Reading for the Moral , livre ebook

Reading for the Moral
SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture

Roger T. Ames, editor
Reading for the Moral
Exemplarity and the Confucian Moral Imagination in Seventeenth-Century Chinese Short Fiction
Maria Franca Sibau
Cover art: Illustration of the fourth story in Exemplary Words. Bieben Erke Pai’an jingqi edition preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. Reproduction courtesy of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy, Academia Sinica.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sibau, Maria Franca, author.
Title: Reading for the moral : exemplarity and the Confucian moral imagination in seventeenth-century Chinese short fiction / Maria Franca Sibau.
Description: Albany : State University of New York Press, 2018. | Series: SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017031612| ISBN 9781438469898 (hardcover : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781438469911 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Chinese fiction—Ming dynasty, 1368–1644—History and criticism. | Chinese fiction—Qing dynasty, 1644–1912—History and criticism. | Literature and morals—China—History—17th century. | Short stories, Chinese—History and criticism. | Ethics in literature.
Classification: LCC PL2436 .S55 2018 | DDC 895.13/4609—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017031612
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Figures
List of Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Reading for the Moral
Chapter 1 Filial Quests
Chapter 2 Filial Dilemmas
Chapter 3 The Spectrum of Loyalty
Chapter 4 Female Exemplarity and the Violence of Virtue
Chapter 5 Interchangeable Brothers
Chapter 6 Friends in Need and Friends in Deed
Concluding Note
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Figures I.1.1 Page 1 (recto) from Lu Yunlong’s preface to the first story in Exemplary Words , printed in calligraphic script. Kyujanggak edition. I.1.2 Page 1 (verso) from Lu Yunlong’s preface to the first story in Exemplary Words , printed in calligraphic script. Kyujanggak edition. I.2.1 Page 2 (recto) from Lu Yunlong’s preface to the first story in Exemplary Words , printed in calligraphic script. Kyujanggak edition. I.2.2 Page 2 (verso) from Lu Yunlong’s preface to the first story in Exemplary Words , printed in calligraphic script. Kyujanggak edition. I.3.1 First page of the first story in Exemplary Words . Kyujanggak edition. 2.1 Illustration of the fourth story in Exemplary Words (recto). Bieben Erke Pai’an jingqi edition preserved at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.
Abbreviations CHC Mote, Frederick W., and Denis Twitchett, eds. The Cambridge History of China. Vols. 7 and 8: The Ming Dynasty, 1368–1644 . Part 1 and 2. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1988–1998. CK Ling Mengchu 凌濛初 . Pai’an jingqi 拍案驚奇 , edited by Chen Erdong 陳邇冬 and Guo Junjie 郭雋傑 . Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1991. DMB Goodrich, L. Carrington, and Chao-ying Fang, eds. Dictionary of Ming Biography 1368–1644 . New York: Columbia University Press, 1976. ECCP Hummel, Arthur W., ed. Eminent Chinese of the Ch’ing Period (1644–1912). 2 vols. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1943. EK Ling Mengchu 凌濛初 . Erke pai’an jingqi 二刻拍案驚奇 , edited by Chen Erdong 陳邇冬 and Guo Junjie 郭雋傑 . Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1996. JSTY Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 . Jingshi tongyan xinzhu quanben 警世通言新注全本 , edited by Wu Shuyin 吳書蔭 . Beijing: Beijing shiyue wenyi chubanshe, 1994. QYZ Weiyuan zhuren 薇園主人 . Qingye zhong 清夜鐘 . In Guben xiaoshuo jicheng 古本小說集成 . Ser. 4. Vol. 13. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1990. SDT Tianran chisou 天然癡叟 . Shi diantou 石點頭 , edited by Li Zhongming 李忠明 and Wang Guanshi 王關仕 . Taipei: Sanmin shuju, 1998. XHEJ Zhou Ji 周楫 . Xihu erji 西湖二集 , edited by Chen Meilin 陳美林 . Taipei: Sanmin shuju, 1998. XSHY Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 . Xingshi hengyan 醒世恆言 , edited by Gu Xuejie 顧學頡 . Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1999. XSY Lu Renlong 陸人龍 . Xingshi yan 型世言 , edited by Chan Hing-ho 陳慶浩 . 3 vols. Taibei: Zhongyang yanjiuyuan, Zhongguo wen zhe yanjiusuo 中央研究院中國文哲研究所 , 1992. XSYPZ Lu Renlong 陸人龍 . Xingshi yan pingzhu 型世言評注 , edited by Chan Hing-ho 陳慶浩 , Wu Shuyin 吳書蔭 and Wang Ying 王鍈 . 2 vols. Beijing: Xinhua chubanshe, 1999. YSMY Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 . Yushi mingyan xinzhu quanben 喻世明言新注全本 , edited by Chen Xizhong 陳曦鐘 . Beijing: Beijing shiyue wenyi chubanshe, 1994.
Acknowledgments
I would not have been able to finish this book without the help, support, and encouragement of many teachers, mentors, peers, friends, family members, and institutions. I owe an immense debt of gratitude to all the great teachers and advisors I had the good fortune to learn from, especially Mario Sabattini, Magda Abbiati, Maurizio Scarpari, and Marco Ceresa at Venice University, and Richard Strassberg and David Schaberg at UCLA. At Harvard, Wilt L. Idema and Wai-yee Li have been the best possible advisors one could hope for. I owe a special debt to Robert Hegel not only for his exemplary scholarship but also for his compassion and support. During the long years of graduate study, I was fortunate to find formidable cohorts, who have inspired me with their intellectual brilliance and nourished me with warm friendship: Vincent Leung, Xiaoqiao Ling, Qiulei Hu, Yue Hong, Chengjuan Sun, Xiaosu Sun, Allison Miller, Kristin Williams, William Hedberg, and Jeffrey Moser.
I am very grateful to my colleagues at Emory, Juliette Apkarian, Rong Cai, Cheryl Crowley, Julia Bullock, Sun-Chul Kim, Yu Li, Hong Li, Jia-chen (Wendy) Fu, and Eric Reinders for their support, advice, example, and friendship. I have presented portions of chapters at various conferences over the years, including the Association for Asian Studies conferences, the meeting of the Western Branch of the American Oriental Society, the Northeast Modern Languages Association convention, and faculty colloquia at Emory University. I thank the discussants, fellow panelists, and audiences for their insights, feedback, and corrections during those occasions. I was fortunate to be awarded the Emory University Research Committee grant which allowed a semester release from teaching duties and the time to concentrate on the manuscript revision. I am equally grateful for the financial support received from the Center for Faculty Development and Excellence at Emory and the Confucius Institute of Atlanta. Rivi Handler-Spitz generously lent her intellectual acumen and supernaturally sharp eye and offered invaluable suggestions and corrections on a few chapters on short notice, for which I am truly grateful. I also thank Karin Myhre, Amanda Wright, Kevin Corrigan, Marco Ravina, Tonio Andrade, Eric Moore, and Angela Porcarelli for their advice and support at various junctures. Elena Chiu, Eugenio Menegon, Pauli Wai Tashima, Susan H. Bush, Barbara Bisetto, and Alessandro Moretto are to be especially thanked for the steadfast support and friendship over the years (and for bearing with my regrettable tendency to disappear into the woods).
Heartfelt thanks must be given to the Woodruff Library staff at Emory, especially Wang Guo-hua and Marie Hansen for their help acquiring or borrowing sources countless times over the past few years. I am deeply grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful feedback, and to Christopher Ahn for his faith in my project and unflagging support throughout the whole process; working with him and the staff at SUNY Press has been a pleasure. I would also like to thank the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy of the Academia Sinica for graciously granting permission to reprint reproductions of the Kyujanggak edition of Exemplary Words . Needless to say, I am solely responsible for all the remaining errors and shortcomings.
I dedicate this book to my family: Enzo Borean, Marisa Rossi, and Clark and Francesco (Schino) Nguyen, with boundless love and gratitude for everything.
Introduction
Reading for the Moral
Be filial to your parents.
Be respectful to your elders.