Discuss the Four Strange Books of the Ming Dynasty and analyze their peculiarities

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-01-30

The people of the Ming Dynasty called "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West" and "Golden Bottle Plum" as the "Four Strange Books". These four basically represent the four types of ancient China, namely historical romance, heroic legends, gods and demons, and world conditions

OneThe artistic achievements of the Four Wonder Books

1) "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was born in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and was written by Luo Guanzhong on the basis of folklore and related scripts and operas. The book begins with the Yellow Turban Rebellion and ends with the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty, showing a historical picture of the period from 184 to 280 AD. **Adopt a shallow language, bright and fluent, elegant and vulgar appreciation;The brushwork is full of variety, swaying and colorful;In a grand structure, the complicated and intricate events and numerous characters of the past hundred years or so are organized in a complete and rigorous manner, and the narrative is orderly and related to each other.

2) "Water Margin" was created in the late Yuan Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty, and according to legend, the author was Shi Nai'an, and it was also created on the basis of folk tales, scripts and operas. "Water Margin" is the first to describe the peasant uprising, the whole book revolves around the clue of "official coercion and civil rebellion", showing a group of unbearable oppressive "heroes" who rose up, gathered righteousness and water in Liangshan, until the whole process of accepting Zhao'an and causing the uprising to fail. ** Often put the characters in different environments, through their different experiences, identities to show their different character traits and different ways of resistance. The language has the outstanding characteristics of colloquialism: bright, concise, vivid, accurate, expressive, and has achieved a high degree of artistic achievement in personalization.

3) "Journey to the West" was finally completed by Wu Chengen in the middle of the Ming Dynasty after the great labor of countless folk artists and authors, and it is the best work in Chinese mythology. In the book, the author imagines a supernatural world, in which the mythical characters, their magical weapons and the environment in which they live are mostly based on reality, and at the same time, a certain will of the people is manifested in the magical form. In the shaping of the images of various gods and demons, it not only expresses their supernatural divinity and animal attributes, but also finds traces of social personality, so that the works have both magnificent colors and whimsies, as well as the authenticity of details.

4) "Golden Vase Plum" is China's first literati original novel**, about the Ming Dynasty Wanli period, the author signed Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng. The theme of "Golden Vase Plum" is evolved from the story of "Wu Song's Killing of Sister-in-law" in "Water Margin", and the whole book takes the violent death of the local tyrant and bully Ximenqing as the central plot line, and depicts a ghost world composed of the highest feudal ruling institution and the scoundrels in the market in many aspects. The so-called "strange" refers not only to the novelty of its content or art, but also to the affirmation of their creative achievements. Artistically, the author has successfully portrayed several main characters, such as the vicious bully Ximen Qing, the lascivious and pungent Pan Jinlian, and the Count Ying when he is joking. **The structure is quite exquisite, and the author organizes the complex storyline in a strict and orderly manner. The description of local customs is also very vivid, and it has a certain folklore value. The language is hearty, bright, lively and lively. "The Words of the Golden Vase and Plum" has had a great impact on later generations, such as "Dream of Red Mansions" in terms of subject matter and detailed description, which is obviously influenced by it.

IIThe "Four Strange Books" created four structural modes of chapter back.

1) "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" created a chronological "line" structure. The structure of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is centered on the contradictions between Shu and Han, and the plot is unfolded in the order of time, which not only ensures the consistency of the development before and after, but also is full of twists and turns.

2) "Water Margin" created a "ring" structure in the order of the characters. Right.

The successful shaping of 1. 20 heroes with distinct personalities is an important factor in the glorious artistic life of this **. ** Group portraits are used to connect the structure, and one main character leads to another main character, forming a "ring" structure to promote the overall development.

3) "Journey to the West" created a "ring" structure in the order of events.

4) "The Golden Vase Plum" is the first chapter to return to the "net" structure in the order of time, people, and events.

IIIThe "Four Strange Books" created the four modes of expression of the ancient chapter back.

1) "Journey to the West" pioneered an illusory expression. In the book, the author imagines a supernatural world, and in the shaping of various gods and demons, he not only expresses their supernatural divinity and animal attributes, but also finds traces of social personality.

2) "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" created a realistic way of expression.

3) "Water Margin" created a legendary method of expression.

4) "The Golden Vase of Plums" pioneered the expression of realism.

[Li Fan keywords:Artistic Achievement Four Structural Modes Four Modes of Expression

[Li Fan said:The magic of the "Four Wonder Books" is mainly reflected in their groundbreaking. This kind of groundbreaking, one is the groundbreaking in the structural mode, and the other is the groundbreaking in the expression technique, which can be analyzed in detail in combination with the content of the work.

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