Henry Lem 林子龍

Jin Shengtan wrote his commentaries to the novel Water Margin (Shuihu zhuan) between 1641 and 1644, during the final years before the fall of the Ming dynasty. These commentaries are exceptional at least in part because they reflect Jin's frustrations that came from trying to understand this period of chaos. But they are also a good example of how fiction commentary helped to shape the trajectory that the development of Chinese fiction would take, in the form of commentaries and sequels. This article offers a reading of Jin's commentaries to his 70-chapter edition of the Water Margin, to investigate how Jin radically reshaped the Water Margin as the masterpiece of a commentator of great literary genius. It analyses Jin's rhetoric of controlling interpretation and concludes that Jin's ultimate goal was to stabilize and prevent tampering of his "original" 70-chapter edition, in an attempt to close off future possibilities of "sequeling" the Water Margin.

An important aspect of the 70-chapter edition of Shuihu zhuan 水滸傳 (Water margin) includes the many edits, revisions, deletions, and commentaries provided by the literary giant Jin Shengtan 金聖嘆 (1608-1661). With his deletion of the last 30 chapters of the 100-chapter edition and the addition of an ending that aimed to properly "terminate" the Shuihu novelistic tradition, Jin had opened up certain possibilities for sequeling. A key text related to this issue is the 70-chapter edition's direct sequel, titled Dangkou zhi 蕩寇志 (Quell the bandits) and authored by Yu Wanchun 俞萬春 (1794-1849).

Yu was a military man and an erudite scholar who authored several books. His interest in subjects such as military strategy, weapons, medicine, and Buddhism reveal the sensibilities of a serious intellectual caught in an age of political unrest and rapid modernization. Much of his frustrations and concerns, including the concern for rebellion and dangerous readings of xiaoshuo 小説 (fiction), certainly informed the design and content of his sequel.

In this paper, I argue that if Jin Shengtan attempted to decrease the tension between zhong 忠 (loyalty to the emperor) and yi 義 (righteousness) in the 70-chapter edition, Yu Wanchun takes an even more radical approach to resolving this tension by "rewriting" rebellion in his sequel. Moreover, having constructed an intricate rhetoric of controlling interpretation, Yu Wanchun and the Dangkou zhi commentators aim to shape Shuihu zhuan into a cautionary tale against rebellion by properly terminating the Liangshan "bandit resistance movement," to have the effect of rectifying the meaning of zhongyi.

(note: This article is a proof and can be cited--page numbers and content are almost exactly the same as the published version. This is an draft copy of an article in the journal Ming Qing Studies. Permission has been granted from the editors to publish this version on academia.edu. Ming Qing Studies 2019 eds. Paolo Santangelo, Maria Paola Culeddu, and Tommaso Previato. © 2019 WriteUp Site di Francesa Maria Pagano)

In Wenxin Diaolong’s “Elucidation of the Rhapsody” (Quan Fu) chapter, Liu Xie explores the meaning of fu and discusses its transformation from a type of expressive technique to an actual literary genre. He elaborates on canonical fu writers of the Chinese past, reveals his theory of the Han fu and also examines this literary genre from a historical perspective, referencing Ban Gu’s Han Shu (History of the Later Han) and his preface to the Liang Du Fu (Rhapsody on Dual Capitals). Furthermore, Liu Xie discusses the different types of fu and evaluates its unique characteristics, emphasizing that the fu must possess “exquisite words and elegant meaning” (li ci ya yi). Recent scholars have analyzed Liu Xie’s concept of the fu, focusing on the Quan Fu chapter in relation to the literary theory of Liu Xie’s text; however, scholars have not thoroughly explored the strong relationship between Liu Xie’s Confucian thinking and his evaluation of fu writers within the Quan Fu chapter. Therefore, this article aims to reevaluate Liu Xie’s exegesis of the fu, and through Wenxin Diaolong research, scholarly criticism of the fu literary genre, Chinese literary history and other fields, the author hopes to provide a greater understanding of this topic.

In his discussion of China’s cultural tradition, Liang Shuming attempted to carry out plans of rural construction with a goal to create Chinese democracy and science. Admittedly, the late Qing self-strengthening movement and Zhang Zhidong’s concept of “Chinese substance and Western function” was influential in Liang’s thinking, for he sought to renew his Confucian thinking, in order to replenish China’s cultural spirit. Current scholarship focuses on Liang’s philosophy, but scholars have not examined how Liang, as a pragmatic Confucian, transmitted Wang Yangming’s idea of “Unity of Knowledge and Action.” Such being the case, one might ask, as an intellectual enveloped under late Qing and early Republican China, how did Liang react to the onerous predicaments of this period? In terms of his philosophical concepts, how did he achieve purification? From Liang’s philosophical works, what can be observed concerning Liang’s transcendence of China’s cultural identity crisis? This article aims to examine these questions, and through Chinese history, philosophy, New Confucianism, research on Liang Shuming and other academic fields, it hopes to provide a greater understanding of this topic.

Zhu Xiaozang (1857-1931), actual name Zumou (zi Huosheng, hao Jiangcun), was from Gui'an, Zhejiang. He attained his jinshi degree in 1883 and later studied tz'u poetry intensively, annotated and edited Tang, Song, Jin, and Yuan tz'u in his Jiangcun Congshu; and wrote tz'u, which exist in his surviving collection called Jiangcun Yuye. Scholars of the past argue the style of Jiangcun's tz'u is like "Mengchuang in spirit, Su Dongpo in form." From recently collected sources, one finds that scholars have explored the innovation and unique qualities of Jiangcun's Tz'u. In regards to Jiangcun's borrowing of Du Fu's poetry, scholars have missed this point. Therefore, this article aims to correct this gap in understanding Jiiangcun's poetry, to engage in a deeper exploration and analysis through the Tz'u poetry research methodology of National Cheng Kung University's Professor Wang Weiyong and other research on the study of Tz'u, with hopes to provide a fresh and new perspective on the topic.

Chinese to English translation of Lei Mo's poems (available online https://aaari.info/cuny-forum-8-mo/ , print version available Fall 2020).

Lei Mo is the pen name of Qiming Pei, born in 1963 in Hai’an County, Jiangsu Province, China. He currently lives below Mufu Mountain in Nanjing. Lei Mo began writing poetry in the 1980s. In 1991, he proposed the concept of “New Zen Poetry.” His works include the two important essays “Experience: Life Zen and Poetry” (published in Buddhist Culture, 1993, No. 1) and “Language: Obstructions of Zen and Poetry” (published in Taiwan’s Gemini Poetry Journal, No. 6, 1997 and The Dew of Zen, 2002 Summer edition). In 1995 the U.S. poetry journal Talisman introduced Lei Mo’s “New Zen Poetry” as a specialized topic. In 2007, Lei Mo published his first poetry anthology New Zen Poetry: Eastern Wall Strikes Western Wall and subsequently published poetry in various magazines such as Yangzi River, Journal of Poetry Selections, Poetry Wave, and Poetry Monthly Journal. His works were also collected in anthologies such as New Century Poetry Canon and Chinese Poetry from 1991 and Onward.

Presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Conference of the Association for Asian Studies, Jan 18-20, 2019.

One of the most critical factors in analyzing the Water Margin is to recognize the problem posed by interpretations of the Liangshan fraternity as either “heroes” (haohan) or “bandits” (qiangdao). The fiction commentator Jin Shengtan (1608-1661) once noted how the “author” succeeded in creating 108 “personalities” (xingge) and singles out Wu Song, Lu Zhishen, and Lin Chong as the finest of “heroes,” but often contradicts himself by condemning certain characters as evil “bandits.” Jin struggled with the ambiguity of “sworn fraternal honor” (yiqi) that was so crucial in the construction and popularity of the “hero” image in the Water Margin. In this paper, I argue that the construct of “hero” in the Water Margin was complicated by Jin’s inability to decide how to properly “read” the Liangshan bandit-heroes, whose honor and manhood are often put to the test through trials of necessitated violence and the collection of blood debt. Such trials constitute a narrative “cycle:” the unjust death of a sworn brother, the chase of the perpetrator by one of the finest heroes, and the almost cannibalistic “sacrifice” of the perpetrator to the honorable spirits of the deceased fraternity member. Focusing on the connection between fiction commentary and sequel, I hope to demonstrate that these cycles are imitated in Water Margin sequels, in an attempt to correct, through the act of sequeling, what a sequel writer believed to be Jin’s misinterpretations of the Liangshan fraternity, by rewriting “bandit-hero” as martyr and, in certain cases, even demi-god.

Paper presented at the History Graduate Students Association Conference, at UC Irvine. April 28, 2018.

Shuihu zhuan (Water Margin) is known to be a novel of rebellion, with the potential to undermine imperial sovereignty. During the late Qing (1848-1911), Yu Wanchun authored the sequel Dangkou zhi, based upon his argument that those who do not understand the virtue of zhong (loyalty to the emperor) will always fail to practice yi (righteous action). His agenda was to ideologically twist Shuihu zhuan by promoting a message of honoring imperial sovereignty. This paper argues that taming the rebellious nature of Shuihu zhuan proved to be a challenge for Yu Wanchun, given the fame of the Liangshan “bandits” as popular folk heroes in the Shandong locality. What emerges in Dangkou zhi is an urgency to properly “end” rebellion in Shuihu zhuan, by reimagining a historical moment where “bandits” must be physically terminated to ensure “great peace for all under heaven” (tianxia taiping), despite Liangshan’s popularity as local gallants.

The International Workshop on Ming-Qing Studies, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, July 21-22, 2016.

Jin ping mei is known for its sophisticated and eclectic narrative style. It is one of the “four masterworks” of the Ming dynasty that is both indebted to Shuihu zhuan, in that the former’s narrative momentum centers on Wu Song, Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian, but nonetheless demonstrates a clear departure from the Shuihu tradition. Yet, how should one account for the creative choice to simultaneously maintain continuity with Shuihu zhuan and also attempt a move of “discontinuity:” innovating a new narrative outside the Shuihu tradition? This issue may be better understood through a juxtaposed reading of Shuihu zhuan and Jin ping mei, by which one is positioned to appreciate one of the novelistic agendas of the latter: to redefine the concept of righteous loyalty (yi) and to reconstruct the image of the gallant fellow (haohan). This paper makes a few contentions. In Shuihu zhuan, the author valorizes the concept of righteous loyalty and the gallant fellow ideal, but in Jin ping mei, the author critiques them as lacking relevance and as impossibilities in a world dominated by the wealthy and powerful. In particular, the author of Shuihu zhuan depicts Wu Song as an authentic hero, whom is celebrated for his uninhibited expression of heroism. By contrast, the author of Jin ping mei attempts a reversal of Wu Song by re-presenting him, that is, reconfiguring Wu Song’s gallant attributes as symptomatic as a failed hero. The author draws attention to his anger, cunning, and obsession with vengeance as shortcomings to portray Wu Song as a character who may be important on the battlefield in Shuihu zhuan, but whose significance is challenged in the domestic world in Jin ping mei.

Theory and Methodology in East Asian Studies, UCI, October 23, 2015. Hermeneutics as a field of study involves how the reader interprets and understands the text. It can be distinguished into three types: 1) " textual " hermeneutics, which provides a set of rules or protocol to assist the reader in understanding a text; 2) " discourse " hermeneutics, that provides a system of principles to guide descriptive and normative interpretations; and 3) programmatic hermeneutics, which is concerned with recovering the intentions and meaning behind texts. But what happens when literary commentators employ their interpretations of a work and attempt to establish their position as a privileged, authoritative reader? Furthermore, given the presence of the commentator in a text, what intended effect is there on the reader of the commentaries and text? This paper examines Chinese fiction commentary as a significant " paratext " —prefaces, commentaries, intertextual references—of the main text. First, it selects and analyzes important passages from Zhang Zhupo's 張竹坡 (1670–1698) essay " How to Read Plum in the Golden Vase. " It then underscores how this essay may constitute a control rhetoric, which attempts to guide readers of Jin ping mei while furthering Zhang's aims to establish himself as an authority within the fiction commentary tradition. Last, this paper broadly discusses how xiaoshuo commentary may help us better understand Chinese traditions of interpretation.

Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society (AOS) Western Branch, Stanford University, October 30-31, 2014.

This paper examines the writings of Jin Shengtan (1608-1661), his critical commentaries (ping dian), and his interpretation of caizi. Considered one of the champions of traditional Chinese xiaoshuo and drama, Jin's commentaries have gained much attention from scholars. Current research on Jin Shengtan emphasizes his contributions in elevating the status of popular literature. However, Jin's literary thinking becomes more distinct, when considering the " intertextuality " of his prefaces and commentaries. One illuminating example of this textual connection is Jin's exegesis of caizi and his conceptualization of the Liu caizi shu (Six books of genius): Zhuangzi, Li sao, Shi ji, Du Fu shi, Shuihu zhuan, and Xi xiang ji. This paper also considers the issue of audience in Jin's commentaries, in which he addresses young reader-turned-writers—the aspiring caizi preparing for the civil service examination— in his program of literary interpretation. By exploring the interplay between talent, canon, and commentary in one of Chinese history's most complex periods of literary transformation, this paper explores how the concept of caizi is carefully manipulated by Jin Shengtan: to establish himself as a hermeneutic " genius " of literature, thereby providing greater authority to the reader-commentator.

Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society (AOS), Portland, Oregon, March 15-18, 2013

The Travels of Laocan, considered to be China's first political novel or the last classic Chinese novel, has garnered praise from scholars for its descriptive power and the realistic portrayal of late Qing China. However, when examined as a creation of the late Qing transformation, the novel is essentially a literary work of transition situated between tradition and modernity. The historical and biographical elements that shaped Liu E's aesthetic vision and literary criticism are briefly discussed, with references to Liu E's commentary to the novel and the influence of Jin Shengtan's literary criticism. The paper then focuses on creative aspects of the novel, including matters of literary technique, Liu E's use of multiple points of view, and the structural arrangement of the novel, to explain how these aspects strengthen its narrative quality and establish Liu E as a pioneering writer of his time, who not only continued, but also developed an innovative narrative mode in the tradition of Chinese fiction.

Paper presented at the 26th Conference for Studies in Chinese Literature, National Taiwan University, Taiwan, March 15, 2013.

夏志清指出，郁達夫敢於小說中表露個人的弱點。相形之下，李歐梵提及，郁達 夫遊記散文顯出一個缺乏心靈超越的獨遊者。夏、李兩位老師各執其理，研究成果殊 為可貴，但郁達夫在偉大的中國傳統下，如何觀看自己？其對於作家與自然的分割， 做出什麼回應？而郁氏最終追尋到精神超越與否？由於小說建立在虛實的基礎上，它 不足以周全地回答有關郁達夫之自我形象問題，但郁達夫遊記散文，因是記錄與創作 兼全的文體，而能體現出郁達夫多元的自我形象。本文首先釐清郁達夫的文論，以針 對郁氏如何藉由表現特徵與真率個性的連串來構成文學性的自我。在第二部分即勘探 郁達夫之求實精神，此分為郁達夫「書儒」與樂於探險山川水澤的自我形象。其次， 透過郁達夫的自我觀點來探討其遊記中的真情實景，並進一步說明郁達夫遊記散文， 是如何展現出作家與自然隔閡的矛盾。最後，強調郁達夫的遊記散文，體現出郁氏三 十歲以後，已將「作者」與「獨遊者」的自我形象融為一體，因而，其盡力追尋心靈 寄託與生命安頓，乃一生始終秉持感時憂國的精神，也對家國懷著不可消滅的盼望。

關鍵詞：郁達夫、遊記散文、自我形象、五四文學、五四運動

This is an upper-division course on late imperial Chinese literature, conducted in English. It will examine several works from the Chinese novel tradition, with focus on the negotiation between images of heroes and the construct of masculinity. Each work of literature will be used as starting points to engage a larger topic to explore the connection between literature, culture, and society, in the context of political unrest, social change, and moral decline during the Ming-Qing periods. We will begin with an overview of how tropes of heroes and masculinity were constructed in accounts of knight-errants, lords and subjects, and assassins in the Shiji. Next, we will explore the construction of several character "archetypes"-warrior monk, military strategist, bandit, sworn brother, imperial hero, martial heroine, and others-in the themes and issues that emerge in Ming novels. Key tropes include the positionality of "hero" in the context of masculinity, individual freedom, sworn kinship, national borders, moral decline, rebellion, justice, Confucian virtue, and vengeance. Last, we will investigate the problem of "sequeling" and "rewriting," by closely reading some lesser-known texts that extend the narratives of fiction "masterworks."

This is an upper-division course on Chinese intellectual history and literature, conducted in English. It will examine how the rhetoric of progress manifests in the literature of turbulent turn-of-the-century China (late 19 th to early 20 th centuries), when intellectuals began complex negotiations between their tradition of Confucian learning and literary culture, and the accommodation of Western technology, science, and philosophy. We will consider how this tension is debated in essays and fiction, informed by concerns of individual freedom, national identity, rebellion, evolution, justice, and heroism. Each work of literature will be used as starting points to engage a larger topic. We will explore the connection between literature, culture, and society, in the context of the great political unrest and social change of late Qing and early Republican China. Selected works will also be discussed in their historical contexts, with consideration to their aesthetic form and content. During our discussions, we will examine the characteristics of these works and analyze how centuries-old cultural traditions and "new" learning influenced the authors in their choices of themes and writing techniques.

This dissertation considers the Shuihu zhuan (Water margin) interpretation complex to be a problematic site of interaction between parent work, commentaries, and sequels, where a commentator and a sequel writer both attempt to control "reader response" to the novel. Table of contents also included. Please contact me for specific chapters.

The Travels of Lao Can, considered to be China’s first political novel or the last classic Chinese novel, has garnered praise from scholars, for the author, Liu E, demonstrates brilliance in his descriptive power and the realistic portrayal of late Qing China. However, when examined as a creation of the late Qing transformation, the novel is essentially a literary work of transition situated between tradition and modernity. The historical and biographical elements that shaped Liu E’s aesthetic vision and literary criticism are briefly discussed, with references to Liu E’s commentary to the novel and the influence of Jin Shengtan’s literary criticism. The paper then focuses on creative aspects of the novel, including matters of literary technique, Liu E’s use of multiple points of view, and the structural arrangement of the novel, to explain how these aspects strengthen its narrative quality and establish Liu E as a pioneering writer of his time, who not only continued, but also developed an innovative narrative mode in the tradition of Chinese fiction.

Liu E was a versatile scholar, entrepreneur, and writer. During the waning years of imperial Qing China (1644-1911), he witnessed the sharpening conflict between Chinese tradition and encroaching Western influence, writing his novel to express concern for Chinese civilization and its future. This research explores how the author's philosophy and treatment of characters in the novel reflect actual teachings and real people in his environment: how these biographical and historical factors shape Liu E's ideas towards politics, society, and philosophy in the work. The study includes an analysis of the novel and field research in locations associated with the author and his literature. The methodology directs close attention to past scholarship on the subject, philosophical Chinese texts, biographies, and late Qing history to support research findings: Liu E, in crafting the novel’s characters, blends fact and fiction to voice his distress at the state of the country and also to establish his spiritual self.

(To readers: written to satisfy requirements for my 2010 undergraduate research thesis. my apologies for minor errors in spelling, pinyin, and grammar. a revised version of this paper appears in my MA thesis written in Chinese)