Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

S16/0418 --- China: Literature and theatrical art--Traditional novels: Ming: studies, texts and translations

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

This book offers the first translation into English of the Chinese novel Haiyouji, as well as excerpts of a marionette play based on the cult lore of the goddess Chen Jinggu (766–790), a historical shaman priestess who became one of Fujian's most important goddesses and the Lüshan Sect's chief deity. The novel, a 1753 reprint of what is possibly a Ming dynasty novel, was both a popular fiction and a religious tract. It offers a lively mythological tale depicting combat between the shaman goddess and a snake demon goddess. Replete with the beliefs and practices of the cult of this warrior goddess, the novel asserts the importance of Shamanism (i.e., local religious beliefs) as one of the four religions of China, along with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. To further develop the links between literature and local religion, Fan Pen Li Chen includes translations of two acts from a Fujian marionette play, Biography of the Lady, featuring the goddess.

Chinese literature. --- Chinese literature --- S16/0418 --- China: Literature and theatrical art--Traditional novels: Ming: studies, texts and translations

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

Law --- Cases. --- S16/0418 --- China: Literature and theatrical art--Traditional novels: Ming: studies, texts and translations --- S16/0419 --- China: Literature and theatrical art--Traditional novels: Qing: studies, texts and translations --- Cases

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

In this seventeenth-century Chinese novel, Han Xiangzi, best known as one of the Eight Immortals, seeks and achieves immortality and then devotes himself to converting his materialistic, politically ambitious Confucian uncle—Han Yu, a real historical figure—to Daoism. Written in lively vernacular prose interspersed with poems and songs, the novel takes its readers across China, to the heavens, and into the underworld. Readers listen to debates among Confucians, Daoists, and Buddhists and witness trials of faith and the performance of magical feats. In the mode of the famous religious novel Journey to the West, The Story of Han Xiangzi uses colorful characters, twists of plot, witty dialogue, and action suitable for a superhero comic book to convey its religious message—that worldly life is ephemeral and that true contentment can be found only through Daoist cultivation.This is the first translation into any Western language of Han Xiangzi quanzhuan (literally, The Complete Story of Han Xiangzi). On one level, the novel is a delightful adventure; on another, it is serious theology. Although The Story of Han Xiangzi’s irreverent attitude toward the Confucian establishment prevented its acceptance by literary critics in imperial China, it has remained popular among Chinese readers for four centuries.Philip Clart’s introduction outlines the Han Xiangzi story cycle, presents Yang Erzeng in his social context, assesses the literary merits and religious significance of the text, and explores the theory and practice of inner alchemy. This unabridged translation will appeal to students of Chinese literature and to general readers who enjoy international fiction, as well as to readers with an interest in Daoism.

Chinese fiction --- S13A/0402 --- S16/0418 --- China: Religion--Mythology (incl. pantheon, ghosts, myths and legends) --- China: Literature and theatrical art--Traditional novels: Ming: studies, texts and translations --- Asian history --- Alchemy --- Alchemists

Choose an application

• Reference Manager
• EndNote
• RefWorks (Direct export to RefWorks)

S16/0195 --- S16/0418 --- S16/0419 --- S11/0740 --- China: Literature and theatrical art--Thematic studies --- China: Literature and theatrical art--Traditional novels: Ming: studies, texts and translations --- China: Literature and theatrical art--Traditional novels: Qing: studies, texts and translations --- China: Social sciences--Sexual life: general and before 1949 --- Chinese fiction --- Sex in literature. --- History and criticism. --- Sex in literature --- History and criticism