Transmutations of Desire - Literature and Religion in Late Imperial China

Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-988-237-122-4
Verlag: The Chinese University Press

Buch, Englisch, 316 Seiten, Hardback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 666 g

In the West, love occupies center stage in the modern age, whether in art, intellectual life, or the economic life. We may observe a similar development in China, on its own impetus, which has resulted in this characteristic of modernity—this feature of modern life has been securely and unambiguously established, not the least facilitated by the thriving of literature about qing, whether in traditional or modern forms.

Qiancheng Li concentrates on the nuances of a similar trend manifested in the Chinese context. The emphasis is on critical readings of the texts that have shaped this trend, including important Ming? and Qing?dynasty works of drama, Buddhist texts and other religious/philosophical works, in all their subtlety and evocative power.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Li, Qiancheng

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturtheorie: Poetik und Literaturästhetik
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturgeschichte und Literaturkritik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Nicht-Westliche Philosophie Indische & Asiatische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Abbreviations and Citations
- Prologue
- Chapter 1 Transmutations of Desire
- Qing (Desire) and Religions
- Origin of Desire: Transvaluation of Value
- The yin and yang, and the Dao
- Between xing (Nature) and qing (Feeling/Desire)
- The Ultimate Expression of qing
- The Full Course of Desire: The End of qing, or Its Transmutation
- Chapter 2 Mudan ting: The Theater of the Mind
- The Meaning of qing in Tang Xianzu
- Immateriality and the Theater of the Mind
- Indestructibility of Pleasing Forms and Desire (Seqing nanhuai)
- Pursuing the Dream: The Aftermath and Consequence
- The Self?Portrait 85
- Death and Resurrection
- Transcending qing
- Chapter 3 Between Union and Separation: Xixiang ji and the Tragic
- “Meng youchun” (Dreaming of a Spring Excursion)
- “Yingying zhuan” (Yingying’s Story)
- Xixiang ji (The Western Wing)
- Ming Commentary Traditions on Xixiang ji
- Jing Shengtan’s Recension: An Anatomy of qing
- The Tragic: Form and Vision
- The Imperfect World: Feng Menglong’s Vision of the Tragic
- Jin Shengtan’s Tragic Vision
- Chapter 4 Changsheng dian: Qing, Death, and Redemption
- Hong Sheng’s Purist Revision of the Yang Yuhuan Saga
- Qing: Between Life and Death
- From Life to Death
- Qing’s Repentance (qinghui) and the Remedy of Regrets (buhen)
- Ambiguities of qing
- Chapter 5 Taohua shan: The Inadequacy of qing and the Metaphysical Solution Revisited
- Qing and Exterior Values
- The Inadequacy of qing
- The Peach Blossom Fan
- Metaphysical Solution Revisited
- Concluding Remarks
- Chapter 6 Jiang Shiquan and Xu Xi: Justifications of qing and the Metaphysical Frame
- After Taohua shan: Jiang Shiquan on Tang Xianzu
- “Dreams” Reenacted
- Yu Ergu as the Ideal Reader and the Female Readership of Mudan ting
- Convergence of Dreams
- Metaphysical Solutions: Subject and Structure
- Xu Xi: Life, Desire, and Life?Writing— By Way of Conclusion
- Chapter 7 Honglou meng: Qing and Visions of the Tragic
- Honglou meng and the Late Ming Legacy
- The Imperfect World and the Cosmic Dimension of qing: Significance of the Nüwa Myth
- Yiyin (Lust of Mind) and chi (Folly)
- Du Liniang and Jia Baoyu, Fidelity and Promiscuity: Qing Independent of Its Objects
- Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu: The Sense of the Tragic
- Two Visions of the Tragic: The 80?Chapter and 120?Chapter Versions
- Tensions between qing and Its Opposite: The Metaphysics and Dialectics of kong, se, and qing Revisited
- Epilogue: Qing and Talents for qing Writing
- Bibliography
- Index

Über Autor(innen)

Qiancheng Li is Associate Professor of Chinese and Comparative Literature at Louisiana State University. He is the author of Fictions of Enlightenment: “Journey to the West,” “Tower of Myriad Mirrors,” and “Dream of the Red Chamber”; the editor and annotator of the variorum, critical edition of Xiyou bu; and the co?translator, with Robert E. Hegel, of it, titled Further Adventures on the Journey to the West (2020).