Evolution of Themes in Chinese Literature

Things can evolve through history, and Chinese literature is no different. Among the plethora of works examined in class, I saw a stream of evolution, emergence of various features and themes that builds upon preceding works. Each time period’s work added something new yet recalled past works in different ways. While this is certainly obvious in the classics like Romance of the Three Kingdoms and The Story of the Stone or Dream of the Red Chamber, widely considered to be the pinnacle of Chinese literature, I will examine other works that nonetheless reflect this development of Chinese literature, including some shorter, lesser known works. Specifically, I will examine “The Great Maudgalyayana Rescues His Mother From Hell,” Palace of Eternal Life, Water Margin, and “A Fool for Books.” I will analyze the themes of cultural references, social and cultural critique, overall liberalization of social attitudes.

“The Great Maudgalyayana Rescues His Mother From Hell” can be seen as an extension of the Tang Dynasty Chuanqi stories, short stories and legends involving magical or supernatural events. Here, we see again this theme of the journey, where a person goes on an epic, meandering trip in search of spiritual enlightenment, usually within or interacting with the supernatural realm. The theme of the journey is religious in nature, but this is also a more personal journey of enlightenment. In the past, someone like Qu Yuan interacts with the spiritual realm, only to have their hopes dashed. The spiritual was seen as something idealistic and even unattainable. On the other hand, Mu-Lien was able to seek out the Buddha and even visit the underworld himself to achieve his mission, as well as interacting with more worldly figures on his mission to redeem his mother, like gathering other monks to pray on his behalf. This reflects the more universal nature of Buddhism and nirvana, crosscutting all classes and statuses. In fact, many Confucians did view Buddhism with suspicion precisely because they felt it undermined the Confucian order and hierarchy. His mission is much more singular and self-serving compared to say, a desire to interact with the divine or finding a worthy master to serve. Different from the other Buddhist works here, the element of filial piety is prominent in this Buddhist work, demonstrating the degree of cultural mixing during this time, and perhaps the attempts of Buddhists to engage the rest of the Chinese society and culture. Mu lien's mother, due to her abuse of his trust, "dropped straight away to Avicii Hell"...after she died" and could only be rescued by the collective efforts of monks of all directions, under very specific conditions (Eoyang 1978, 444). In the present day, the influence of this story is felt in the Chinese Ghost Festival, where people offer food and drink to the deceased, among other activities.

Eventually, works moved into social critique, often focusing on formerly unassailable institutions like the government or Confucianism. This was initially popularized during the Song and Yuan periods through stories like Outlaws of The Marsh. Here, the government was portrayed negatively, who ironically needed the assistance of the previously marginalized, chaotic misfits and criminals to restore order by fulfilling epic quests, vanquishing enemies on their journeys. These men are usually drunk and caused mayhem, but were nonetheless presented as exemplars of loyalty and other qualities. On the other hand, the government officials like Marshal Hong, who ignored the advice of monks and released demons, are incompetent, disdainful of the people they supposedly serve. Sagacious Lu, a well-known character who sought redemption by becoming a monk at a monastery, is an example of Buddhist influence on this work. We also saw these aspects in more major works like Xi You Ji which contained references to Buddhism, epic quests, but also helped popularize the antihero. Sun Wukong is the most famous, yet he is also unruly and gets into the most trouble with the gods. A very prominent example was Wukong being chastised for being a reluctant student, with the Buddhist patriarch stating: "What a mischievous monkey you are! You won't learn this and you won't learn that! Just what is it that you are waiting for? (Wu 2006, 22)" At the same time, he appears to be the most able of the heroes in his abilities and is seen doing good deeds like banishing demons.

In Palace of Eternal Life, popularized during the Qing, it is said that the "steamy pleasures of female voyeurism innocently echo the more destructive envy that fuels An Lu-shan's ambitions" (Owen 1996, 1028). This work focuses on how Tang Xuanzong’s obsession with Guifei led the country down a path of decay and turmoil. However, it also embodies the loosening of social attitudes in literary works, like towards the topic of sex. In the explicit bath scene, the main theme obviously is envy. The scene starts off with the maids voicing frustration over their past and their failure to earn the emperor's frustration, as they prepared for the royal couple's arrival, mirroring An Lu-Shan’s fall from grace, and his climb back up ever since, driven by envy for the throne. The maids also illustrated Lady Yang's form explicitly, including "paired buds poking through" and the red wraps "just barely revealing her private parts" as the emperor gives in to his lust, kissing her unceasingly and holding her tightly in his arms (Owen 1996, 1030). Like the repetition of lines, the minor characters repeat and amplify the messages and themes presented by the main characters' relatively minimalistic lines in this scene. In this way, the minor characters' lines act as a subtler narrator. Finally, the focus on sex while turmoil rages emphasizes the emperor’s detachment from his country and his duties.

Pu Songling's story about A Fool for Books, from the Qing Dynasty, combined many aspects we saw in previous Chinese literature. First, it is part of a collection of stories, not unlike Outlaws of the Marsh, and Lang’s interaction with the Like- Jade from the books definitively links it to the Zhiguai stories. There's also a satirical element where the sacred cows, like the traditional scholar and sex in this case, are treated lightheartedly. The section where Like-Jade educates Lang on sex was rife with flippant innuendos (Pu 1989, 394-395). Traditionally, people have been told they must study the old works and become a Confucian scholar-official to be successful. This work satirizes that tradition. It doesn't disparage hard work, as Lang had a relatively happy ending where he became an official, got his revenge and retired peacefully with the concubine, but its portrayal of Lang's awkwardness and obsession with his studies certainly causes people to question the traditional focus of “pass the examination or bust” where people would forsake other opportunities to pursue what society says they should do. Overall, I feel both characters are portrayed in a negative light, with Lang and Shi's actions satirizing tradition and government, respectively.

These are just some works that contribute to the increasingly reflective nature of Chinese literature as it moves away from beliefs, spirituality, government and other traditional fixtures. From antiheroes to satire, each period’s work adds one more component to the puzzle, that is often reflected in later works. To me, it is interesting to see such a stream of continuum where one can see, in a single work, the origins and the possible future of the literary heritage, and even parallels to the culture. The mixing of Buddhist parables with Chinese tradition like filial piety, of the influence of Buddhism on the characterization in stories like Journey to The West demonstrates the multiculturalism and exchange during the respective time periods of the works. To me, the trend of liberalization and questioning is in line with many other significant literary and historical elements, like Hong Xiuquan, the May Fourth movement, and the works of leftist writiers like Lu Xun.