the southern end of the hall. Heaven's Eye was closed by then^ and the Taoist priests descended from their altar. Song Jiang ordered men to dig with shovels and mattocks where the fire had vanished. At a depth of three feet,- they found a stone tablet. It was inscribed on both sides with mystic writing.

This discovery of the stone tablet is narrated in an objective, straightforward tone. If the entire incident were presented in this one single voice, there would be no ambiguity as to the authenticity of the stone and the heavenly script inscribed on it. As Deborah Porter has noted, immediately following the passage quoted above, the reader is presented with this poem:

Fragrant satchels and jade script [have the power to] establish existence or non-existence; That Heaven's doors could open and close is also absurd; Cunning and sharp, who created the Theory of Abundance? Even with respect to the illuminating principles, [he] dares commit gross fraud.

According to Deborah Porter, the allusion to a "Theory of

Abundance" refers to the Song minister Cai Jing's misappropriation of a saying in the Yijing (Book of Changes)

Shuihu quan zhuan 71:1194-5. Translation is Sidney Shapiro's, Outlaws of the Marsh, vol 3, pp. 1165— 6.

Shuihu quan zhuan 71:1195. Translated by Deborah Porter, "Style," p. 251.

152 to create a theory in order to justify his own extravagant lifestyle, thus supposedly reflecting on Song Jiang's similax fraudulent behavior.Indeed, the poem, different from the prose passage, is written in an explicitly subjective tone.

In the prose passage and the verse, therefore, we hear two distinct narratorial voices. The former objectively narrates the event, whereas the latter offers a subjective comment on the incident presented in the prose passage. The two voices contrast and interact with each other. While the narrator in the prose passage gives a matter-of-fact accounting of the discovery of the stone tablet, the narrator in the poem points out the ridiculousness of the opening of Heaven's gate and questions the authenticity of the so-called heavenly script inscribed on the stone tablet. The unmistakable difference between the two leads Porter to conclude that the poem is the author's device to throw an ironic light on the character Song Jiang, and to reveal that the whole business with the stone tablet is Song's trick to establish his authority over the band. Still, it is questionable whether

Porter, "Style," pp. 251-2. Porter, "Style," pp. 250-2.

153 the poem is indeed written by the "original author^ " for a comparison of the different editions of the Shuihu zhuan shows that, whereas this poem is present in some editions

(i.e., Tiandu Waichen, Rongyu Tang and Zhong Xing), others

(i.e.. Yuan Wuya and Jiezi Yuan^^) contain an entirely different poem in its stead:

Loyal cind righteous heroes built an altar, Miraculouly they moved Heaven; Good and evil in the world will all be retributed. At no moment is the Heavenly Eye not wide open.^“

The contrast between the two poems is obvious. Although both are highly subjective, the poem in the Yusin Wuya and Jiezi

Yuan editions reinforces the authenticity of the stone tablet incident, and supports the divine approval of the bandits, whereas that in the Tiandu Waichen, Rongyu Tang and Zhong

Xing editions undermines it. The presence of different poems in different editions makes us suspect that the poems are more likely the work of some commentator-editor them that of any of the "original" author (s) . This speculation is supported by the fact that there is a general agreement

See Shuihu quan zhuan 71:1208, n. 11,

Shuihu quan zhuan 71:1208, n. 11.

154 between the poem used in an edition and the commentary written by the commentator (s) of that particular edition. In other wordsr the commentators of the editions with the second poem tend to express trust in the authenticity of the heavenly script in their commentaries. Likewise, the commentators of the editions with the first poem usually question it. For example, the commentators of the Yuan Wuya and Jiezi Yuan editions consistently praise the "sage-like behavior and Buddha-like mind"^^ of Song Jiang in their marginal, interlinear and post-chapter commentaries. The commentator of the Rongyu Tang edition, on the other hand, repeatedly points out that the so-called divine sign is nothing but a magic show designed by Song Jiang and performed by Wu Yong and Gongsun Sheng to legitimize Song Jiang's authority over the band.

The above example supports our conclusion in the previous chapter that the narrative discourse in the Shuihu

Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 1263. See also other comments by the commentators of the two editions, pp. 1263-73.

See the marginal, interlinear and post-chapter comments by the comment a to r of the Rongyu Tang edition, in Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, pp. 1263-73.

155 zhuan contains a multiplicity of voices and points of view reinforcing, interacting, or contending with each other. The voice of the commentater is definitely an integral part of this discursive whole. The following citation from the comments by Wang Wangru, who added his own commentary to that of Jin Shengtan's and printed them both in his published edition of the Shuihu zhuan, may serve as an example of an attempt to find a compromise between the different opinions about Song Jiang and the authenticity of the heavenly origins of the bandits:

Mencius says human nature is good, and therefore there is no doubt the Liangshan thiefs all had good natures. Song Jiang was the head of the 108 men. When he woke up from his daydream, he realized that as a tattoo-faced minor official on the run for having committed murder, he had looted towns and prefectures, brougt great harm to officials and the common people, gathered robbers but called it the gathering of the righteous, violated [the will of] Heaven but eulogized it as acting on behalf of Heaven. Although he might escape the punishment of the court, he could not escape the execution by ghosts and spirits. That was why he held the ritual to beg for [Heaven's] blessings. His intentions were true and apparent; his outer appearances revealed his inner sincerity ... If he had taken this opportunity to start a new life, he would be like ... the butcher who laid down his knife and became a Buddha. However, at a turn of the mind, [Song Jiang] became greedy and ended up prolonging the fraud. In order to gain the fortune of an imperial pardon, he invented the bizarre

156 theory of the star spirits ... so that the 107 men. would all be confused and dare not act recklessly. [ In this way, ] he could wait worry-free in the marsh for the imperial pardon. Alas I That's why Song Jiang was in the end a thief I

Perhaps much of the (il) logic in Wang Wangru's arguments can be attributed to his efforts to account for not only the text itself, but also the divergent opinions of other commentators.

III. The Complexity of Right to Rule

We have considered, in our discussions cibove, the problematics of kingship as manifested in the contradiction between the Confucian ideal of rule by virtue and the harsh reality of rule by power. In many ways. Mount Liang, the bandits' stronghold, is represented as a miniature of the kingdom, where the power struggles, though on a smaller scale, are no less fierce. In the following, I would like to take a closer look at the transitions of power taking place on Mount Liang, auid discuss how they may function as an allegory of the larger kingdom and serve to illustrate the

57 Ibid., pp. 1273-74.

157 idea of kingship and right to rule. It was very likely, I

believe, that the literati reader/commentators of the late

Ming and early Qing read the novel allegorically, and the

close parallel between political situations represented in

the novel aind those in the real world accounts in part for

the novel's attractiveness.

The leadership on Mount Liang changes two times: from

Wang Lun to Chao Gai, and from Chao Gai to Song Jiang. The

first transition takes place when Chao Gai and his six

friends, having seized the birthday gifts, seek refuge from

the bandits led by Wang Lun. Jealous and afraid of the newcomers' talent and military prowess, Wang Lun does not want to let them join. Sensing the discord between Wang Lun and Lin Chong, Wu Yong, Chao Gai's adviser, succeeds in setting them against each other and staging a revolt in which

Wang Lun is killed by Lin Chong. Chao Gai and his followers take control of the stronghold, and Chao becomes the new chieftain.

This transition of power is represented in a way that is open to different interpretations. On the one hand, it is justified with the Confucian idea that the virtuous have the

158 right to rule. Wang Lun is depicted as an incompetent and narrow-minded person who is jealous of people more talented thcin he. When Lin Chong first came to join the band, he was treated poorly and given the lowest-ranking position. Now that Wang Lun hears that Chao Gai and his followers are brave and resourceful and have defeated the government forces, he becomes uneasy and wants to send them away. With his incompetence, jealousy, and abuse of power, Wang Lun clearly resembles Gao Qiu, Cai Jing and other evil ministers at court. Interestingly, Wang Lun is portrayed as a "scholar"

(xiucai) who failed in the more advanced levels of the civil service examinations. He is pedantic and pretentious, opposite to the honesty and straight-forwardness which are the manners of the "good fellows. " This unattractive image of the petty scholar is noticed by many of the commentators, especially Jin Shengtan and the Rongyu Tang commentator, who see Wang Lun as an example of hypocrisy.^®

The fact that Wang Lun is an unfit leader seems to legitimize Chao Gai's usurpation of his position. The transition of leadership on Mount Liang, therefore, seems to

Ibid., pp. 226-29, 352-59.

159 reinforce the idea of the Mandate of Heaven^ though on a

miniature scale. The replacement of the incompetent and

under serving with the worthy and capable seems justifiable

even on moral terms. The event on Mount Liang is viewed by

some commentators as parallel to contemporary affairs on a

national scale. Jin Shengtan, for exanç>le, infers that "It

takes talent even to be a robber, but how is it that people

these days who occupy their posts and eat their fill can get

away with doing nothing and feeling no shame? That the

talented shall replace the incompetent seems to be the underlying rationale of the transition of power from Wang Lun

to Chao Gai.

A closer look at the representation of this transition of leadership, however, reveals that other interpretations

are possible. Above all, Chao Gai's seizing of the

leadership cein be viewed as a sheer power struggle. We are

told that Wu Yong sets a plan to stir up the internal strife between Wang Lun and Lin Chong so that Chao Gai and his men can take advantage of the situation. Whereas Wu Yong, the

"Star of Wisdom, " strikes the reader as a clever and shrewd

Ibid., p. 342.

160 military adviser, Chao Gai appears sincere and straight­ forward. This is seen most clearly in the conversations they have with Lin Chong, during which Wu Yong's every word is to instigate Lin, whereas Chao Gai appears most innocent and naive. However, knowing that Chao Gai has gladly agreed to

Wu Yong's plan, the reader cannot help but question Chao's seeming honesty. As Jin Shengtan points out, Wu Yong's instigations would seem too obvious without Chao Gai there providing diversions.®® Chao Gai, therefore, is merely playing the role of a sincere, honest, and generous leader, who would appear to Lin Chong as the direct opposite of Wang

Lun.

Such plotting and scheming are contrary to the principles of benevolence that befit a ruler and the righteousness that befits a "good fellow. " The Rongyu Tang commentator, the Yuan Wuya commentator and Jin Shengtan use words such as "stealthy," "nasty," and "vicious" to criticize

Wu Yong's plan.Chao Gai's usurping of the leadership of

Mount Liang, therefore, is not cast in an entirely honorable

®° Ibid., p. 354.

Ibid., p. 353.

161 light. Instead, beneath the justification of rule by virtue lies the crude reality of power struggle. The following episode from the novel serves to illustrate the ferocity of the transition of leadership on Mount Liang, the bloodiness of which epitomizes the power struggles in the larger kingdom:

With a kick Lin Chong sent the table crashing to one side. He jumped to his feet and pulled a glittering knife from beneath his robe. Wu Yong stroked his beard. Chao Gai and Liu Tang hurried over as if to restrain Wang Lun. "You mustn't quarrel," they exclaimed. Wu Yong pretended to be soothing Lin Chong. "Please don't be rash," he urged. Gongsun Sheng cried to both sides: "Don't destroy your harmony on our account I " Ruan the Second wrapped his arms around Du Qian., while Fifth enveloped Song Wan, and Seventh did the same to Zhu Gui. The assembled lesser bandits watched in frightened stupefaction. Lin Chong cursed Wang Lun.

Du Qian, Song Wan and Zhu Gui tried to press forward to help Wang Lun, but they were held so tightly by the Ruan brothers that they couldn't move. The bandit chieftain turned to go. Chao Gai and Liu Tang blocked his path. Wang Lun realized his danger. "Where are my boon companions?" he cried. Several bsindits who had always been very close to him wanted to come to his rescue, but they were cowed by Lin Chong's fierce manner. Again Lin cursed the bandit chief, then stabbed him through the heart. Wang Lun collapsed in a heap. Chao Gai and the others each produced a knife. Lin Chong cut off Wang Lun's head and raised

162 it aloft. Terrified, Du Qian, Song Wan and Zhu Gui fell to their knees. "Let us serve as grooms who hold your whip and stirrup," they begged. Chao Gai, with polite haste, helped them to their feet. Wu Yong pulled the chair of the highest chieftain from the pool of blood and pushed Lin Chong down into it. "If anyone disagrees, he will go the way of Wang Lun, " he shouted. "From now on Arms Instructor Lin is the leader of Mount Liang.

What is portrayed in this dramatic episode is not benevolence or righteousness, but downright power. The leadership on

Mount Liang changes a second time from Chao Gai to Song

Jiang. This transition seems more peaceful and justified than the previous one, for it occurs after Chao Gai dies in the campaign against Zengtou Village. Song Jiang, enjoying high prestige among the bandits, seems to be the natural successor. However, not all readers agree with such an interpretation. As we have discussed in the previous chapter, Jin Shengtan sees Song Jiang as the "murderer" of

Chao Gai, and goes so far as to rewrite the text to make Song

Jiang's "crime" apparent to all. Jin agrees that Song Jiang does not actually shoot the arrow that kills Chao Gai, and he

Shuihu quan zhuan 19:282-3. The translation is Shapiro's in Outlaws of the Marsh, pp. 307-9, with modification.

163 could not have predicted that Chao would lose his life at

Zengtou Village. However^ Jin believes that it is Song

Jiang's constant efforts to weaken Chao Gai's prestige among the bandits that lead to Chao Gai's symbolic demise in the minds of the bandits. In a sense, Jin's accusations are not completely groundless. We find that although Chao Gai is the chief of the stronghold in name. Song Jiang is always the one who makes the decisions and leads the campaigns. Kiiown for his righteousness and generosity. Song is also the reason why many good fellows come to join the band. This, of course, can be viewed as testifying to Song Jiang's virtue and talent which naturally earn him the position of leader.

On the other hand, it can also be interpreted — as Jin

Shengtan insists — as demonstrating Song's skill at manipulating people and turning Chao Gai into a mere figurehead.

Although Jin Shengtan' s relentless interpretation of

Song Jiang's every word and action as signs of ambition and cunningness is sometimes far-fetched, we do find in the text subtle indications of a rivalry between Chao Gai and Song

Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 1084,

164 Jiang. For example, when Chao Gai decides to lead the attack on Zengtou Village, Song Jiang, as usual, asks to go in his stead. Chao Gai replies, "It's not that I want to steal your thunder, but you've gone many times. You must be weary from combat. This time I'm going. Next time, brother, it will be your turn.Chao Gai's words may suggest an smxiety that

Song Jiang's military credit might threaten his own position as the leader. His determination to lead the attack despite the inauspicious omen can therefore be viewed as a desperate attempt at regaining his stature and the respect of his followers.

Song Jiang's succession to Chao Gai's position appears even more controversial when we consider Chao Gai's final words that whoever catches his killer shall be the new chief of Mount Liang. Since Song Jiang occupies the second highest position, it is logical that he should be Chao's successor.

Chao's wish that the leadership should be given not to Song

Jiang, but to anyone who succeeds in avenging him, therefore, makes one suspect that Chao does not wish to entrust Song

Shuihu quan zhuan 60:1006. The translation is Shapiro's in Outlaws of the Marsh, p. 991.

165 Jiang with, either the stronghold or the mission of revenge.

Chao's words may be taken as the selfish request of a dying man, but they do re-affirm the impression of an unspoken rivalry and discord between him and Song Jiang.

Despite Chao Gai's dying wish., the bandits all support

Song Jiang as their new chief, under the pretext that "a kingdom cannot be without a ruler for a single day. This is, however, not yet the end of the matter. Chao Gai's final words pose an obstacle to Song Jiang's legitimate succession.

Although all the other bandits seem completely convinced of

Song Jiang's entitlement to the position. Song Jiang himself may still feel that he needs to fully justify his right to rule, if only to prevent any potential controversy. Song

Jiang's unconscious uncertainty about his own position can be detected through a dream. In Chapter Sixty-Five, five chapters after Chao Gai's death. Song Jiang has a dream about

Chao Gai. Interestingly, upon their encounter. Song Jiang's first reaction is to apologize: "I still haven't avenged your wrongful death, and I'm uneasy about it day and night. Nor have I performed the sacrificial rites. And so your spirit

Shuihu quan zhuan 60:1011.

166 appears, to berate me.Song Jiang's dream reveals his anxiety over not obeying Chao Gai's last wish, and his fear that his succession to leadership may be in question.

Song Jiang's assumption of leadership meets a further challenge when Lu Junyi, a newcomer to Mount Liang, captures

Chao Gai's killer. To show his respect for Chao Gai's will, therefore. Song Jiang indicates that he wishes to yield the leadership to Lu Junyi, who, of course, firmly refuses.

While Song Jiang insists that Lu Junyi accept the position, the other bandits urge him to stay:

"Remain as leader, let Lu be second in command, " Wu Yong urged, "and everyone will be satisfied. You'll chill our men's hearts if you keep on relinquishing like this!" He had already given a secret signal to the others before making this statement. Li Kui the Black Whirlwind raised his voice loudly: "I risked my life at Jieingzhou to come here with you. We've given you your way in everything. I'm not afraid of Heaven itself, so I ask you: Why do you keep trying to give up the friggin command? I'll start killing again! We can dissolve the gang!" Wu Song also took Wu Yong's hint. "There are many high military officers under you, brother, " he

Shuihu quan zhuan 65:1105. The translation is Shapiro's in Outlaws of the Marsh, p. 1076.

167 said, "who once took their orders from the emperor. They'Ll listen to you, but not to ainyone else."®^

The bandits' reactions may indicate that Song Jiang is truly a virtuous and capable leader who has won the respect and support of everyone, but Wu Yong's secret signal and the others' explicit threat of violence make Song Jiang's persistence at yielding seem hypocritical, for it is obvious that Lu Junyi, a newcomer who has not yet earned his place, dares not take up the position under such pressure. One might agree with Jin Shengtcin that Song Jiang's yielding is a mere show to convince others of his loyalty to Chao Gai. The situation, furthermore, reminds one of the first transition of leadership from Wang Lun to Chao Gai, which was also facilitated by Wu Yong's scheming backed up by a show of force.

Commentators have different opinions of the legitimacy of Song Jiang's succession. The Yuan Wuya commentator, for example, believes that Song Jiang's yielding of leadership is out of sincere modesty, which should earn him even more

Shuihu guan zhuan 68:1163. The translation is Shapiro's in Outlaws of the Marsh, pp. 1137—38, with modifications.

168 respect and admiration from his followers.®® Jin Shengtan,

however, expended much ink to rewrite the whole episode from

Chao Gai's death to Song Jiang's formal ascension to the head

position, which, together with his extensive commentary, make

Song Jiang's every word and gesture look like schemes and

deceptions. Wang Wangru, who added his own comments to Jin

Shengtan's, disagrees on Jin's accusations, holding instead

that the actions of both Song Jiang and Lu Junyi are generous

and modest, clearly distinct from the behavior of murderers

or usurpers.

The kind of narrative space allocated to the

representation of Song Jiang's succession to leadership, and

the commentators' discussions surrounding it, make it clear

that the question of legitimacy was central among their

concerns. Jin Shengtan, for example, openly declares that

"Song Jiang assassinated (shi) Chao Gai."^° The word shi is

used to refer to a subject's killing of his ruler or a son's

killing of his father, a crime that is considered most

®® Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 1238.

Ibid., p. 1239.

Ibid., p. 1084.

169 hideous. Jin Shengtan's use of this word to refer to the Chao

Gai - Song Jiang transition makes it clear that Mount Liang is more than a fictional entity to the traditional reader.

It serves as an allegory for the larger kingdom^ where power struggles take place constantly and the ideas of kingship and right to rule are issues with fundamental importance to the

Confucian intellectual.

IV. The Problematics of Mutual Appreciation

In the previous chapter, I have touched upon the idea of yi or yiqi in the Shuihu zhuan. Though the idea in the traditional Confucian definition suggests right action or moral behavior, much of what the Shuihu bandits do in the name of yi does not really impress the modern reader as that.

Quite a few modern critics have pointed out the dark side of the bandits' actions and psyches, their misogyny, proneness to violence and killing of the innocent, and use of treachery and deception to force people to join them.^^ Interestingly,

See C.T. Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel, pp. 86-114; Phillip S. Y. Sun, "The Seditious Art of The Water Margin," and idem, Shuihu zhuan de laili yu yishu {Hong Kong: Mingbao,

170 however, these negative qualities were generally overlooked by most of the traditional reader-commentators. Even Jin

Shengtan, the one who severely questioned the band's claim to loyalty and righteousness, was mostly concerned with their rebellion against the government. He rarely seemed to raise an eyebrow over their misogyny aind sadistic killing rampages, the things which shock the modern reader the most as immoral or contrary to yi. It is, therefore, important to examine what yi is in the Shuihu zhuan, and how it was understood by traditional readers, at least the commentators.

One modern critic points out that the idea of yi in the

Shuihu zhuan emphasizes the end justifying the means. The righteous man seeks not his own benefits, but "public profit." For this noble end, all killings and robbings are justified.This "public, " however, does not include just anyone. The Shuihu heroes seem to distinguish clearly between enemy and friend, and thereupon whom they kill and whom they kill for. Underlying their sense of friendship or

1984) .

Timothy C. Wong, "The Virtue of Yi in Water Margin, " Journal of Oriental Literature, vol. VTI (Kay, 1966): 49-52.

171 brotherhood is the idea of zhiji or zhiyin (like-minded

friends with mutual understanding and appreciation) , an idea

with profound implications in Chinese culture. It is, I believe, the emphasis on this idea that renders the bandits'

"gang morality"^^ so appealing to the literati reader. As we

know, the relation between friends is one of the five

Confucian relationships which form the basis of society. The notion of zhij i or zhiyin implies a lifelong and unending devotion to one's true friend, a noble ideal that is early

represented in the legend of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi. Bo Ya, a

famous lute player, found Zhong Ziqi, a woodcutter, the only

one who could truly understand his music. They formed such a deep friendship that when Zhong Ziqi died. Bo Ya destroyed his lute and never played again. This noble example of

friendship also has a political dimension to it. Sima Qian

alludes to this legend in his "Letter to Ren An, " in which he

laments that there is no one in the world who understands

73 C.T. Hsia, The Classic Chinese Novel, p. 87.

Lu Buwei (290-235 B.C.), Lushi Chunqiu jiao shi, ed. and annotated by Chen Qiyou (Shanghai: Xuelin, 1984), juan 14, p. 740, quoted in Martin Huang, "Author(ity) and Reader," p . 53.

172 him.^“ By this, Sima Qian clearly refers to the fact that he was wronged by the emperor, and laments that there is no justice in the world he lives in. The importance of zhiji thus has its root in the political culture of traditional

China. For a traditional literatus, whose political ambition and official career depended very much on recognitions and recommendations by superiors, a zhiji was not just a good friend, but a person who could recognize his talent and recommend him for official promotions. The ultimate zhiji that every scholar-official sought was the sovereign, to whom the literati were to devote their loyalty and service.

The most famous example of the friendship between the

Shuihu heroes is the case of Lu Da and Lin Chong. The "Wild

Boar Forest" episode, made popular to the modern audience through theatrical adaptations, depicts Lu Da saving Lin

Chong's life from the guards commissioned to kill him. Lu

Da's selfless devotion to his friend is truly moving. The basis of their friendship lies in mutual appreciation. Lu Da made Lin Chong's acquaintance when the latter, watching the former exercise with weapons, applauded. Finding each other

Sima Qian, "Letter to Ren An," p. 95,

173 to be like-minded, the two immediately swore brotherhood. Lu

Da's coming to Lin Chong's rescue, therefore, is not only an act of friendship, but also a repayment to Lin Chong for his understanding and appreciation. We find that the kind of yiqi demonstrated by Lu Da is highly praised by the commentators.

This kind of mutual appreciation seems to be the underlying rationale justifying the comradery or brotherhood in the Shuihu zhuan. It is a common theme in the narrative that a lifelong friendship begins when two heroes meet and appreciate each other's character and military skills. This kind of friendship is viewed as even more important than one's loyalty to the sovereign. James Liu in The Chinese

Knight-Errant introduces us to those famous you xia (knights- errant) in history and literature who sacrifice themselves for their friends out of "personal loyalty:"

To a knight-errant, personal loyalty was more important than loyalty to one's sovereign or parents. Even when a knight died for a prince, it was not out of a sense of loyalty such as a subject

See Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 162, 164, 190, 191, 192.

174 owed his sovereign, but such as one man owed another who "appreciated him" (zhiji) . ’’’’

The idea that "a man dies for the one who appreciates him"

(shi wei zhiji zhe si) is illustrated in many of the biographies of honorable knights-errant amd assasins in the

Shiji, a notion highly appreciated in literati culture.

The sense of mutual appreciation plays an important part in the forming of brotherhood in the Shuihu zhuan.

Appreciation as represented in the novel, however, is sometimes problematic for it is often elevated into an absolute moral code that overrides all other ethical standards. Therefore we see that innocent people are slaughtered in the bandits' efforts to rescue one of their own, villages are wiped out to avenge the death of their brothers, and women are sacrificed in ritualistic manners to celebrate male bonding.

James J.Y. Liu, The Chinese Knight-Errant (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1967), p. 5. I have changed the Wade-Giles spelling in the original to Pinyin.

Sima Qian, "Letter to Ren An," p. 95.

The most brutal example is that of Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu. See C.T. Hsia's discussion of this in The Classic Chinese Novel, p. 87, 106.

175 Above all, the very idea of appreciation is sometimes ambiguous. Yang Zhi, for example, is very "appreciated" by

Liang Zhongshu, the son-in-law of Cai Jing, one of the chief villains in the narrative. Liang is said to appreciate

Yang's diligence and military skills, and promote him, a prisoner, to the rank of lieutenant. Yang Zhi is obviously ready to repay Liang for his appreciation by escorting the letter's gifts for Cai Jing's birthday, which are presumably extorted from the people. Ironically, these gifts are captured by the Shuihu band which Yang Zhi later joins. The relationship between Liang Zhongshu and Yang Zhi is very different from the one between Lin Chong and Lu Da. While Lin

Chong and Lu Da are true like-minded friends, Liang Zhongshu merely wants to use Yang Zhi. The fact that Yang Zhi sincerely feels "appreciated" and willing to repay Liang's kindness reveals the blindness underlying some cases of

"mutual appreciation" between the Shuihu rebels.

Another example from the narrative may help further illustrate the paradox involved in the idea of zhij i. The episode tells of how Lin Chong acquires a precious sword:

One day, as the two friends [Lin Chong and Lu Da] were nearing a lane, they saw a big fellow

176 standiag on a corner, a cap with, gathered ends on his head and dressed in an old military robe. He was holding a fine sword in his hand, with a tuft of grass tied to it indicating that it was for sale. "Ho one recognizes its value," he was muttering. "What a pity for my precious sword! " "Lin Chong paid no attention and continued walking and chatting with Lu Da. The man trailed behind them, saying: "A splendid sword. It's a shame no one appreciates it!" Lin Chong and Lu Da were still engrossed in their conversation. The man followed them. "A big city like the Eastern Capital and not a single person knows the worth of military weapons," he cried.

Lin Chong, finding the sword truly precious, buys it. The next day he is summoned by Marshal Gao Qiu to bring the sword

to the letter's residence for a look. After entering Gao

Qiu's house carrying his newly-acquired sword, Lin Chong is

arrested for attempting to murder the marshal. The reader now realizes that the whole thing is a trap set up by Gao Qiu

and his son, who covets Lin Chong's wife. As Jin Shengtan points out, to use the sword as the trap is indeed very

clever. The precious sword not being recognized is bound to remind Lin Chong of his own predicament of having to swallow the insults inflicted by Gao Qiu's son's repeated harassment

Shuihu guan zhuan 7:118. The translation is Shapiro's in Outlaws of the Marsh, p. 128, with modifications.

177 of his wife. The motif of talent not being appreciated underlies the Lin Chong chapters, and is explicitly pointed out in the metaphor of the precious sword. Ironically, however, the precious sword is only a trap, and Lin Chong's response to the call for appreciation leads to his own downfall.

As we can see from the above examples, the common assumption that only the like-minded can appreciate each other is not always true. Later on, the band's use of coercion to recruit those whom they "appreciate" is testimony to the problematics of the idea of mutual appreciation. It is clear that this idea is not taken for granted in the

Shuihu zhuan, but addressed in depth with examples showing the many aspects — some positive and some negative — of the idea of zhiji. In the following, I would like to pursue this issue further.

In the Shuihu zhuan, the expression of one's appreciation for someone takes many forms. We see the kind of mutual appreciation between Lin Chong and Lu Da which is demonstrated by trust and selfless devotion. We also find, however, that appreciation is often shown through generous

178 monetary gifts. For example. Char Jin, the descendant of an emperor, is known for his generosity in sheltering and supporting the good fellows in need. Song Jieing has also won his reputation as the "Timely Rain" for the generous help he gives to whomever is in need. Their generosity is most often demonstrated through presenting those whom they appreciate with money. This, however, casts doubt on the moral integrity of both the giver and the receiver if we consider the fact that the greed for money and the use of money to manipulate people are typical conducts of the "small men"

(xiaoren) or petty individuals in the narrative. The following episode, depicting the power of money, is satirically comical:

[After Lin Chong arrived at the exile destination, he was summoned by the head keeper of the jail.] When the head keeper saw that Lin Chong failed to produce any money, his face darkened. Shaking his finger at Lin, he shouted: "You wretched exile I How dare you not bow and hail me respectfully when I enter? I've heard all about your carryings-on in Kaifeng! Where do you get the gall to behave so insolently in my presence? I can read from the lines on your face that you're destined for nothing but hunger* You'll never rise in the world! What you need is plenty of beatings, you stubborn jail-bird! For better or worse, you're in my hands now, you felonious wretch ! I' 11 pulverize your bones and pound your flesh to jelly soon enough!"

179 ... Lin Chong waited until the head keeper had blown off most of his steam, then took out five ounces of silver and handed them to him with a smile. "A trifling gift, brother. Please don't despise it." "Is this for me and the warden both?" "Just for you, brother. In addition, here's another ten ounces for the warden. I must trouble you to deliver them to him. " The head keeper grinned broadly. "Arms Instructor Lin, I've heard of your good name before. You're truly a splendid fellow. Marshal Gao has framed you, no doubt about it. Although, for the time being, you have to suffer this inconvenience. I'm sure you'll eventually make your mark. A man with your reputation and appearance never waits around idly for long! One of these days you'll be a big official."®^

The quick change in the head keeper's attitude is obviously portrayed in a negative light as a sign of the moral depravity that dominates the world. The fact that money is an important part of the friendship between some Shuihu heroes ma.kes one wonder about the truthfulness of such friendship. One may argue that the difference between the

Shuihu heroes and "small men" like the head keeper is that the former give eind accept money only as a token of mutual appreciation, whereas the latter extort or bribe others for personal gains. According to Jin Shengtan, however, it is

Shuihu quan zhuan 9:143. The translation is Shapiro's in Outlaws of the Marsh, p. 159, with modifications.

180 exactly the fact that even sages and heroes have to rely on

monetary donations to befriend people that demonstrates the

corruption of the world.In other words, the whole idea of

mutual appreciation is contaminated, and there is only a thin

line between true friendship and the brotherhood of outlaws

that is ultimately based on greed for power and profit.

Commenting on the Shuihu zhuan must be, as Li Zhi said,

"very satisfying,"®^ for the commentator could pass

judgements on figures and events, discourse on a variety of

issues, and relate them to contemporary situations. In this

chapter, I have examined several key themes in the Shuihu

zhuan and the discussions of them by a number of

commentators. I have tried to demonstrate the highly

discursive nature of the commentaries, i.e., later

commentators were clearly aware of and consciously in

dialogue with the comments by earlier commentators. This

animated discourse over issues such as loyalty, rebellion.

Heaven's meindate and the right to rule expanded the Shuihu

®^ Chen Xizhong et. al., Hui ping ben, p. 18 8.

®® Li Zhi, "Xu Fengshu, " in Zhu and Liu, Shuihu zhuan ziliao

181 zhuan from a literary text into an on-going cultural discourse. As we will see in the following chapters, these highly sensitive and important issues will continue to be brought up at different historical moments, and the Shuihu zhuan will be re-interpreted and re-evaluated against historical imperatives of the time.

huibian, p. 191.

182 CHAPTER 4

RECONCEPTÜALIZING FICTION

IN THE LATE QING AND REPUBLICAN PERIODS

In previous chapters, I attempted to do two interrelated

things. First, I looked at the meanings of the term

"xiaoshuo" and the many different ways they were manipulated

by the traditional literati. Secondly, I tried to examine,

through a consideration of the Shuihu zhuan and its

commentaries, how the work was written and ways it has been

read in traditional China. My contention is that fiction, a marginal discourse, was given a special license to be unorthodox and subversive, making it a discursive place where important cultural issues were dialogized and contended. The

Shuihu zhuan was transformed and enlarged by the reading and discursive practices of commentator-editors into a cultural discourse that is beyond the boundary of any single author and any single text.

183 In this and the next chapterI will take the

discussions of fiction and the Shuihu zhuan beyond the

traditional period^ and examine several historical moments

from the early modern to the contemporary period, moments at

which either fiction as a genre and/or the Shuihu zhuan in

particular occupied an important position in the elite

cultural discourse. The issues which engaged the traditional

commentators were again contested against the background of new ideologies in the cultural and literary transformations

in China's modernization. The first historical moment to be examined is the late Qing period. I will investigate the use of fiction in the political agendas of the intellectual- reformers, focusing on the re-evaluation of traditional

fiction. I will also examine the re-interpretation of the

Shuihu zhuan against the social-historical background of the time, focusing on the language used in such interpretations.

Next I will look at the early Republican era, and examine how

the perception and reception of traditional fiction fit into the process of building a new culture and literature by re­ writing the nation's cultural/literary history. The third period I will look at, in the next chapter, is the early

184 years of th.e PRC before the Cultural Revolution. I will look at the reception and interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan in the 1950s and early 60s, focusing on the ambiguities and dissent underlying the seemingly uniform interpretation of the novel. Lastly, I will consider the "Shuihu Campaign" in the mid 1970s during the Cultural Revolution, and examine the complex relationship between text and context, fiction and reality in the political discourse of the time.

Though the historical periods outlined above seem to paint a complete picture of the reception of the Shuihu zhuan in China from the early modern to the 1970s, I am well aware that the scope of my inquiry is limited to the practice on mainland China. The modem reception of the Shuihu zhuan in other parts of China such as Taiwan or Hong Kong deserves our critical attention, and investigations in this area will generate a fuller picture of the Shuihu discourse in a modern

Chinese context.

The cultural practices of the late Qing and Republican eras are subjects of much study. Characterized by one

185 historian as a "transitional era, it was a time of complex interactions between the traditional and the modern, the

Chinese and the foreign. Recent scholarship has questioned the simplistic dichotomies of modernity vs. tradition or of

Western influence vs. Chinese response, frameworks which once held privileged positions in the approaches to this period.^

Paul A. Cohen, for example, critiques the above-mentioned frameworks as "Western-centric distortions," which either exaggerate developments which were responses to the West and ignore those which were not, or impose on Chinese history a

Western definition of change and ask of Chinese history questions posed by m o dem Western history instead of Chinese history itself.^

^ Chang Hao, Chinese Intellectuals in Crisis ; Search for Order and Meaning, 1890-1911 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987), p. 1.

“ Kirk Denton attributes the construction of the modernity- tradition dichotomy, at least in the literary sphere, to the iconoclasm of the May Fourth generation and their Marxist descendants, "who essentialized and absolutized a complex and multifarious tradition in order to distance themselves from it and more easily reject it." See Kirk A. Denton, ed., Modern Chinese Literary Thought: Writings on Literature, 1893-1945 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996), p. 3.

^ Paul A. Cohen, Discovering History in China: American

186 other recent studies on the period have further pointed out the complex situation of the cultural and discursive practices of the time. In her study on the cultural politics of neologisms in the Chinese discourse of modernity, Lydia

Liu investigates the "condition of translation" and argues that meanings "are not so much 'transformed'^ when concepts pass from the guest language to the host language as invented within the local environment of the latter." The discourse of modernity, therefore, was not borrowed unaltered from the

West by the Chinese intellectuals. Instead, it was appropriated and re—invented within the historical context of

China at the time."^ This active appropriation and adaptation of Western values in the Chinese context is also emphasized by Kirk Denton, who argues that Western literary values were reshaped in the Chinese context "by both traditional literary and philosophical values and the imperatives of China's

Historical Writing on the Recent Chinese Past (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984), pp. 1-96.

^ Lydia H. Liu, Translingual Practice: Literature, National Culture, and Translated Modernity — China, 1900-1937 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1995), pp. 1-42.

187 socio-historical situation."’^ Likewise, in her study on the

late Qing "middle realm" — new-style joumalists and publicists — Joan Judge finds that in their attempts to use the press to reform society, the journalists and publicists

"infused the Confucian tradition with new elements and transformed foreign ideas to conform to familiar cultural constructs," thus creating "a site where the classical

Chinese ethos merges with foreign ideas."® Though not directly concerned with the late Qing and Republican period,

Xiaomei Chen's idea of "Occidentalism" — a discursive practice through which the Chinese Orient "revises" and

"manipulates" "imperialistically imposed Western theories and practices" to create a new discourse of their own^ — still has relevance in my discussions here. All these studies have complicated the ways in which we look at cultural and discursive practices in China in the late nineteenth and

Kirk Denton, Modern Chinese Literary Thought, pp. 1-61.

® Joan Judge, Print and Politics: "Shibao" amd the Culture of Reform in Late Qing China (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1996), p. 4.

’’ Xiaomei Chen, Occidentalism: A Theory of Counter-Discourse in Post-Mao China (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995), pp. 3-25.

188 early twentieth, centuries, and have shifted our attention towards the interacting and interpenetrating aspects of tradition and modernity, the Chinese and the foreign.

My discussions in this chapter build on these and other recent studies on the late Qing and Republican periods, and my focus is to analyze the discursive practices surrounding the genre of fiction, a site where the negotiations and interactions between tradition and modernity, the Chinese and the foreign were most active.

I. The Late Qing

The turn of the century saw a rise of interest in fiction, which was manifested in both the writing and translation of fictional works, and the advocacy of fiction by a few leading intellectuals of the time. According to A

Ying, the number of published fictional works, including translations and original creations, reached more than one thousand in the last decade of the period.® Studies of this

® A Ying, Wan Qing xiaoshuo shi (Hong Kong; Taiping shuju, 1966), p. 1. Another source suggests that the number is around 2,000. See David Der-wei Wang, Fin-de-siecle Splendor;

189 phenomenon generally view the social and historical conditions of the time as determining factors for the rise of interest in fiction. These social-historical conditions were not limited to the historical crisis that developed out of the clashes between China and the West since the last years of the 19*^^ century, which gave rise to the urgent need for national rejuvenation felt by leading intellectuals of the time. Factors contributing to the rise of fiction also include the development of modern cities, advcinces in the printing technology and the subsequent boom in commercial printing, and the appearance of the popular press.* The kind of fiction that was produced during the late Qing includes detective stories, science fiction, sentimental or erotic romances and many others that cannot be pigeon-holed into any single genre. Fiction from this period, therefore, cannot simply be described as "fiction of exposure," an influential

Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1849-1911 (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997), p. 345, n. 1 .

* See Shu-ying Tsau, "The Rise of 'New Fiction'^" in Helena Do 1 e z e lova-Ve linger ova, ed., The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century (Toronto, Buffalo, London: University of Toronto Press, 1980), pp. 18-37.

190 term posited by Lu Xun in the 1920s to characterize novels of this period and which became the standard definition of fiction of the late Qing in m o d e m Chinese literary history on the mainland.

In terms of fiction criticism in the late Qing, it is the radical advocacy of "new fiction" by intellectual- reformers such as Yan Fu, Xia Zengyou (1865—1924) and Lising

Qichao that has received the most critical attention. Their ideas on fiction have been discussed in terms of Confucian didacticism and Western/Japanese influence. Little

Lu Xun, A Brief History, pp. 372-88. Recent scholarship has challenged the May Fourth definition of late Qing fiction. For example, Milena Dolezelova-Velingerova views late Qing fiction as a transitional period, which challenges the traditional perception that modern Chinese fiction resulted from a radical change brought about by the May Fourth Movement (Milena Dolezelova-Velingerova, The Chinese Novel at the Turn of the Century, pp. 3-17. David Der-wei Wang studies the kinds of late Qing fiction such as "courtesan novels", "grotesque exposes", etc., which are not covered by the May Fourth definition. See David Der-wei Wang, Fin-de-siecle Splendor, pp. 1-12.

C.T. Hsia, "Yen Fu and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao as Advocates of New Fiction", in Adele Austin Rickett ed., Chinese Approaches to Literature from Confucius to Liang Ch'i-ch'ao (Princeton; Princeton University Press, 1978), pp. 221-57. In this article, Hsia has delineated the Western/Japanese influence on Yen Fu and Liang Qichao, and pointed out the didactic and traditionalistic tendency of their views on fiction. See also Shu-ying Tsau, "The Rise of 'New Fiction'," Kirk

191 attention, however, has been paid to their relation to the tradition of fiction criticism, and the exact nature of their inheritance of and contribution to Chinese theories of fiction. What I would like to do in this section is, first of all, to examine Yan Fu, Xia Zengyou, and especially Liang

Qichao'^s views of fiction in relation to those held by pre­ modern fiction critics. It is my contention that, despite their proclaimed radicalness, the late Qing critics' perception of fiction and its social functions were very similar to those held by their pre-modern predecessors. Then,

I would like to examine late Qing re-evaluation of traditional fiction, and discuss the motivations and strategies underlying the intellectuals' approaches to traditional fiction. Lastly, I will single out the Shuihu zhuan and look into the re-interpretation of the work in the historical context of the time.

In 1897, Yan Fu and Xia Zengyou wrote "Announcing the

Editorial Board's Policy to Print a Supplementary Fiction

Section" (Ben guan fu yin shuobu yuanqi), which has been

Denton, M o d e m Chinese Literary Thought, pp. 65-67, and David Der-wei Wang Fin-de-siecle Splendor, pp. 23-27.

192 generally regarded as "the first piece of criticism to affirm the social function of fiction in modem times.A year laterin a "foreword" to a projected series of political novels to be translated into Chinese and published in his journal Qingyi bao (The China Discussion), Liang Qichao advocated the use of fiction to educate the Chinese people.

This was followed by Liang's most influential essay in this respect, "On the Relationship between Fiction and the

Government of the People" (Lun xiaoshuo yu qunzhi zhi guanxi), published as am inaugural editorial in his new journal Xin Xiaoshuo (New Fiction), which was launched in

1902. In this group of writings, we find the basic arguments by these intellectual-reformers in their advocacy of new fiction: (1) fiction has the power of rejuvenating a people and a nation, a fact "proved" by the cases of Japan and

Western countries; (2) traditional Chinese fiction has done more harm than good to the Chinese people and accounts for the backwardness of the Chinese nation; (3) it is time, therefore, to write a new kind of fiction for the purpose of

C.T. Hsia, "Yen Fu and Liang Ch'i-ch*ao as Advocates of New Fiction," p. 221.

193 educating the Chinese people and rejuvenating the Chinese nation.

Scholars have pointed out that^ despite any Western or

Japanese influence on Yan Fu^ Xia Zengyou and Liang Qichao's advocacy of fiction, their emphasis on literature's social functions was fundamentally that of Confucian didacticism.

This traditionalism in their approach can also be seen in their ambivalent attitude towards traditional Chinese fiction. In this respect, they both shared some fundamental views with the fiction critics of the Ming and Qing, and differed from them in terms of their respective agendas.

The first thing that Liang Qichao and the others shared with traditional fiction critics is their utilitarian approach to fiction. A key element in Yan, Xia and Liang's advocacy of fiction is their acknowledgement of its popularity among the common people and its consequent usefulness in reaching them. In their essay, Yan Fu and Xia

Zengyou list five reasons for the popularity of fiction.

First, the language used in fiction is understood by the people. Second, the language of fiction is close to spoken language. Third, the language of fiction is elaborate and

194 detailed^ emd therefore easy to understand- Fourth, fiction

tells about things that are familiar to the reader. And

finally, life is usually unfair and people do not get what

they deserve. Fiction, however, in its fantasy world can punish evil and reward the virtuous, and satisfy the reader's w i shes.W e can see that the first three reasons axe

concerned with the language and the style of fiction, and Yan

and Xia were in agreement with the traditional critics who

tried to explain fiction's popularity.

Liang Qichao also contemplated the popula.rity and the consequent usefulness of fiction:

There is indeed a great deal of truth in Mr. Kang Youwei's observation that people with low levels of literacy will often stay away from the classics but cannot do without fiction. Fiction should therefore seek to teach where the Six Classics have failed to teach, to convey lessons where the official histories have failed to convey, to illuminate where the recorded sayings are unable to illuminate, and to govern where laws have failed. In the world, experienced men are few, and the ignorant are innumerable; those well-versed in literature are few, and those who can baxely read legion. The Six Classics are indeed elegant, but if

A Ying, ed. Wan Qing wenxue congchao : xiaosh-uo xiqu yanjiujuan (Shanghai: Zhonghua shuju, 1960), pp. 10-12

195 they are not read and understood, they are just pearls cast before swine.

As I discussed in Chapter One of this thesis, traditional critics link fiction's didactic function to its popularity and accessibility, a quality which enables fiction to reach an audience not educated enough to comprehend the more sophisticated forms of writing such as the classics or the official histories. The traditional literati thus viewed fiction as an effective means of moral instruction to the masses. We can see that Liang'^s assertion of fiction's easy accessibility to the "ignorant" or uneducated of society closely echoes those remarks made by the literati scholars in the Ming and Qing. For example, Liang'^s arguments in some places nearly repeat the following statements made by the author of one of the prefaces to Feng Menglong's S any an;

The Classics convey principles, and the Histories relate events. Though the principles are conveyed, not all people in the world are inquisitive students. Though the events are transmitted, not all people in the world are erudite scholars. Village men, children, women and peddlars learn their right and wrong from actual examples and gain knowledge through small talk. Popular

14 Liang Qichao, "Foreword to the Publication of Political Novels in Translation, " trans. by Gek Nai Cheng, in Kirk Denton, M o d e m Chinese Literary Thought, p. 72.

196 romances, therefore, can supplement what the Classics and the Histories have failed to teach.

Fiction advocates in the late Qing auid the traditional literati critics both viewed themselves as educators of the common people. Their attitude towards the object and the means of their educational program can be characterized as one of condescension. The difference between the two, however, lies in the fact that, whereas the latter emphasized fiction's function of moral instruction in order to argue for its legitimacy, the former launched a wholesale condemnation of traditional Chinese fiction, the very works that the traditional literati tried to valorize. The reasons for this difference were clearly historically determined. Because of their belief in the power of fiction in molding a nation and its people, it is only logical that Liang Qichao and others would evaluate fictional works based on their social effects.

Just as they believed that Japan and Western countries owed their wealth and power to their fiction, by the same logic they attributed China's backwardness to its traditional fiction: "Taken as a whole, Chinese novels invariably teach

Wu'’ai jushi, "Jingshi tongyan xu, " in Huang & Han, Lunzhu xuan, p. 222.

197 us either robbery or lust."^® This kind of fiction was believed to have a "poisonous" effect on the Chinese people, and was viewed as the "roots of all decadence in Chinese society.

Yan Fu, Xia Zengyou and Liang Qichao's attitudes towards traditional Chinese fiction were therefore ambivalent. On the one hand, they acknowledged the popularity of traditional fiction among the people and its potential power to influence the reader. On the other hand, they were not satisfied with the content of traditional fiction and encouraged a new kind of fiction modeled after the political novels of Japan and the West. Although Liang Qichao and the others' advocacy of fiction for the purpose of national rejuvenation and their promotion of foreign fiction were influential,^® there were.

Liang Qichao, "Foreword to the Publication of Political Novels in Translation," p. 72.

Liang Qichao, "On the Relation between Fiction and the Government of the People, " trans. by Gek Nai Cheng, in Kirk Denton, M o d e m Chinese Literary Thought, p. 79.

The influence of the afore-mentioned essays by Yan Fu, Xia Zengyou and Liang Qichao was testified to by the publication in Shanghai in the next few years of several fiction journals featuring a substantial number of critical essays fashioned after those by Yan and Liang. See C.T.Hsia, "Yen Fh and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao as Advocates of New

198 nevertheless, divergent voices. Jin Songcen (1873-1947), the

first author of the Niehai hua (The flower in the sea of

retribution) , pointed out that there was ample depiction of

"lust" in Western fiction as well, the translation of which

may exert an adverse influence on Chinese society.

Moreover, the clearly didactic and utilitarian approach to

literature in Yan Fu and Liang Qichaos advocacy of fiction

also drew criticism. Huang Moxi (1866-1913) , a well-known

literary critic and historian, challenged the underlying

assumption of the social function of fiction and emphasized

the aesthetic qualities of fiction. He argued that fiction

should not be endowed with the inappropriate task of

renovating a nation.

The most important figure championing an aesthetic view

of literature during this period was Wang Guowei (1877-1927).

Wang was against the utilitarian view of literature and

Fiction," p. 223.

"Lun xie qing xiaoshuo yu xin shehui zhi guanxi, " in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp.31-33.

Huang Moxi became the co-founder of the fiction magazine Xiaoshuo Lin (Forest of Fiction) in 1907. These statements were made in his "Xiaoshuo lin fa kan ci, " in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp. 158-161.

199 stated that "genuine literature" pursues truth instead of the concerns of government or society.Wsing also characterizes literature as a kind of play without a utilitarian purpose.

In his "Honglou meng pinglun, " written in 1904, he applied the philosophy of Schopenhauer and Nietzsche to the study of the Honglou meng, and his philosophical and aesthetic approach was groundbreaking in the study of this Chinese masterpiece.By emphasizing the aesthetic aspects of literature, Wang's critical terminology and methodology were tremendously influential on Chinese literary criticism. Since

Wang Guowei and his literary criticism is already the subject of many studies, I shall not venture a detailed analysis here. However, I would just like to point out that aesthetics may not be completely separable from politics. As

Wang Ban has forcefully argued, Wang Guowei's aestheticism

Wang Guowei, "Incidental Remarks on Literature," trans. by Kam-ming Wong, in Denton, Modern Chinese Literary Thought, p. 90.

As Ye Jiaying points out, Wang Guowei's "Honglou meng pinglun" was the first study which examined the intrinsic literary qualities of the novel, predating the influential studies by Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940), Hu Shi (1891-1962) and Yu Pingbo (1900- ) by more than ten years. Ye Jiaying, Wang Guowei ji gi wenxue piping (Hong Kong; Zhonghua, 1980), pp. 174-176.

200 was ultimately a response to the urgent social^ ideological,

and epistemological problems of his day.^^

The advocacy of fiction by Yan Fu, Xia Zengyou, Liang

Qichao and their followers led to a rise of interest in the

re-evaluation of traditional fiction. The first thing we

notice in the late-Qing re-evaluation of traditional fiction

is the presence of a new frame of reference. In traditional

literati discussions, fiction is positioned in relation to

the traditional literary canon of the classics, the

histories, the philosophies, and the belles-lettres, sind is

compared with these genres to garner for it moral legitimacy

and literary value. In the late imperial period, however,

fiction is now judged for its social and literary importance

relative to its Western and Japanese counterparts. The

Chinese knowledge of fiction from other countries came mostly

from translations, which contributed two-thirds of the total

number of published fictional works of the time. Works

translated include those from England, America, France,

Wang Ban, The Sublime Figure of History; Aesthetics and Politics in Twentieth-Century China (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1997), pp. 17-54.

24 A Ying, Wan Qing xiaoshuo shi, p. 180.

201 Russia, Japan, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Greece, Switzerland,

Germany, Hungary, and Poland. Introduced to the Chinese were such canonical writers as Shakespeare, Dickens, Scott,

Washington Irving, Harriet Beecher Stowe, the Dumas, Balzac,

Ibsen, Tolstoy, and Cervantes, as well as best-selling novelists like Rider Haggard. It was against this mixed corpus of world literature that traditional Chinese fiction was coitçiared and judged.

In 1903 and 1904, a collection of "Fiction Talks"

(Xiaoshuo conghua) , authored by Liang Qichao, Di Pingzi

(1873-1921), Xia Ren and several others, were printed in the journal New Fiction. In his preface to the collection, Liang

Qichao points out that they originated this genre of "fiction talks" following the tradition of "poetry talks" (shi hua) and "prose talks" (wen hua). Passages in the collection written by different people are put together in a loose style, ranging from comments on a specific work of traditional fiction, new fiction, or translation, to discussions of the nature of fiction in general. We find

Ibid., pp. 182-5; C.T. Hsia, "Yen Fu and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao as Advocates of New Fiction," p. 244.

202 quite a few evaluative comparisons between traditional

Chinese fiction and foreign fiction. For example^ Wu Woyao

(18 67-1910), a prolific author and critic of fiction, believes that traditional Chinese fiction, despite a couple of masterworks, is generally inferior to Western fiction. He gives five reasons for this judgment. First, he finds that negative characters in Chinese fiction are more evil and vile than those in Western fiction, reflecting the general corruption of Chinese society. According to Wu, even villains in Western fiction have a basic human decency that qualifies them as "citizens. "■ Second, there are never curse words in foreign fiction, whereas in Chinese fiction, characters of all strata of society use curse words profusely, reflecting the indecency of Chinese society. These curse words are in turn spread by fiction and imitated by readers. Third, in the West, women's rights prevail and men worship women as goddesses. In their fiction, therefore, no obscene language that is unsuitable for women to read is allowed. In China, women are regarded as men's playthings, and fiction, therefore, is filled with licentious and debauched descriptions of women. Fourth, in Chinese fiction.

203 someone who does only one or two good deeds is lauded as a

sage. This is because in reality the majority of Chinese

people do not behave according to social ethics. In foreign

countriesr by contrasty behaving according to social ethics

is common sense. Fifth, illustrations in foreign fiction are more beautifully done than those in Chinese fiction.^®

We can see that Wu is actually more dissatisfied with

Chinese society than with Chinese fiction. He believes that

fiction reflects reality, and it is what is reflected in

Chinese fiction that he dislikes. The reasons he gives for

the inferiority of Chinese fiction — at least the first four

— have almost nothing to do with any literary aspects.

Though its ability to represent reality so effectively may just as well be a merit of Chinese fiction, Wu does not seem to distinguish between fiction and the society it represents.

Whereas Liang Qichao accuses Chinese fiction of poisoning the

Chinese mind and leading to the social decadence, Wu Woyao holds Chinese fiction in contempt because it reflects the

Liang Qichao et. al., "Xiaoshuo conghua," in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp. 348-9.

204 evils of Cb.in.ese society. The first reason given by Wu is the most telling. Finding that even villains in Western fiction qualify as "citizens^" Wu is clearly pointing to the

"lack" of "citizen quality" among the Chinese, a deficiency that disqualifies China from the ranks of m o d e m nation­ states. Wu'^s evaluation of Chinese fiction is therefore closely tied into the discourse of nation-building of the time.

Not all critics of the time believed that traditional

Chinese fiction was inferior to foreign fiction. In fact, the majority of opinions favored Chinese fiction, especially when critics put aside the social effect or responsibility of fiction and talked about its literary, formal, or aesthetic aspects. For example, Xia Ren, another participant in

"Fiction Talks," believes that Chinese fiction is "ten thousand times better" than Western fiction, giving three reasons. First, there are many characters auid events being related in Chinese fiction, and all characters are portrayed vividly. In Western fiction, on the contrary, there is only one event and one main character, and all the other subordinate characters have almost no distinctive features.

205 Second, Chinese novels are huge in volume, and the reader gets more and more absorbed in it. Western novels, on the other hand, are usually only one-tenth the length of Chinese novels, and therefore do not have as much power to captivate the reader. Third, Chinese fiction does not merely focus on plot; also emphasized are the development of events, portrayal of characters, and literary excellence. Western fiction, in general, fails where Chinese fiction succeeds and is therefore inferior.

Other opinions acknowledging the superiority of Chinese fiction include the view that Chinese fiction is more sophisticated in terms of structure and organization,^® and that the best of Chinese fiction, such as the Honglou meng, is so profound in meaning that a new xinderstanding is achieved each time it is read, a quality that is rarely found in Western fiction.^®

A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp. 328-9.

Xu Nianci (1874-1908) , "Xiaoshuo lin yuanqi" (1907), in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, p. 157.

Juan Qiu, "Xiaoshuo zaping" (1912) , in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, p. 447.

2 0 6 From the above examples^ we can see that there are mixed

opinions about the superiority or inferiority of Chinese

fiction, depending on the critics' different approaches and

focuses. What these opinions share is a foreign frame of

reference for their evaluations. Traditional Chinese fiction

is now examined, critiqued and evaluated against the frame of

reference set by the kind of literature that is received and

perceived by the Chinese as foreign. Whether the kind of

works introduced to the Chinese represented the whole picture

of world literature or not, and no matter how much was lost

or mis interpreted in the translations, what is important to

our study here is the motivation behind the Chinese reception

of Western fiction, and how it was appropriated and re­

invented in relation to the Chinese situation. It is meaningless to say whether the comparisons between Chinese

fiction and Western fiction are fair or not without taking

into consideration the intentions and needs of the critics

for making such comparisons.

Another thing worth noticing in the late-Qing critics'

re-evaluation of traditional fiction is their interpretation of authorial intentions. Wang Wusheng (pseudonym: Tianlu

207 Sheng) , for example, believes t±iat the traditional authors were motivated by the following: First, they were embittered by political suppression. Traditional China was ruled by an autocratic government, and virtuous scholars could only write fiction to voice their resentment. They either wrote about past events to warn the ruler about the indignation of the people and the cause for the decline of the nation, or created righteous characters who risk their lives for others in order to shame those in high positions who bullied the people. Second, fiction writers were indignant about what they saw as the long-standing corruption in Chinese society.

Ethical values were distorted and rich and high-ranking could do whatever they wainted, while the virtuous, poor and humble were powerless. Talented scholars with lofty ideals could only seek relief in fiction. They either wrote about

Buddhist or Taoist immortals to seek escape from society, or criticized society by portraying its most disorderly, base, and debauched aspects. Third, fiction writers lamented the lack of freedom in marriage. Marriages in traditional China were arranged by parents, resulting in unhappiness for young

208 men and women. Therefore the majority of Chinese fiction was about free love between men and women.

As we can see, Wang's belief that traditional fiction authors wrote for the release of anger is very much in accord with the opinion held by traditional critics such as Li Zhi and Jin Shengtan. From a late Qing point of view, however,

Wang's statements about autocracy, the people and the nation are clearly colored by the mode of thinking of the time.

Whereas the kind of "resentment" that traditional literati harbored may have emerged from their complex and. often ambivalent relationship with the people and the ruling class,

Wang clearly places the traditional writers on the side of the people in their antagonism with the government, and views fiction as more directly targeted at the ruling class. In so doing, Wang is clearly projecting his own role as a radical reformer onto authors of fiction in traditional times.

Moreover, what he looks for in traditional fiction is the contemporary political agenda of equality and anti-autocracy.

"Zhongguo lidai xiaoshuo shi lun" (1907) , in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp. 35-36.

209 A salient feature in the late Qing discussions of traditional fiction was the critics' lavish use of neologisms and loanwords which re-cast the work in question in a new light. In Translingual Practice^ Lydia Liu has studied the impact of the massive interaction between Chinese^ Japanese, and European languages since the latter half of the nineteenth century, and pointed out the complex ways in which ideas operated through translation and trans lingual practice.

She argues that it was this kind of "translated modernity," the very language that twentieth-century Chinese use to name the condition of their existence, that constitutes the

"modern" about modem Chinese history and literature.

What is interesting about late-Qing critics' use of neologisms in their discussions of traditional fiction is the fact that they never seemed to doubt the appropriateness of applying these new or foreign terms to works written several hundred years before. One example of this was the late-Qing fashion of labeling fiction into different categories, a

Lydia Liu, Translingual Practice, pp. 1-42. See also her survey of loanword studies, pp. 17-19, as well as her own informative and exhaustive lists of neologisms and loanwords, pp. 265-378.

210 practice believed to have originated with Liang Qichao.

Jin ping mei^ for example^ was labeled a "social novel"

(shehui xiaoshuo) and Jinghua yuan (Flowers in the Mirror) an "idealistic novel" (lixiang xiaoshuo) and "science fiction" (kexue xiaoshuo) Honglou meng was said to deserve all the following titles: "political novel,-" "novel of manners" (lunli xiaoshuo), "social novel," "philosophical novel" (zhexue xiaoshuo), and "moral novel" (daode xiaoshuo) As C.T.Hsia discovers, even traditional historical or love fiction "regained dignity under their new designations" as lishi xiaoshuo and xieqing xiaoshuo or yanqing xiaoshuo.These categories themselves almost became an indispensible part of the Chinese understanding of what fiction is or should be. Thus one critic attributed the

C.T. Hsia, "Yen Fu sind Liang Ch'i-ch'ao as Advocates of New Fiction," p. 243.

Liang Qichao et. al., "Xiaoshuo conghua," p. 315.

Wu Woyao, "Za shuo" (1906), in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, p. 466.

Liang Qichao et. al., "Xiaoshuo conghua," p. 324.

C.T.Hsia, "Yen Fu and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao as Advocates of New Fiction," p. 243.

211 overall uns at1s factory state of Chinese fiction to its lack of political novels, detective stories (zhentan xiaoshuo) , and science fiction, the kinds of fiction which best exemplify the "modern spirit."

The late-Qing application of neologisms to traditional fiction reminds us once more of the difficulty of drawing a line between tradition and modernity. By projecting these new categories or ideas onto fiction of the past, critics at the time were not only re-interpreting traditional fiction in a new light, but also appropriating the past to serve political purposes in the present. In the following discussion, I would like to use the example of the Shuihu zhuan to examine how neologisms were used in the re­ interpretation of this work, and the underlying motivations for doing so. The Shuihu zhuan is singled out not only because it is the subject of the current thesis, but also because it was one of the traditional novels that was appropriated most often by the late-Qing critics.

Both Yan Fu and Liang Qichao cited the Shuihu zhuan as an example of Chinese fiction which "advocates robbery" and

Liang Qichao et. al., "Xiaoshuo conghua," p. 343

212 poisons the Chinese mind. Influential as their views on fiction may have been,. Yan Fu and Liang Qichao's negative opinion of the Shuihu zhuan was shared by few of their contemporaries. The majority of comments on the novel were positive rather than negative, and the Shuihu zhuan, together with the Honglou meng, was often ranked as the best of traditional Chinese fiction.

Opinions of the Shuihu zhuan in the late imperial period were very much in accord with the general trend toward re- evaluation of traditional fiction. We find a new frame of reference from abroad. A couple of critics, for example, support their argument for the merit of the Shuihu zhuan with evidence that the novel was highly valued in Japan and that its author, Shi Nai'an, was ranked by the Japanese as among the one hundred most eminent people in the world. Being recognized in Japan, a country whose enlightenment and modernization many radical Chinese of the time regarded as a

Qiu Weixuan, "Hui zhu shiyi" (1901) , in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, p. 410; Di Pingzi, "Lun wenxue shang xiaoshuo zhi weizhi" (1903), in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp. 27-8.

213 model for China, clearly added to the perceived merit of the

Shuihu.

Like other traditional works, the Shuihu zhuan was labeled with such neologisms as "political novel" or

"socialist novel" (shehui zhuyi xiaoshuo) The critics see in the novel a revolt against autocratic government and an advocacy of democracy (minzhu) and civil rights (minquan) .

Juan Qiu, for example, believes that the greatness of the

Shuihu zhuan lies more in its progressive thought than in its literary excellence;

For thousands of years, China was under an autocratic rule, and the will of the people was always suppressed. Fictional works ... all followed each other auid abided by the principle of loyalty to one's sovereign and allegiance to one's state... Although the writers lament the sufferings of the common people in chaotic times, we hardly see words which blame the ruler or the ministers. Shi Nai'an was the only one who, breaking the age- old mores and risking others' condemnation, criticized the government and worshiped the heroes of the marshes... The idea of civil rights is not commonly understood in our country even today, but Shi Nai'an already had this foresight hundreds of

39 Wang Wusheng, "Zhongguo san da jia xiaoshuo lun zan" (1908), in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, p. 101. Marxism was introduced to China with the partial translation of The Communist Manifesto in 1906. See Denton, Modern Chinese Literary Thought, p. 257.

214 years ago, which, added such brilliance to the literature of our country!

We see a clear antagonism between the people and the sovereign being constructed in the above arguments.

Traditional Chinese society is described as an autocratic society where the common people were oppressed by the ruling class. According to this critic, the majority of traditional literature did not represent the interests of the people.

Only the Shuihu zhuan upholds civil rights and praises the common people. Its author, Shi Nai'^an, is viewed as a spokesperson for the people. Although traditional fiction critics, as I have discussed in previous chapters, also used the idea of the "common people" in their discussions of fiction, they never positioned the common people and the sovereign as opposites. In fact, the foundation of their arguments for the legitimacy of fiction as common people's discourse is the belief that the sovereign should take the people's opinions into consideration in government. Juan

Qiu's portrayal of an autocratic traditional society was clearly a product of the late Qing historical context, and

40 n Xiaoshuo zaping" (1912) , in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp. 445-6.

215 his approach to literature of the past anticipated the theory of "class analysis" that prevailed in the PRC, which will be discussed in the next chapter.

Another strategy that late Qing critics used to re­ interpret the Shuihu zhuan was to re-cast traditional ideas in new terminology. Ding Yi, also in "Fiction Talks," claims that the Shuihu zhuan advocates democracy and civil rights by re-interpreting two key ideas in the work: loyalty and acting on behalf of heaven. As I have discussed in previous chapters, these were the main issues of contention in evaluations of the novel in traditional times. The rebels' ultimate loyalty towards the sovereign was the basic argument of those who defended the novel against charges of instigating robbery. Ding Yi, however, interpreted the idea of loyalty in the Shuihu zhuan as loyalty to the people instead of to the sovereign, and heaven as representing the people's will.'*^ Here again, the people and the sovereign are viewed as direct opposites, and thus the Shuihu zhuan was praised as a pioneering work which championed democracy and civil rights. As we will see later, this new interpretation

41 Liang Qichao et. al., "Xiaoshuo conghua, " p. 342

2 1 6 of the meaning of "loyalty" was echoed a few decades later in the Communist appropriation of the work.

Democracy and civil rights were clearly the political concerns of the time, and most critics utilized them in their re-interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan. Even Huang Moxi, who leaned towards an aesthetic approach to literature, believed that the Shuihu zhuan portrays socialism, for the 108 heroes organize an utopian government which is egalitarian and orderly.

Being endowed with such contemporary ideas as democracy, civil rights, equality and socialism, the Shuihu zhuan became part of the radical thinkers' political agenda in their condemnation of autocracy and advocacy of national reform.

Their argument that these progressive ideas already existed in China hundreds of years before helped to authenticate and strengthen their agenda by domesticating a political discourse which was largely alien to the Chinese tradition.

On the other hand, the need for them to seek the root of modernity in the Chinese past also testifies to the

"Xiaoshuo xiaohua" (1907), in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp. 353-4.

217 ultimately traditionalistic aspect of their approach to modernization, and Westernization.

Another contemporary idea that was read into the Shuihu

zhuan was nationalism. Ding Yi stated,

Shi Hai'an had two intentions when writing the Shuihu zhuan. The first one was as I said before [the advocacy of democracy and civil rights] . The second reason for his writing the work was because he was agonized by the invasion of the heartland by a foreign race (waizu) and the loss of territory... Shi Nai^ an wrote his heroic work in magnificent style to champion a military and heroic spirit for the purpose of driving out the foreign invaders (pai wai)

We cannot fail to see the parallel between the historical situations in the late Qing and the Song, the historical setting of the Shuihu zhuan and the period when Shi Nai'an was believed to have written the novel. The invasion by a

"foreign race" and the urgent sense of crisis would clealy strike a chord with contemporary readers. By identifying nationalistic sentiments in the Shuihu zhuan, the critic was both projecting a contemporary concern onto the past, and seeking legitimization from tradition. As Kirk Denton points out, nationalism and iconoclasm were two major Chinese

Liang Qichao et. al., "Xiaoshuo conghua," p. 342.

218 responses to the external threat of imperialism and China'^s state of internal weakness in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The discourses of nationalism and iconoclasm were at the same time "interconnected and overlapping" and "implicitly in tension:" "Whereas nationalism required the construction of a benign tradition on which to ground a sense of shared communityr iconoclasm depicted the core of that tradition as a malignant tumor needing immediate excision."^'* Though the late-Qing nationalism was different from and more complex than the kind of sentiment felt by the Southem-Song dynasty Chinese when faced with the invasion of the Jurcheds, the radical thinkers of the late Qing were eager to look for origins of their nationalism in the past and see themselves as continuing a glorious tradition of defending the motherland against foreign invasions. Nationalism was one of the standards in the late Qing evaluation of not only the Shuihu zhuan but also other traditional works. For example, Liang Qichao, who sweepingly condemned traditional xiaoshuo, nevertheless commended the Taohua shan (The Peach-Blossom Fan) , a dramatic

Denton, Modern Chinese Literary Thought, pp. 7-8

219 representation of the fall of the Ming by Kong Shangren

(1648-1718) y for its expression of nationalism.

The modern notions of nationalism and iconoclasm

transformed the traditional ideas of loyalty and rebellion

represented in the Shuihu zhuan. The outlawsrebellious

actions were now viewed as not only just^ but also

progressive, representing the people's wishes under

autocratic rule. While the outlaws' campaign against the

"barbarians" was viewed by traditional reader/commentators as

an act of loyalty towards the sovereign, such an act was now

interpreted in terms of defending the Chinese nation.

In 1908, a Xin ping Shuihu zhuan (Shuihu zhuan with New

Commentary), with commentary by one Yannan Shangsheng, was published.^® Nationalism played am important part in this

"Xiaoshuo conghua," p. 314. As understood by most late- Qing critics, the term xiaoshuo is wider in coverage than "fiction", and comprises drama as well as all forms of popular narrative literature. In addition to the Taohua shan, Xixiang ji was also listed by Liang Qichao as one of the representatives of traditional xiaoshuo. In this regard, the late-Qing critics followed the traditional understanding of xiaoshuo rather than the Western classification of genres.

For bibliographical information on this edition, see Rolston, How to Read, p. 429.

220 "new" reading. In the preface to his edition, the commentator begins by defending the "fiction of our motherland" (zuguo xiaoshuo) He points out that the widespread belief among some critics that China has no good fiction, or that the Honglou meng advocates debauchery and the Shuihu zhuan advocates robbery, is not only a laistreatment of Chinese fiction, but also an insult to our motherland.'*® He claims that the Shuihu zhuan advocates such political ideas as equality and freedom, which Shi Nai'an had the foresight to champion hundreds of years ahead of those

Western enlightenment thinkers."*® A sense of national pride is clearly seen in the statement that "Shi Nai'an is the forefather of fiction writers all over the world. At the same time, however, the interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan in terms of democracy and human rights is clearly facilitated by the exposure to the kind of Western political thought as understood by the Chinese at the time. As Yannan Shangsheng

A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, p. 125.

Ibid.

Ibid.

Ibid., pp. 125-6.

221 himself admits, he reached this new understanding of the

Shuihu zhuan only after reading translated. Western political

works.Here again, we see the complexity of transcultural

influence and the interactions between nationalism and.

iconoclasm.

Yannan Shangsheng's new reading abounds with neologisms,

He explains Shi Nai'an's motive for writing the Shuihu zhuan

in terms of indignation against an autocratic government.

He believes that the bandits' purpose of gathering on Mount

Liang was to establish a democratic republic, and regrets

that they did not formulate a constitution for freedom and

self-government.^^ He even attributes the evil of such

villains as Gao Qiu to the lack of education and moral

instruction to the common people under authoritarian rule.

Despite the use of new terminology, Yannan Shangsheng's

interpretations of the Shuihu zhuan betray an approach

similar to the traditional view of the novel. For instance.

Ibid., p. 126.

"Xin huowen, " in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, p. 127,

“ Ibid., pp. 131-2.

54 Ibid., pp. 129-30

222 he associates the novel with the Shij i and the Chunqiuy

stating that they were all written on behalf of the people in

criticism of the government.^® This was clearly influenced by traditional critics who drew a parallel between the novel

and the two historical works based on their common subversive nature.

Like many of his contemporaries, Yannan Shangsheng did not see any inappropriateness in his endowing the traditional novel with contemporary political concerns. In fact, he openly admits, "The writer either uses past events or relies on fabrication to exert his mind and knowledge. [Likewise,] the critic borrows the existing work to exert his own mind and knowledge. According to him, interpretations are bound to be subjective, and no pretense of objectivity is necessary. The critic therefore is openly admitting to an appropriation of traditional works of fiction for contemporary use.

55 "Mingming shiyi, " in A Ying, Wan Qing wenxue congchao, pp, 134-135.

56 "Xin huowen," p. 127.

223 The late-Qing evaluations of traditional fiction testify to the complex interactions between tradition and modernity^ the native and the foreign during that time. This is exemplified in the critics' need to look for origins or equivalents of such alien terms as democracy, civil rights or equality in Chinese tradition, and their active appropriation of the traditional as well as the foreign to serve their own political agendas. The special role played by traditional fiction in the cultural transformations of the time testifies to the highly social nature of fiction as a discourse, and the clear historical situatedness of literary reception and interpretation. In the next section, I will examine the re- evaluation of traditional fiction in general and the Shuihu zhuan in particular in the Republican period. I will situate my object of study in the May Fourth generation's struggle between tradition and modernity, and examine the role that traditional fiction played in their building of a new

"national" literature.

224 II. The Republican Period

In line with the May Fourth generation's iconoclasm, it was the "progressiveness" of the Shuihu zhuan that caught the attention of radical critics of the time. As in the late

Qing, contemporary political concerns were read into the work. For example, the Shuihu zhuan was praised for its advocacy of human rights against an autocratic government.

The idea of class, already present in the late Qing interpretations of the work, was further developed by later critics influenced by Marxist literary theories. For example, Chen Duxiu (1880-1942), later one of the founders of the Chinese Communist Party, emphasizes the struggle between the upper and lower classes in the Shuihu zhuan. In his preface to a new publication of the book, Chen cites the following verse from the work to illustrate its main import :

Xu Xiaotian, "Shuihu xin xu" (1934), in Shuihu pinglun ziliao (Shanghai: Shanghai remain chubanshe, 1975), pp. 250- 2; Deng Kuangyan, "Shuihu suoyin zongping" (1929), in Shuihu pinglun ziliao, pp. 284-318.

Chen Duxiu, "Shuihu xin xu" (1928), in Shuihu pinglun ziliao, pp. 176-7.

225 Beneath, a red sun that b u m s like fire. Half scorched in the fields is the grain. Poor peasant hearts with worry are scalded. While the rich themselves idly fan!

The verse shows the antagonism between the poor peasants and the rich aristocrats, and the sense of social inequality and injustice felt by the former. By citing this verse, Chen

Duxiu emphasizes the depiction of class consciousness in the

Shuihu zhuan. I n fact, the above verse is often cited in the discourse on Shuihu by mainland scholars after 1949 to show the work's portrayal of class struggle.

The main interest in the Shuihu zhuan during the

Republican period, however, lay elsewhere. Radical literary historians and reformers of the time found in the Shuihu zhuan a model of vernacular literature, the promotion of which was the center of their literary reform agenda. The

May Fourth period is known for its radical iconoclasm. The profound questioning of Chinese tradition in all respects

The verse appears in Chapter 16 of the Shuihu zhuan. See Shuihu quan zhuan, p. 233. The translation is Sidney Shapiro's in Outlaws of the Marsh, p. 253.

The depiction of class consciousness was also emphasized by another critic, Xu Xiaotian, in his "Shuihu xin xu, " pp. 250-2.

226 inevitably led to an attack on the classical language, which was seen as a central part of the stagnant tradition. As

Milena Dolezelova-Velingerova has pointed out, the promotion of the vernacular language had already started in the late

Qing period.®^ The May Fourth reformers continued this effort with their typical radicalness and brought about what is known as the "vemacularization movement." The reform of the literary language, as Kirk Denton points out, was never merely a language reform; it had always been closely related to sociopolitical reform and the May Fourth reform of literature was an integral part of their agenda of national reform.®^

Traditional fiction played an important role in the re­ construction of China's literary tradition and the building of a new national literature. Like their predecessors in the late Qing, the May Fourth reformers found it necessary to re­ evaluate China's literary past when proposing their ideas for

Milena Dolezelova-Velingerova, "The Origins of Modern Chinese Literature," in Merle Goldman, ed., Modern Chinese Literature in the May Fourth E ra. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press), pp. 17-35.

62 Kirk Denton, Modern Chinese Literary Thought, pp. 113-122.

227 a new literature. Very much, in keeping with their iconoclasm and their embrace of Wes tern/Japanese models of literature, they gave preeminence to the traditionally marginalized genres of vernacular literature, such as fiction and drama.

Hu Shi, one of the leaders of the New Culture Movement, in his famous article "^Some Modest Proposals for the Reform of

Literature” (Wenxue gailiang chuyi, 1917) , introduces his own

"literary canon, ” which is composed of nothing but fictional works by such authors as Shi Nai'an, Gao Xueqin, aind Wu

Woyao. Hu openly promotes vernacular fiction as "truly canonical," and relegates parallel prose and regulated verse into the "lesser tradition."®^ According to Hu, fiction is the genre that best exemplifies the superior qualities of the kind of literature he is proposing, as we can see from the following quotation:

... From today's perspective of historical evolution, we can say with complete certainty that vernacular literature is really the canonical and will be a useful tool for developing future literature... It is preferable to use the living words of the twentieth century than the dead words of three millennia past...; it is preferable to use the language of The Water Margin and The Journey to the West, which is known in every household, than

63 Ibid., p. 137., trans. by Kirk Denton.

228 the language of the Qin, Han, and Six Dynasties, which is limited and not universally understood.®^

Hu's efforts at re-constructing the traditional literary

canon were clearly in the service of his literary reform.

Vernacular fiction from the past, such as the Shuihu zhuan or

the Journey to the West, was viewed as useful models for the

proposed new literature. According to Hu Shi, what is

valuable about traditional fiction is that it uses the

"living words" of its time, and not the "dead words" of the

Confucian classics. This was exactly what Hu Shi wanted the

new literature to do; to use the contemporary spoken language

to write about contemporary reality. Great literature, says

Hu Shi, is this kind of literature:

Whenever I mention contemporary literature, only vernacular fiction (Wu Woyao, Li Baojia, and Liu E) can be compared without shame to the world's literary "first rank." This is for no other reason than that they do not imitate the ancients... And it is only because they faithfully write about the contemporary situation that they can become true literature.

64 Ibid., p. 138.

65 Ibid., p. 127.

229 We can see that Hu Shi, in his advocacy for a new national literature, looked for its root in tradition for legitimization. The reconstruction of the traditional canon, with vernacular literature elevated to the highest rank, enabled him and other radical critics of the time to base their literary reform project firmly on a collective cultural past, a necessary ingredient in any nationalistic discourse.®® The Shuihu zhuan, together with a few other traditional vernacular narratives, were essentialized into a kind of transcendent work that emerged out of an otherwise moribund literary tradition.

The need to reconstruct the nation'’ s literary tradition was seen most clearly in the fervor of writing "literary histories" in the early twentieth-century.®^ This need illustrated a view of literature and history that was

®® Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism (NY: Verso, 1994) , esp. Chapter 2.

®^ According to Chen Yutang, no less than 124 histories of Chinese literature were produced during the first half of this century. See Chen Yutang, Zhongguo wenxue shi shumu tiyao (Hefei: Huangshan, 1986). See also Huang Lin, Jindai wenxue piping shi (Shanghai: Guji, 1993) for a detailed study of premodern and early modern literary historiography.

230 characteristic of May Fourth thinking. In contrast to the

traditional view of history as cyclical movement of

unchanging^ universal moral values, a new "historical

consciousness," which started in the late Qing and matured in

the May Fourth period, "saw China linked to the dynamic worldwide movement of history through stages progressing

toward a better end."®® As Prasenjit Duara points out, a

linear, evolutionary history is essential to the discourse of nation-state auid nationalism:

[N] ational history secures for the contested and contingent nation the false unity of a self-same, national subject evolving through time. This reified history derives from the linear, teleological model of Enlightenment History... It allows the nation-state to see itself as a unique form of community which finds its place in the oppositions between tradition and modernity, hierarchy and equality, empire and nation. Within this schema, the nation appears as the newly realized, sovereign subject of History embodying a moral and political force that has overcome dynasties, aristocracies, and ruling priests and mandarins, who are seen to represent merely themselves historically. In contrast to them, the nation is a collective historical subject poised to realize its destiny in a modern future.®®

58 Denton, Modern Chinese Literary Thought, p. 9.

69 Prasenjit Duara, Rescuing History from the Nation: Questioning Narratives of Modern China (Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1995), p. 4.

231 Literary histories in the early twentieth-century contributed to the agenda of nation-building in very much the same ways, by distilling a new national literature from a collective literary past that had been reconstructed and essentialized.

This historicist agenda was very much at play in Hu Shi and Lu Xun's (1881-1936) approaches to traditional literature. Hu Shi systematically promoted a "historical view" in his afore-mentioned essay, "Some Modest Proposals for the Reform of Literature, " and another essay written the same year, "On a Historical View of Literature" (Lishi de wenxue guannian lun, 1917) . What this historical view of literature means, says Hu Shi, is that "each age has its own literature.The value of vernacular literature lay exactly in its ability to represent its own age, and therefore should be a model for literature of today. This view of historical evolution was also the underlying schema of Lu Xun's A Brief

History of Chinese Fiction, which had a tremendous influence on literary historiography in the area of traditional fiction in mainland China after 1949. This historical and

Hu Shi, "Lishi de wenxue guannian lun, " in Zhang Ruoying, ed. Zhongguo xin wenxue shi ziliao (Shanghai: Guangming, 1934), p. 45.

232 evolutionary view of literature was part and parcel of the

May Fourth agenda of literary reform, for to account for the literary past with a view of historical evolution is to acknowledge the superiority of the present to the past and the inevitable replacement of an old literary form with a new one, thus legitimizing the May Fourth endeavor of creating a new literature appropriate to its own age.

This historical view of literature was further coupled with a "scientific" methodology in the May Fourth appropriation of China's literary tradition. Traditional criticism was viewed as "subjective, unsystematic, metaphysical, and above all unscientific" by modern Chinese literary critics.In their renunciation of tradition and embrace of Western methods of literary criticism, modern literary critics promoted a "scientific" approach towards literary studies. An area where this scientific methodology was put into practice was the newly-emerged field of m o d e m textual criticism (kaozheng) of traditional Chinese fiction.

Three years after the publication of his "Some Modest

Proposals for the Reform of Literature," Hu Shi wrote the

Denton, Modern Chinese Literary Thought, p. 14

233 first of a series of textual studies on the Shuihu zhuan, "A

Textual Study of the Shuihu zhuan" (Shuihu zhuan kaozheng^

1920) . It was a pioneering work which more or less

established the field of modern textual criticism of

traditional Chinese fiction. It led to a flourish of studies

on the same subject and the emergence of a number of eminent

textual critics, including Zheng Zhenduo (1898-1958). The

discovery of several editions of the Shuihu zhuan during the

Republican period is also due in no small part to Hu Shi*s

efforts.

What under lied the interest shown by Hu Shi and others

in the textual criticism of the Shuihu zhuan were factors far beyond the personal hobbies Hu Shi seemed to claim as his

reason for conducting research on the work.The birth of modern textual criticism of traditional Chinese fiction was,

first of all, part and parcel of the May Fourth advocacy of vernacular literature. Only a text that is considered culturally significant needs to be closely studied, traced to

its origin, removed of or guarded against textual

Hu Shi, "Shuihu zhuan kaozheng, " in Zhongguo zhanghui xiaoshuo kaozheng (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1980), pp. 8-

234 contaminations. Textual criticism as a branch of scholarship in China started in the early Qing, but the exclusive subject of study was the classics^^ and fiction was never deemed important enough to deserve scholarly attention. The establishment of the field of textual studies of fiction, therefore, was a result of the modern re—construction of the literary canon.

Also underlying the emergence of textual criticism of traditional fiction was the May Fourth adoption of a scientific methodology in literary criticism. In addition to the popularity of the general idea of "science" in the May

Fourth era, Hu Shi ' s methodology and underlying principle can be traced to his adoption of the philosophy of experimentalism, represented by the thought of John Dewey, during Hu's years of education in America. Jerome Grieder has aptly summarized the reasons for the attraction of experimentalism to Hu Shi and other overseas Chinese students of the time:

The points which initially struck his [Hu Shi's] fancy were, first, the experimentalist definition

See Qian Mu, Zhongguo jin sanbai nian xueshu shi, 2 vols (Taiwan: Shangwu, 1964), vol. 1, pp. 133-137.

235 of Trut±i as a relative value, meaningful only in specific judgments and always subject to re- evaluation in the light of fresh experience; and secondly, the scientific methodology inherent in experimentalism* s particularistic analysis of social and intellectual problems. These were obviously highly useful concepts in the mind of an intellectual rebel already hostile to the authoritarian claims of ancient Chinese dogma but with no desire to establish in its place an intellectual systan. founded exclusively on Western experience. The great advantage of experimentalism was its universality. As a "scientific” methodology it transcended Western culture and was thus potentially as useful in China as it was proving itself to be in the West as a means of translating the attitudes of the scientific intellect into terms that would lend themselves to the analysis of social and political phenomena.^'*

Although experimentalism proved more difficult to adapt to the Chinese situation than Hu Shi realized at the time, he indeed found this kind of "scientific methodology" a useful tool in the investigation of social as well as literary problems. What I want to point out, however, is that Hu's methodology was not, nor intended to be, as disinterested or objective as the term "scientific" may suggest. The purpose and result of his investigations, even in areas as seemingly

Jerome B. Grieder, Hu Shih and the Chinese Renaissance: Liberalism in the Chinese Revolution, 1917-1937 (Cambridge, Mass.; Harvard University Press, 1970), p. 47.

Ibid., pp. 46-47.

236 "scholastic" as textual criticism, were closely related to the agenda of literary reform and the cultural milieu of the time in general. We will see this in Hu's study of the textual evolution of the Shuihu zhuan.

Hu Shi's "Shuihu zhuan kaozheng" first appeared as a preface to a new printing of Jin Shengtan's version of the novel, but without Jin's commentary and with added modern punctuations and paragraphing. Hu Shi praises this printing for restoring the work to its original by deleting Jin

Shengtan's commentary. He lists two benefits of having Jin's commentary removed. First of all, Hu thinks that the principle and method that Jin Shengtan applied to the reading of the Shuihu zhuan are derived from the composition of eight-legged examination essays (ba gu wen) , a form of writing which the May Fourth reformers especially disapproved. Following Jin's method of dismembering the text to look for the so-called literary devices,says Hu Shi, is not only meaningless but also hinders an objective understanding of the novel itself.

Referring to Jin Shengtan's 15 literary devices. See "How to Read The Fifth Book of Genius, " trans. by John C.Y. Wang, in Rolston, How to Read, pp. 140-5.

237 Tile second fault that Hu Shi finds with Jin's commentary

lies in his use of the idea of "the style of the Spring and

Autumn Annals" to interprète the so-called "deep meaning" in the Shuihu zhuan. This idea, Hu Shi further states, comes

from Jin's philosophical affiliation with Neo-Confucianism, a school of thought Hu criticized as being unscientific.^^ As we can see, Hu Shi's dissatisfaction with Jin Shengtan clearly reveals his May-Fourth reformist agenda.

Very much in keeping with the historicist view typical of May Fourth thinking, Hu Shi applied the historical and evolutionary view of literature to the textual study of the

Shuihu zhuan. He believed that the Shuihu story evolved and developed from the Song to the Ming, the driving force behind which is "the pent-up resentment in the hearts of the common people and the literati during these four hundred years :"

People in the Song and the Yuan used this story to express their anger by transforming a robbers' stronghold into a place where Heaven's will is carried out. People in the early Ming used the story to express their anger by creating the part where Song Jiang et al are framed and murdered by the government after their successful expeditions

77 Min-Chih Chou, Hu Shih and Intellectual Choice in Modem China (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 1984) , pp. 173-4.

238 against four other groups of robbers. Someone in the middle of the Ming — the so-called "Shi Nai’an"^® — used the story to vent his anger by deleting the whole part starting from the imperial pardon so that the anti-government stance of the work becomes complete.

Although the idea of "pent-up resentment" resonates with the views of traditional commentators^ the fundamental difference between Hu Shi and the traditional commentators lies in the former's historical and evolutionary view of literature.

Textual changes, according to Hu, are consequences of historical situations and are closely related to the social and political circumstances of the time. Hu Shi uses the same historical point of view to assess Jin Shengtan's disapproval of brigandage, Chen Chen's intentions in the

Shuihu hou zhuan, and Yu Wanchun's (1794-1849) writing of the

Dang kou zhi (Eradication of Rebels, 1851) . A similar approach is found in Lu Xun's explanations of the textual evolution of the Shuihu zhuan in his A Brief History of

Chinese Fiction.

Hu Shi believes that Shi N’ai'an is the pseudonym of the person who rewrote the Shuihu zhuan in the mid Ming.

"Shuihu zhuan kaozheng," pp. 58-59.

Lu Xun, A Brief History, pp. 180-97, 421-4.

239 My argument that Hu Shi's interest in the textual history of the Shuihu zhuan did not lie entirely in the

"academic" areas can be further supported by the fact that, despite his dissatisfaction with Jin Shengtan'^s changing of the original novel, Hu Shi himself did not seem to pay much attention to the autonomy of the text, a primary concern of textual criticism. For instance, Hu Shi had no problem with applying the modem method of punctuation and paragraphing to the work, which affected the integrity of the original text.

In fact, he praised the new printing of the Shuihu zhuan for being a functional textbook of new-style punctuations.

Following suit, many of the reprintings of different editions of the Shuihu zhuan during the Republican period®^ were done in the m o d e m style, with punctuations and paragraphs.

Editors often referred to the educational benefits of their editions as textbooks of the vemacular language.®^ There

®^ See the edition notes included in prefaces to more than ten editions of "modem-style" Shuihu zhusm. in Shuihu pinglun ziliao, p. 239, 243, 250, 253, 284,328, 356, 363, 383, and 435.

®“ Jiang Yinxiang, "Xinshi Shuihu bianding dayi" (1924), in Shuihu pinglun ziliao, p. 243; Qu Shizhen, "Shuihu zhuan jizheng" (1930), in ibid., p. 330.

240 were also a couple of "clean" editions, whose editors, with the interests of readers in mind, excised the parts which contained superstitious, profane, vulgar, or overly violent descriptions.

In this chapter, I have discussed the reception of the

Shuihu zhuan in the late Qing and Republican periods in the context of Chinese intellectuals' complex reactions to the historical and cultural imperatives of the time. The case of the Shuihu zhuan helps to illustrate the intellectuals' active appropriation of and negotiations with traditional as well as Western literary values to serve their respective political agendas. I have shown that multifarious factors were at play in Chinese intellectuals' re-evaluation and reconstruction of their literary past, and as we will see in the next chapter, even the most radical discourse of revolution had uncanny ties to a tradition from which it claimed to have broken free.

Wang Yi'an, ed., Shuihu (50 chapters) (Shanghai: Ertong shuju, 1935), and Shuihu (48 chapters)(Shanghai: Kaiming, 1935). See Shuihu pinglun ziliao, pp. 420-2; 425-34.

241 CHAPTER 5

REINVENTING THE SHUIHtJ ZHOAN

IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA, 1949-1976

It has been my intention to demonstrate, in the previous chapters, that the issues in Shuihu zhuan criticism embody complex cultural values, and the interpretations of these issues are to a large extent historically and politically conditioned. In a sense, the discourse surrounding the

Shuihu zhuan became a cultural scenario that has been played and re-played at crucial moments in history when such cultural values as loyalty, rebellion, and legitimacy of rule were being re-examined.

In this chapter, I would like to review the reception of the Shuihu zhuan in the PRC before and during the Cultural

Revolution. This topic, to my knowledge, has been little explored. Except for one study which surveys the influence of the novel on rebel movements in nineteenth- and twentieth- century China, including the Communist movement from the

242 1920s to the 1960s, ^ there has been no detailed study on the reception of the Shuihu zhuan in the early years of the PRC.

The involvement of the Shuihu zhuan in politics culminated in the 1975-1976 "Shuihu campaign" (ping Shuihu yundong) . Though the campaign generated several dozen books and more than a thousand articles on the novel, ^ they are often viewed as a mere example of the political upheaval of the time and therefore more deserving of the attention of political scientists than of literary criticsOnly a few studies deal with the campaign and the role of the Shuihu zhuan in it. Merle Goldman examines the Shuihu campaign as an example of the PRC's mobilization of the population through media campaigns. ^ She chronicles the development of the campaign

^ Jean Che s ne aux, "The Modern Relevance of Shui-hu chuan, " pp. 1-25.

^ Shen Bojun, ed. Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1994), p. 3.

^ Ibid.

^ Merle Goldman, "The Media Campaign as a Weapon in Political Struggle: The Dictatorship of the Proletariat and Water Margin Campaigns," in Godwin C. Chu & Francis L.K. Hsu, eds., Moving a Mountain; Cultural Change in China (Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii, 1979), pp. 179- 206; idem, China's Intellectuals: Advise and Dissent (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981), pp. 201-

243 and interprets it in terms of the conflicts between different factions within the leadership, i.e., the Shanghai group headed by Mao's wife, Jiang Qing (1914-1991), and the bureaucratic faction under Zhou Enlai (1898-1976) and Deng

Xiaoping (1904-1997) . The campaign, says Goldman, was launched by the former to attack members of the latter, such as Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and the rehabilitees of the

Cultural Revolution.^

John Fitzgerald is not satisfied with treating the campaign merely as a phenomenon of factional conflict. He chooses to locate the Shuihu campaign "in the sequential development of Water Margin mythology."'® Basing his study on

Claude Lévi-Strauss' hypothesis that the function of myth is

"to provide a logical model capable of overcoming a contradiction,Fitzgerald identifies the major

213.

® Merle Goldman, "Media Campaign,"’ p. 191.

® John Fitzgerald, "Continuity Within Discontinuity; The Case of Water Margin Mythology." Modern China (July 1986) : 364-5.

^ Claude Lévi-Strauss, Structural Anthropology (New York: Basic Books), p. 229, quoted in Fitzgerald, "Continuity Within Discontinuity," p. 367.

244 contradiction presented in the Shuihu zhuan^ i.e.^ loyalty

and rebellion, and discusses how "each age has felt compelled

by the force of the myth to come to terms with it."®

I agree with Fitzgerald that the Shuihu campaign, or the

political involvement of the work at any moment of history,

should not simply be viewed as a "distortion" or invasion of

a literary text by politics. As I have tried to demonstrate

in previous chapters, literature in general, and fiction in particular, was never something "pure" from political

"contaminations" in the Chinese context. Fitzgerald's view

of the Shuihu zhuan as "myth" in Lévi-Strauss' definition of

the term, however, runs the danger of essentializing the

cultural values represented in the novel into transcendental,

absolute entities divorced from their historical context.

While "each age has felt compelled by the force of the myth

to come to terms with it, "® the myth itself is viewed as unchanging. As I have demonstrated in the previous chapter,

it was exactly the seemingly transcendental values that were appropriated to serve specific political and cultural

® Fitzgerald, "Continuity Within Discontinuity," p. 397.

® Fitzgerald, "Continuity Within Discontinuity," p. 397.

245 agendas. When a late Qing critic interpreted the idea of loyalty in the Shuihu zhuan in nationalistic terms, the traditional idea of loyalty was appropriated and changed into a new concept that was meaningful only in its new context. It is this complex relationship between text and context, and fiction and reality that I will continue to explore in this chapter.

I. Shuihu Studies 1949-1966

In a sense, the charge of instigating rebellion was not wrongly leveled against the Shuihu zhuan. The work had been appropriated by a number of rebellions, including those led by Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong at the end of Ming and the

Taiping Rebellion in the Qing. The rebel leaders borrowed the names or nicknames of the Shuihu heroes and imitated their strategies, tactics and organization. Even the surrender of some of the rebels to the imperial forces was done in imitation of Song Jiang.

Wang Liqi, "Shuihu yu nongmin geming" (1953), in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (Beijing; Zojia, 1957}, pp. 61-76; Fitzgerald, "Continuity Within Discontinuity," pp. 380-381;

246 The Chinese communists have always viewed themselves as following a long tradition of "peasant revolutions." This emphasis on peasant rebellions has its ideological root in the Chinese interpretation and adaptation of Marxism. Given the absence in China of a bourgeois revolution or modern labor movementf central to Western Marxist theory, peasant revolts perforce assumed a position of comparable importance as the direct forerunners of the Chinese Communist revolution.According to Mao Zedong, "The class struggles of the peasants, peasant uprisings and wars, were the driving force of history in China's feudal society.This statement became the official discourse by which the

Communists interpreted China's past and accounted for historical changes. Mao, however, was quick to point out a major difference between the Chinese Communists and the

Albert Chan, The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty, pp. 396-400; and Chesneaux, "Modern Relevance," pp. 2-6.

James P. Harrison, The Communists and Chinese Peasant Rebellions; A Study in the Rewriting of Chinese History (New York: Atheneum, 1969), p. 5.

Mao Zedong, "Zhongguo geming he zhongguo gongchan dang' (1939), Mao Zedong xuanji 1 Vol. (Beijing: Renmin chubanshe, 1964), p. 588.

247 peasant rebels of tiie past. "The peasant revolutions in the past inevitably failed/" says Mao, "because they did not have the correct leadership of the proletariat and the Communist

Party. Only the Communist Party, according to Mao, can lead a revolution to its fullest extent and bring true liberation to the people.

Viewed as a progressive work about peasant revolt against the feudal government, the Shuihu zhuan was a favorite of Mao's even before 1949. In 1917, when he was asked by his fellow students about his solution for "saving the country, " he replied, "Imitate the heroes of Mount

Liang.He apparently carried a copy with him on the Long

March, and cited passages from the work in his writings on military strategy.For instance, in his essay "On

Contradiction" (Maodun lun, 1937), Mao refers to Song Jiang when explaining the idea of "materialist dialectics" (weiwu bianzheng fa) :

Ibid.

14 Jean Chesneaux, "Modern Relevance," p. 7.

Goldman, "Media Campaign," p. 193; Fitzgerald, "Continuity Within Discontinuity," p. 381; and Chesneaux, wModern Relevance," p. 7.

248 In the novel Shuihu zhuan^ Song Jiang thrice attacked Zhu Village. Twice he was defeated because he was ignorant of the local conditions and used the wrong method. Later he changed his method; first he investigated the situation, and he familiarized himself with the maze of roads, then he broke up the alliance between the Li, Hu, and Zhu Villages eind sent his men in disguise into the enemy camp to lie in wait, using a strategem similar to that of the Trojan Horse in the foreign story. And on the third occasion he won. There are many examples of materialist dialectics in Shuihu zhuan, of which the episode of the three attacks on Zhu Village is one of the best.^®

After the founding of the PRC, it is no wonder that the

Shuihu zhuan, as a national treasure, would be used to represent China's past and to reinforce the theme of class struggle the Communists viewed so much as their heritage. The

1950s saw a flurry of studies on the novel. The 70-chapter edition was published in 1952, and the 120-chapter Shuihu quanzhuan in 1954. There was also an abridged, 48-chapter edition which deleted the erotic and superstitious depictions for "young readers." In addition, a photo-reprint of Yu

Xiangdou's Shuihu zhi zhuan pinglin (Shuihu zhuan with a

Forest of Commentaries, 1594) , an important text among the

Cited and translated by Jean Chesneaux in "Modern Relevance," p. 7. I have changed the Wade-Giles spellings to Pinyin.

249 "simpler" recensions, was published, in 1956. In terms of critical studies during this period, eight book-length studies and more than two hundred articles were published.

Critics of the time were well aware of and, in fact, actively promoted the didactic function of the novel. As one critic points out, the Shuihu zhuan could be a good model in a time when the nation was in need of creating its new heroic epics and revolutionary heroes.^® The interest in the novel in the early years of the PRC was closely tied to the need of the new regime to consolidate its rule by creating an "epic" or a history of itself which would legitimize its past and present, and envision its future. A key element in the writing of this epic was the construction of a revolutionary tradition that helped to legitimize the birth of the

Communist party. The interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan in terms of peasant revolution, therefore, helps to create a collective cultural memory from which the revolutionary cause

17 Shen Bojun, Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji, p. 2.

18 Lu Gong, "Shuihu — Yingxiong de shishi" (1952), in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), p. 32.

250 of the Communist regime would appear as a natural progression

of history.

Common to all studies on the Shuihu zhuan before the

Cultural Revolution is the basic idea that the work is a masterpiece of traditional literature that glorifies peasant

revolutions. The predominant approach found in almost all

these studies is class analysis. The novel is viewed as an

accurate portrayal of China's feudal society and its "main

conflict" (zhuyao maodun), namely the struggle between the peasant class and the landlord class. The main character.

Song Jiang, is praised as a leader of the peasant rebellion.

As I have shown in the previous chapter, the issue of class was already used by some late Qing and Republican critics to

interpret the Shuihu zhuan, but the adoption of class

analysis as the main, and often sole, methodology started

after the founding of the PRC.

Underneath the critical consensus, however, we can

sometimes detect dissenting voices in critics' more detailed discussions of the novel. This may be partly accounted for in

terms of the comparatively open political atmosphere in the early-middle period of the 1950s, which culminated in the

251 "Hxindred Flowers Movement" in 1957 Critics noticed, the complexity of the Shuihu zhuan which defies the oversimplified approach of class analysis. The classification of the Liangshan rebels as "peasants," for example, is problematic. As a few critics pointed out, the majority of the 108 rebel leaders are not peasants. They are townspeople, minor officials, military officers, and even rich landlords. How can the uprising launched by them, then, be called "peasant rebellion?" To solve this problem, critics resorted to a number of arguments which aimed to achieve discursive coherence through the use of ideological jargon.

One critic argues that peasants were too conservative and undisciplined to lead themselves towards revolution. Those minor officials, officers and landlords, so long as they betrayed their original classes and came to represent the benefits of peasants, were fit to be leaders of peasants, and the rebellion they launched should be viewed as peasant

Jonathan D. Spence, The Search for Modern China (New York and London: W.W. Norton & Company, 1990), pp. 563-73.

Zhang Mosheng, "Tantan Shuihu" (1953) , in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), pp. 43-54; Zhang Youluan, "Tan 'Ti tian xing dao' ji qita" (1954), in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), pp. 77-81.

252 rebellion.’^ This argument was in line with Mao’s estimation of the "weakness” of the peasant class, and the CCP’s self­ perception as leaders of the proletariat. On the other hand, however, it also betrayed a deep-seated sense of the cultural elite’s distrust and disrespect for the peasant class. In arguing for the necessity of giving the leadership to non­ peasant members of the outlaw troop, the only criterion that the critic used was the level of education of the characters.

The peasants were "conservative" and "undisciplined" because they were "ignorant," whereas the "minor officials, officers and landlords" were more educated and therefore could take up the responsibilites of leading a rebellion. Another critic resorts to the idea of "typicality" (dianxing xing), an important concept in Marxist theories of realism.

"Typicality" dictates that a character in a literary work should not only be individualized, but also represent a certain social/class type, and embody the characteristics of that type. According to this theory, the rebellion by the

Shuihu heroes, regardless of their class origins, was a

Zhang Youluan, "Tan 'Ti tian xing dao’ ji qita," p. 79,

Denton, Modern Chinese Literary Thought, p. 52.

253 revolution typical of the peasant class, and hence their struggle should be viewed as the struggle of the peasants.

Two more obstacles needed to be removed to reach the conclusion that the Shuihu zhuan represented a glorification of peasant rebellion. One is the character Song Jiang, and the other is the fact that the heroes finally surrender to the imperial forces aind are enlisted in campaigns against other "peasant rebels." Much ink was spilled over these two topics. This shows the difficulty of trying to justify the surrender and to explain why Song Jiang, a "cowardly" petty official who strives constantly for imperial pardon, should be viewed as a courageous peasant leader. It was also on these two issues that opinions diverged, revealing to us dissident voices underneath the surface consensus.

To explain the ending of the novel, some critics resorted to Mao*s "dialectical" view towards peasant rebellions in feudal society, i.e., to recognize their progressiveness as well as their limits. Since Mao had stated

Feng Xuefeng, "Huida guanyu Shuihu de jige wenti" (1954), quoted in Ouyang Jian, "Shuihu zhuan zhuti yanjiu de huigu yu fansi," in Lu Xingji, ed. Jian quo yilai gudai wenxue wenti taolun juyao (Jinain: Qilu shushe, 1987), pp. 358-378.

254 that peasant rebellions of the past were doomed to fail and were often taken advantage of by the ruling class, the portrayal of the heroes' surrender and joining campaigns against other rebels was viewed by some critics as nothing but a realistic representation of the inevitable tragic ending of peasant rebellions in feudal China

One dissenting voice, however, contended that imperial pardon was not the most common outcome of peasant rebellions.

Instead, most peasant revolutions were "cruelly crushed" by the "ruling class." Making the heroes "capitulate" to the ruling class, therefore, reflects the limitations of the author of the Shuihu zhuan, owing to his literati class origin as well as the historical circumstances in which he lived. This view, emphasizing the final surrender, undermines the commonly-claimed "revolutionariness" of the

Shuihu zhuan. The subversiveness of such a view can be seen in the two response articles criticizing it for downplaying

Li Xifan, "Shuihu de zuozhe yu Shuihu de changpian jiegou" (1956), in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), pp. 6- 21; Qun Ming, "Wo zengyang xuexi Shuihu de" (1954), in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), pp. 127-134.

Liu Zhong, "Tan Shuihu zhong de jige wenti" (1955) , in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), pp. 92-97.

255 the novel^ s progressive ideological significance em.d social

function.^®

The issue of Song Jiang proved even more controversial.

If we agree that the Shuihu zhuan constitutes an eulogy of

the peasant rebellion, it then follows naturally that Song

Jiang, as its leader, is a positive character and should

embody the progressive or "revolutionary spirit." Most of

the critics in the 50s, therefore, tried to make a

revolutionary leader out of Song Jiang and sought to justify

his apparent conservative beliefs and actions. For example,

one critic, though acknowledging Song Jiang's limitations,

heaped praise on him for uniting the band and leading it to

success. He is viewed as wise and modest, sympathetic

towards oppressed people and appreciative of other heroes.

Song Jiang is portrayed as the epitome of the traditional peasant leaders.

Li Qian, "Du 'Tan Shuihu zhong de jige wenti'" (1955), in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), pp. 98-103; Zhang Wenxun, "Lishi de zhenshi yu yishu de zhenshi — dui 'Tan Shuihu zhong de jige wenti' de yijian" (1955), in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), pp.104-110.

27 Lu Gong, "Shuihu — Yingxiong de shishi," p. 31

256 Song Jiang*' s clearly un—revolutionary or even "counter­ revolutionary" thought and actions, however, are hard to deny. In fact, he seems most unwilling to become a rebel in the first place. After he is made a rebel leader, he never stops hoping for an imperial pardon. He is forever waiting for the opportunity that will let him demonstrate his loyalty to the sovereign. This led some critics in the 50s to accuse

Song Jiang of being a loyal servant of the ruling class auid suppressor of peasant revolutions.^® The reason for this political stance is accounted for in simplistic terms.

According to one critic. Song Jiang is from the petty official class, and he shows no intention of forsaking that class. He therefore does not qualify to be a peasant leader.^® Song Jicuig's class origin, henceforth, determines his deviation from the revolutionary cause. Interestingly, however, other critics tried to defend Song Jiang with the very same argument of class. They contended that the complexity of the character of Song Jiang derives precisely

See Miao Deyu, "Guanyu Song Jiang" (1953) , in Shuihu yanjiu lunwen ji (1957), p. 255.

Liu Zhong, "Tan Shuihu zhong de jige wenti," p. 95.

257 from his petty official/landlord class background. His class origin determines that he is at once a representative of the feudal ideology with its values of loyalty and filial piety, and a sympathizer of the oppressed people and their rebellions. The author of the Shuihu zhuan has therefore given a realistic portrayal of the gradual process through which Song Jiang is transformed from a conservative to a revolutionary.

Although opinions differed regarding Song Jiang, the majority of them tended towards a positive evaluation of this character. Sometimes critics would change their views under peer pressure. This can be seen most clearly in an article in which the critic relates how, "with the help of my comrades," he changed his attitude towards Song Jiang from that of "deep hatred" to a realization that Song Jiang is "an epitome of the virtues of the working class.

Li Qian, "Du 'Tan Shuihu zhong de jige wenti'," pp. 101- 102; Zhang Wenxun, "Lishi de zhenshi yu yishu de zhenshi,'' pp. 105-106; Li Xifan, "Shuihu de zuozhe yu Shuihu de changpian jiegou,” pp. 229-230; Miao Deyu, "Guanyu Song Jiang," pp. 255-270.

31 Qun Ming, "Wo zenyang xuexu Shuihu de," pp. 127-134.

258 The evaluation of Song Jiang, more than any other

character in the work, proved a key issue in the discussions on the Shuihu zhuan in the 1950s. This is because Song

Jiang, due to the sheer complexity of his character, undermines the simplistic method of class analysis. The

tension between consensus and dissent sufficiently attests to the role played by dominant ideology or political agenda in the study of this novel.

II. The Shuihu Campaign, 1975-1976

While there are some dissident opinions in the Shuihu studies in the 1950s, the critical voice in the Shuihu

Campaign in the mid 70s was overwhelmingly unified, characteristic of the tight thought control during the

Cultural Revolution. The most salient feature of the interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan during this campaign was its total departure from previous interpretations of this novel in the PRC. It reversed the main point of view of the

50s, i.e., the overall positive evaluation of the work as a whole and of the main character Song Jiang. Instead of a

259 eulogy of peasant rebellion, the Shuihu zhuan was now condemned as a reactionary novel that propagated

"capitulationism. " Instead of a revolutionary leader. Song

Jiang was caricatured as a most treacherous enemy of the revolutionary cause.

The campaign was launched with a group of articles in the August 1975 issue of the Party journal Hongqi. They were preceded by a quotation from Lu Xun's comments on the Shuihu zhuan:

The message of the Shuihu zhuan is very clear : Since they [the rebels] were never against the emperor, they naturally surrended to the imperial forces and undertook the job of suppressing other robbers, those who did not "act on heaven's behalf." The Shuihu rebels were after all lackeys.

This quotation from Lu Xun was preceded by two pieces of

"Chairman Mao's teachings." One of these advocated a dialectical attitude in treating traditional culture, emphasizing the importance of rejecting the dregs of the ruling class in feudal society. The other quotation expressed Mao's high regard for Lu Xun, which had helped to

32 Hongqi 9 (1975): 5.

260 establish the letter's unquestioned position of prominence in the PRC canon of modern Chinese literature:

Lu Xun had the hardest bones. He had not the slightest trace of subservience or obsequiousness. This is the most valuable trait of people living in a colonized or semi-colonized society. Lu Xun represented the majority of the Chinese people charging against the enemy on the cultural front. He was unprecedentedly the most correct^ the most courageous, the most determined, the most loyal, and the most zealous national hero.

Mao's quotations printed in Hongqi were always carefully chosen to foreground whatever issue was being emphasized. The quotation on selective adoptation of traditional culture was clearly relevant to the topic of the Shuihu zhuan, a traditional novel. Moreover, the emphasis on a critical attitude towards cultural products from the feudal past also foretold the drastic change in China's evaluation of the novel.

Mao ' s high regard for Lu Xun was evidently cited to validate the authority of Lu Xun's comment on the Shuihu zhuan, a comment which was quoted out of context. Lu Xun's comment originally appeared in an essay entitled "The

Transformations of Rogues" (Liumang de bianqian), published

Hongqi 9 (1975): 4.

261 in Mengya in January, 1930.^^ The Shuihu zhuan was clearly not the essayist's main topic of discussion, but simply

refered to so as to make a stab at contemporary "rogues" — the warlords. Typical of Lu Xun's barbed style, the target of his sarcasm also included members of the Creation and Sun societies such as Zhang Ziping (1893-59) , with whom Lu Xun disagreed over their proclaimed cause of "revolutionary literature.

Nevertheless, Lu Xun's negative comment on the Shuihu rebels, the assertion that they were ultimately "lackeys" who were never against the imperial system, was in tune with the new evaluation of the rebels in the campaign. Shortly afterwards, new Maoist quotations on the Shuihu appeared in an editorial in Renmin ribao (People's Daily) ; these quotations were to be used in almost every study on the novel

Lu Xun, Lu Xun quanji, 16 vols. (Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1981), vol. 4, pp. 155-158.

Leo Ou-fan Lee, Voices from the Iron House: A Study of Lu Xun, (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987), p. 120- 1 .

Goldman, "Media Campaign," p. 194.

262 and printed on the front pages of every edition published as

"teaching material by negative example" for the people:

The benefit of the book Shuihu zhuan lies in its [depiction of] capitulationism. It can be used as teaching material by negative example so that the people can leam about capitulators.

The Shuihu [rebels] were only against corrupt officials and not the emperor. Chao Gai was excluded from the band of 108 people. Song Jiang wanted to capitulate and practised revisionism. He changed Chao's Hall of Righteousness into Hall of Loyalty, and received imperial pardon. The struggle between Song Jiang and Gao Qiu was factional struggle within the landlord class. After Song Jiang surrendered, he went to suppress Fang La.

The key words in Mao's quotations categorize the Shuihu zhuan as a novel that advocates capitulationism. Song Jiang, instead of a revolutionary leader, is now called an arch­ enemy of revolution who usurps the leadership and revised

(xiuzheng) Chao Gai's original line of revolution. This basic evaluation of the Shuihu zhuan set by Mao was echoed in all the books and articles produced in the campaign.

The new interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan in the 70s was openly political. The campaign was meant to be a propaganda movement, and the novel itself was not its main target. As declared in the editorial of the aforementioned issue of Hongqi, a re-evaluation of the Shuihu zhuan would

2 6 3 not only affect the fields of arts and literature, but also help the people to closely follow Chairman Mao's revolutionary line of Marxism and socialism, to strengthen unity and consolidate the dictatorship of the proletariat, and to struggle against revisionism and capitalism. The

Shuihu zhuan, therefore, was appropriated to serve a variety of political agendas.

The campaign also consciously differentiated its interpretation of the novel from all previous ones, especially those made in the 50s and early 60s. In the political discourse of the Cultural Revolution, the 50s and early 60s were condemned as an era under the "revisionistic leadership" of Liu Shaoqi (1898-1969) and Lin Biao (1907-

1971) . The Shuihu studies which emerged out of the comparatively more liberal political atmosphere of the 50s were criticized as a result of the "black line" among the leadership prior to the Cultural Revolution.^® Merle Goldman is right to point out that the Chinese communist leadership was not a unified whole and was especially factionalized

Hongqi 9 (1975) ; 7.

Ibid., p. 17.

264 during t±.e Cultural Revolution.The Shuihu campaign, launched by the radical Shainghai group, revealed their urgent intent to differientiate themselves from the previous leadership under Liu Shaoqi and Lin Biao and to attack the

"revisionists" who had made a comeback in the early 1970s when Deng Xiaoping was rehabilitated. The Shuihu campaign in a sense continued the "Criticize Confucius and Lin Biao" campaign (pi Lin pi Kong yundong) launched two years earlier, which was motivated by the same radical leftist attack on Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping and the bureaucratic faction under them. A total reversal in the evaluation, of the

Shuihu zhuan during the Cultural Revolution, therefore, did not just indicate different opinions concerning a literary work. Instead, it was one of the strategies employed to pronounce a determined departure from the so-called

"revisionist" policies of the previous decade and a resolute intention to continue the Cultural Revolution, which b y 1975 had seriously wauied.

Goldman, "Media Campaign," p. 179.

Spence, The Search for Modern China, pp. 633-9.

265 The Shuihu zhuan was appropriated to serve the discourse of the Cultural Revolution, in a number of ways. First of all, a dichotomy between a "revolutionary line" and a

"revisionist" or "capitulationist" line was used to analyze the relationships among the rebels in the novel. The rebels were classified into two different groups, representing the two lines respectively. Song Jiang was said to represent the capitulationist line, whereas Li Kui and the Ruan brothers represent the revolutionary line. The critics claimed that the classification was made not merely on the basis of the class origins of the rebels. The main criterion was to see whose interests and demands were represented by the rebels.

In their actual arguments, however, we can see that the two were very much the same thing. Among the 108 rebel leaders, only Li Kui and the Ruan brothers were singled out as revolutionaries because they were the only true peasants.

Most of the others, especially those recruited by Song Jiang,

Fang Yanliang, "Shi Remain dou zhidao touxiang pai," Honggi 9 (1975) : 8. It should be noted that, like many articles published during the Cultural Revolution, those in the Shuihu Campaign often bore seudonyms which stood, for writing groups associated with the different factions. Fang Yainliang, e.g., was one of the writing groups under the control of the Shanghai faction.

266 were from the landlord or official class. The Song Jiang

group and the Li Kui group ultimately represented the

opposition and struggle between the landlord class eind the

peasant class.As we can see, the construction of a

"revisionist line" and a "revolutionary line" in the novel

was clearly meant to reflect a similar dichotomy in reality.

In other words, the Cultural Revolution group saw in the

image of Song Jiang a symbolic enemy, signaling the need to

continue the revolution against real "capitulators" and

"revisionists."

Several key issues in the novel were also appropriated

and transformed in the campaign, including the ideas of

loyalty and righteousness. In Chapters 2 and 3, I discussed

how loyalty was the core of the debate among premodern

critics in their determination of whether the Shuihu zhuan

advocates loyalty or instigates robbery. Loyalty to them was

of course an idea deeply rooted in the Confucian tradition, meaning ultimately devotion to the "Son of Heaven," the very

embodiment of universal moral order. In the re-interpretation

Ibid., p. 11. Same arguments were made in other articles, e.g. Hongqi 9 (1975): 15-16; 21; 26-28.

267 of tJie novel in the late Qing, critics endowed the novel with contemporary political concerns and commended it for propagating nationalism or socialism. They re-interpreted loyalty as allegiance to the people instead of the sovereign by separating the two traditionally linked ideas of "Heaven" and the sovereign, and moving the people into the center of the universal order. A similar approach was adopted by critics before the Cultural Revolution who claimed that the

Shuihu zhuan eulogizes peasant rebellion. "Heaven" was understood as representing the proletariat, whose history became the only point of focus.

The interpretation of the concept of loyalty seems to have come full circle in the Shuihu campaign. As in traditional times, loyalty represented by the Shuihu outlaws was again understood to be allegiance to the sovereign, but now this kind of loyalty was denounced. Loyalty to the emperor meant betrayal of the people and the revolutionary cause, and this was exactly why Song Jiang was accused of being a traitor. Confucian notions of loyalty were of course meant to be condemned in the Cultural Revolution, which set out to eradicate Chinas feudal tradition in to to. In its

268 place, a new kind of loyalty — loyalty to the proletariat, to the Party, and to Chairman Mao — was installed, though this new concept of loyalty ultimately differed little from the old one.

The idea of righteousness was also transformed at different historical moments. Righteousness, or yi, is the core moral code that unifies the Shuihu brotherhood. The solidarity of the brotherhood led the late Qing critics to discover such new ideas as equality, democracy and "socialist utopia" in the novel. In the positive evaluation of the novel before the Cultural Revolution, yi was understood as a common class interest which united the rebels into a revolutionary brotherhood. In the Shuihu campaign, however, the idea of class was used to analyze the rebel band, and by dividing it into two opposing classes of peasants and landlords, the brotherhood or solidarity was pronounced to be non-existent. As the article by Fang Yanliang declared, "On

Mount Liang, there was no brotherhood, only class relationships.

Honggi 9 (1975); 12

269 Discussions in this chapter have aimed at an exploration of the relationship between the evaluation and re- interpretation of the Shuihu zhuan and the contextual political milieu in the PRC. We have seen how the newly- established regime appropriated tradition in order to construct a history of its own. Even during the Cultural

Revolution, whose proclaimed goal was a total renunciation of tradition, traditional values were appropriated and reconstructed to serve contemporary political agendas. The role played by the Shuihu zhuan in the radical discourse of revolution again testifies to the complex interaction and negotiation between tradition and modernity.

270 CONCLUSION

The subject of this study is the reception, of the

Shuihu zhuan from, the sixteenth to the twentieth century.

The two ends of my inquiry have been the novel itself on the one hand, and the socio-political world of the reader in which it functions on the other. I have tried to illuminate how, in the encounter between the two, the text was endowed with meanings that were largely conditioned by historical times, and the reader also made use of the text for particular purposes. I have looked at the responses to the novel by traditional literati in the late Ming and early Qing, political and cultural reformers in the late

Qing and the Republican period, as well as Communist ideologues and literary critics in the PRC. The intention behind the grouping together of such diverse reading subjects, whose ideologies and historical missions seem worlds apart, is exactly to show that each reading of the novel was conditioned by the particular reader's implicit perception of himself (i.e., his social position eind

271 cultural role) and the world around him (e.g., immediate historical imperatives or political agendas), and the reader's response to the novel was at the same time a response to his particular situation at a certain historical moment.

Though in the Chinese context, the appropriation of

"old materials for new use" (gu wei jin yong) is always expected and is not limited to any particular work or genre, the Shuihu zhuan has indeed been one of the most visited "sites," to use a term in today's hi-tech world.

This is partly because the novel deals with a number of key issues in Chinese culture, both traditional and modern.

Although issues such as loyalty, rebellion. Heaven's mandate, and the right to rule were much contemplated and disputed in other forms of writings, including the classics, the histories, and political and philosophical treatises, fiction, being a marginal discourse, allowed for more subversive treatment of these issues. The controversy over the Shuihu zhuan, for instance, lies exactly in its paradoxical treatment of such officially sanctioned ideas as loyalty and righteousness, ideas which are shown to be embodied not by emperors or ministers, but by a group of

272 bandits. Although. I do not want to make gross generalizations about traditional fiction as a whole, I do believe that premodern writers, commentators and readers of fiction accorded the genre with a special license to be unorthodox and subversive, which allowed them to experiment with new ideas as well as new forms of writing.

Two areas which may greatly enhaince the exploration of the Shuihu zhuan as a continuing cultural discourse have not been discussed in this limited project. One is an examination of the reception of the Shuihu zhuan in the non-elite sectors of both the traditional and modern societies. In other words, how did readers of the cruder and illustrated "simpler" versions of the novel construct its meanings? Where does the popular response to the work agree with the elite or official one, and where do they differ? Were there any interactions or influence between the two, cind what were the directions of influence? While sources or evidence may be hard to find, an exploration in this area will no doubt lead to a better understending of the heterogeneity of culture as well as the multifariousness of reading practices. Since the early twentieth century, modern adaptations of Shuihu stories

273 have been produced by writers from Mao Dun (1896-1981) to

Jin Yong,^ a rich field to be explored. Moreover, such an investigation will need to cross genres and look at the adaptation of Shuihu stories in other literary and artistic forms, including drama of the Yuan, Ming and Qing, modern spoken drama, contemporary Peking opera, local theatre and performing arts, picture books (lianhuan hua), film and television series

Another area of inquiry which may enrich our understanding of the cultural significance of the Shuihu zhuan is the study of its sequels, the most important being the Shuihu hou zhuan (1664) by Chen Chen, Hou Shuihu (The

Water Margin Continued, 1658-73) by a certain Qinglian shi

^ Mao Dun wrote two short stories, "Shijie" (The stone tablet) and "Baozi tou Lin Chong" (Lin Chong the leopard head), based on the Shuihu zhuan in the 1930s. For a brief discussion, see Zheng Gongdun, Shuihu zhuan lunwen ji, vol. 1, pp. 137-40. See also his list of modern adaptations of the Shuihu stories up to 1983 on pp. 141-2. Jin Yong's adaptation of the Shuihu zhusin in his martial arts novel Halj iao Liangshanbo is discussed by John Christopher Hamm in "The Marshes of Mount Liang Beyond the Sea; Jin Yong's Early Martial Arts Fiction and Post-War Hong Kong, " Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 11.1 (Spring 1999): 93—123.

^ Zheng Gongdun has given a concise introduction to the modern adaptations of Shuihu stories in different artistic forms in his Shuihu zhuan lunwen ji, vol. 1, pp.109-64.

274 zhuren, and Dang kou zhi (1851) by Yu Wanchun.^ Each, sequel was written in conscious reaction to the original novel, expressing their authors' attitudes towards the rebels- Chen

Chen, a Ming loyalist, finding in the Shuihu outlaws a parallel of the "crisis of loyalism" facing the intellectuals during the transition from the Ming to the Qing, created an overseas utopia where the remainder of the Shuihu rebels escaped and built an ideal world. ^ Hou Shuihu zhuan is shown to be linked to Chen Chen's work, though it is even more critical of the status quo.^ In contrast to the sympathy towards the Shuihu rebels expressed by the authors of these two sequels, Yu Wanchun, who picks up where Jin Shengtan's version had left off, is vehemently against the bandits and makes his intentions unmistakably clear, as suggested by the title of his book. As we can see, all three sequels continue to treat the issues of loyalty and rebellion from their authors' respective ideological and historical standpoints.

^ Sun Kaidi, Zhongguo tongsu xiaoshuo shumu, pp. 188-89. Except for Ellen Widmer's excellent study of Chen Chen's Shuihu hou zhuan, these sequels have been little explored. See Ellen Widmer, The Margins of Utopia; Shui-hu hou-chuan and the Literature of Ming Loyalism (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 1987) .

Ellen Widmer, The Margins of Utopia, pp. 3-5.

275 By way of consciously responding to and dialogizing with, the original novel, the sequels function as a kind of commentary on it and further enlarge the discursive world around the

Shuihu zhuan.

In many respects, the Shuihu zhuan can be viewed as a paradigmatic representative of full-length vernacular fiction from the sixteenth and seventeenth century. It is hoped, therefore, that the general approach in this project — the emphasis on the cultural significance of reading and writing fiction, the attention to the actual reading processes, and the focus on the construction of meaning in the complex interactions between the text, the reader and the world at specific historical moments — will also shed some light on other works of traditional fiction.

Ibid., p. 197.

276 GLOSSARY

ba gu wen baiguan bai shuo baishi Bai Sheng ÊÉI Ban Gu ^ | 5[ bangshu Baozi tou Lin Chong Benguan fuyin shuobu yuanqi bi shang Liangshan ig K ^ ili Bo Ya bu he shi yi Cai Jing _ Cai Yuanpei Gao Xueqin Chao Gai chuanqi Chen Chen Chen Duxiu Chen Jiru _____ Cheng ze wei wang, bai ze wei kou Chunqiu Chunqiu bifa churao kuangfu zhi yi cihua _ da jieshu Da XU Dadi Y u r e n ^ ^ l î ^ X Dai Zong danj ian _ Dangkou zhi daode xiaoshuo dianxing xing Deng Fei 5PHI Deng Xiaoping Di Pingzi Ding Yi ^ — disha Donghai juewo

277 Du Qian. fafen zhushu fanben feng jg, # Feng Menglong Gao Qiu Gu fen j&tll _ L^ gu wei jin yong Guan ju ( # | # Guan Y u n c h a n g B )-2^‘J^ Gui Zhuang Guo feng Haijiao liangshanbo Han Fei Zi Han shu haohan Honglou meng pinglun |X^0^fF8è Hongqi ^IjgE Hong Xiuquan Hong Xin #f#T Hou Shuihu zhuan fi Hu Shi huaben Hua Rong huaicai buyu Huai Lin Huang Moxi Huang Xin hui dao ' Huizong Huyan Zhuo jia daoxue zhen qiangdao jianben ' M ÿ jianzha Jiang Qing jie xia 1 5 ^ Jiezi Yuan Jin ping mei Jin Shengtan ____ Jin Songcen Jin Yong j inxin xiukou^JjÇjjj^D Jinghua yuan Jing ji zhi juan # Juan Qiu juedai qiwen kaozheng : ^ | g

278 kexue xiaoshuo Kong Shangren

Li sao jyfB Lishi de wenxue gucinnian lun lishi xiaoshuo lixiang xiaoshuo Li Zhi Li Zicheng lianhuan hua Liang Qichao _____ Liang Zhongshu Lin Biao Lin Chong Lin Han Liu Fu Liumang de bianqian Liu Shaoqi Liu Tang Liu Xiang ^Jfâ| Liu Xin Liu Zhiji Lu Da Lu Junyi Lu Xun luan zi shang zuo lunli xiaoshuo Luo Guanzhong Lutianguan zhuren Lun xiaoshuo yu qunzhi zhi guanxi Lunyu S|ffi Mao Dun Maodun Lun Mao Zedong Mengya minquan minzhu mojun | | g _ mowang Mu Hong ___ Niehai hua Ou Peng R # pai wai pi li yang qiu Pi Lin pi Kong yundong _ Pinglun chuxiang Shuihu zhuan ping Shuihu yundong Qingfeng Shan ^f|jSlilJ[|

279 Qinglian shi zhiyren À, Qingyi bao gu bi Qu Yuan quanzha __ Remain ribao Rongyu Tang g w w Ruan Xiao'er Ruan Xiaogi Ruan Xiaowu Sanguo zhi tongsu yanyi Sanyan shang shi qi dao shehui xiaoshuo shehui zhuyi xiaoshuo shi shibei shi hua Shiji 5^1 shijie ___ _ shi jie cun Shi jing Shi Nai'an shi wei zhijizhe si Shi Xiu Ç ' # shu ^ shuanghang j iapi Shuihu zhuan Shuihu hou zhuan Shuihu zhi zhuan pinglin Shui nan shuren ^ shuren zhi yi shuren zuoshu Sima Qian Song Jiang Song Wan^gjt Sui shu Sun Li Tang Xianzu Taohua shan ti tian xing dao _ Tiandu Waichen Tianbai Tianfu Tiangui Tianhui Tianku

280 Tiankui Tianlu sheng tianming Tiansha Tianshang Tiansun Tianyong tiangang Tong Guan _ tongsu tongxin^»>(j> waizu Wang Daokun Wang Guowei Wang Jin Wang Lun Wang Wangru îâlÿj Wang Wusheng 3E$&^ weiwu bianzheng fa wen ^ wen hua wenren x J L Wenxue gailiang chuyi wenzi Wu'ai jushi Wu Cheng'en Wu Song Wu Woyao Wu Yong Xiyou Xia Ren ^ Xia Zengyou Xiaojing xiaoren xiaoshuo /)\% xiaoshuo conghua xieqing xiaoshuo xiezi Xin ping Shuihu zhuan Xin xiaoshuo Xinxin Zi Xiong Damu xiucai Xiuran Zi xiuzheng Xixiang Xu Nianci Xu Ning

281 Xuaniie yisiii Yan Fu Yannan Shangsheng Yan Shun ## _ yanqing xiaoshuo yanyi # # Yang Ding j lap Yang Lin Yang Xiong Yang Zhi_%^ yaomo Ye Zhou yi # Yijing yiqi WK , . . yi wen yong shiyjQ$P Yi wen zhi yin wen sheng shi Yingxiong pu Yongyu Zi you fen jiao WTTÜt you shi wei zheng Yu Pingbo Yu Wanchun Yu Xiangdou Yu Zhi Yuan Wuya Yuan Zhongdao Yuding zhi Zhanguo ce Zhang Fengyi Zhang Heng Zhang Shangde Zhang Xianzhong Zhang Zhupo Zhang Ziping zhexue xiaoshuo zhentan xiaoshuo zhengming zhengshi Zheng Zhenduo zhiji zhiyin Zhou Enlai zhongliang ^ Zhong Xing _ zhong yi zhong yi shuang quein ^

282 Zhong Ziqi Zhou zhuyao maodun zhuzi i p - zuguo xiaoshuo zuo zuoshu Zuo zhuan

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