Snakes' Legs: Sequels, Continuations, Rewritings, and Chinese Fiction

Published by University of Hawaii Press 2004

Snakes' Legs

Sequels, Continuations, Rewritings, and Chinese Fiction

Edited by: Martin W. Huang

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824864330

Overview
Contents

About this book

Snakes' Legs examines sequels (xushu), a common but long-neglected literary phenomenon in traditional China. What prompted writers to produce sequels despite their poor reputation as a genre? What motivated readers to read them? How should we characterize the nature of the relationship between sequels and rewritings? Contributors to this volume illuminate these and other questions, and the collection as a whole offers a comprehensive consideration of this vigorous genre while suggesting fascinating new directions for research.

Xushu as a discursive practice reinforces the paradox that innovation is impossible without imitation. It presents us with fertile ground for studying the intricate ties that bind the writer and reader of traditional Chinese fiction: the writer of xushu is always self-consciously assuming the dual role of author and reader and in the writing process must consider both the work in progress as well as its precursor(s).

Snakes' Legs contains detailed discussions of some representative xushu works from the late Ming and Qing periods, many of which have received little scholarly attention. It will shed light on the development of Chinese fiction and the various textual practices in traditional China as well as account for the genre’s continuing vitality in modern times.

Contributors: Robert E. Hegel, Siao-chen Hu, Martin W. Huang, Keith McMahon, Qiancheng Li, Ying Wang, Ellen Widmer, Laura H. Wu, Shuhui Yang.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction Martin Huang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Boundaries and Interpretations: Some Preliminary Thoughts on Xushu Martin Huang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2. Transformations of Monkey: Xiyou ji Sequels and the Inward Turn Qiancheng Li Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	46
3. In the Name of Correctness: Ding Yaokang’s Xu Jin Ping Mei as a Reading of Jin Ping Mei Siao Chen Hu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
4. Eliminating Traumatic Antinomies: Sequels to Honglou meng Keith Mcmahon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	98
5. Honglou meng Sequels and Their Female Readers in Nineteenth- Century China Ellen Widmer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
6. Growing from the Waist: The Problem of Sequeling in Yu Wanchun’s Dangkou zhi Shuhui Yang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	143
7. Rewriting the Tang: Humor, Heroics, and Imaginative Reading Robert Hegel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	159
8. Vindication of Patriarchy: Chen Tianchi’s Ruyijun zhuan as a Critique of the Ming Ruyijin zhuan H. Laura Wu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	190
9. The Voices of the Re-readers: Interpretations of Three Late-Qing Rewrites of Jinhua yuan Ying Wang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
10. From Self-Vindication to Self-Celebration: The Autobiographical Journey in Lao Can youji and Its Sequel Martin Huang Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	237
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	299
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301

Language: English
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 320

eBook

Published: September 30, 2004
ISBN: 9780824864330