Accidental incest, filial cannibalism, & other peculiar encounters in late imperial Chinese literature Tina Lu,
Publisher: Cambridge, Mass : Published by the Harvard University Asia Center : 2008.
ISBN: 0674031563
DDC: 895.1090048
Edition: (alk. paper)
Summary:
"Described as "all under Heaven," the Chinese empire might have
extended infinitely, covering all worlds and cultures. That ideology
might have been convenient for the state, but what did late imperial
people really think about the scope and limits of the human
community?"
"Writers of late imperial fiction and drama were, the author argues,
deeply engaged with questions about the nature of the Chinese empire
and of the human community. Fiction and drama repeatedly pose
questions concerning relations both among people and between people
and their possessions: What ties individuals together, whether
permanently or temporarily? When can ownership be transferred, and
when does an object define its owner? What transforms individual
families or couples into a society? Tina Lu traces how these
political questions were addressed in fiction through extreme
situations: husbands and wives torn apart in periods of political
upheaval, families so disrupted that incestuous encounters become
inevitable, times so desperate that people have to sell themselves to
be eaten."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (p. 291-299) and index.
1. The Play as Map of the Empire -- 2. The Geography of Exchange --
3. Reunions and Dynastic Fall -- 4. Exchange Across Borders -- 5. The
Arithmetic of Filial Piety -- 6. Jinpingmei and the Bounds of
Community -- 7. Hongloumeng and the Borders of Family -- Epilogue:
The Public and the Populace, or Thoughts on Genre -- Reference Matter
-- Character List.
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