What are the main characteristics of the prosperity of female literature in Ming and Qing Dynasties?

The female images in literature, such as The West Chamber, The Peony Pavilion and A Dream of Red Mansions, love poems, rhetoric and romance novels, that is, women's literature are all about women's beauty and married life. In this way, half of China's literary history is female literature, and this definition is too broad. So I think women's literature must be strictly defined as the words written by women themselves. I would like to make some superficial comments on the overall characteristics of female literature in Ming and Qing Dynasties, aiming at attracting the attention of academic circles to China's pre-modern female literature. China is known as the country of poetry and propriety, and women are famous for chanting, which has existed in all dynasties. However, due to social factors such as the lack of educational opportunities for ancient women and difficulties in printing, few female writers and works have been handed down. This situation changed after the Ming Dynasty. According to Hu's Textual Research on Women's Works in Past Dynasties (hereinafter referred to as Nvwen), there were more than 4,000 pre-modern women writers in China, and more than 3,750 in Ming and Qing Dynasties, accounting for more than 90% of the ancient women writers in China. Especially in the Qing Dynasty, there were more women writers, about 3,500, "more than 3,000" (Note: Hu's Introduction to Women's Works in Past Dynasties (updated edition), Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1985 edition, p. 5. )。 Among them, Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces account for 80%. According to the female examination, there were 1425 female writers in Jiangsu province in the Qing Dynasty, and there were 1707 kinds of works. However, Hu's collected works are not complete. Ms. Shi Mei of Nanjing University Library also collected 1 18 people who failed to take the women's exam and 144 works. In this way, there are 1543 female writers in Jiangsu in the Qing Dynasty, and their works are 1 species (Note: Shi Mei's The Value and Significance of Jiangsu Female Literature in the Qing Dynasty,No. 1, Volume 4 (March 2006, 5438+0), p. 66). According to available data, the number of female writers in Zhejiang in Qing Dynasty was not less than that in Jiangsu. In this way, there were about 3,000 women writers and about 4,000 works in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces alone in the Qing Dynasty. This is an impressive set of numbers. It is not difficult to see that the female literature in Ming and Qing Dynasties is a precious heritage in the history of China literature. On the other hand, there are many new literary phenomena in female literature in Ming and Qing Dynasties, which deserve our special attention. Generally speaking, there are the following five points: 1. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, due to the prosperity of economy, the development of culture and the relative stability of society, many literary families appeared, headed by a man who advocated guidance, and then formed a literary group of one or several generations of women in the family. In a family, grandparents, mothers, daughters-in-law, sisters, aunts and sisters-in-law are all poets, poets and writers. This phenomenon is particularly common in Jiangnan (mainly in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces) in Ming and Qing Dynasties. This is usually an elegant theme, and writers emerge one after another. The most famous natural place belongs to Wumengtang in Wu in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, which is a perfect match. Ye's wife Shen Yixiu (1590- 1635), whose real name is the daughter of Shen Jing, a famous composer, is engaged in poetry creation, and is the backbone of Wujiang women's poetry circle, and has written a collection of poems, Gu Chui. Shen Jiaben is a famous family in Wujiang. After she married Ye (1589- 1648), she gave birth to five women and eight men, all of whom were talented women. The famous poetess Ye Xie (1627- 1703) is her sixth son. The eldest daughter Ye (16 10- 1632), the second daughter Ye Xiaowan (16 13- 1657), and the third daughter Ye Xiaowan (16). Later, Ye compiled Wu Tang Meng Ji, which was handed down to later generations. Among them, Xiao Wan and Xiao Luan are the most famous sisters. Xiao Wan is not only beautiful in poetry, but also a playwright (see later). Xiao Luan is the best of the sisters. Chen Tingzhuo said that "the lyrics are as beautiful as Zhu Suzhen's, and it is especially difficult to praise the writers of the Ming Dynasty" (Noe: Chen Tingzhuo's Bai Yuzhai Ci Hua, Volume III, see Bai Yuzhai Ci Hua Enough for School, Qilu Bookstore, 1983 edition, p. 240. )。 He is like Fang Mengshi, Fang, Fang's sister Fang, sister-in-law Wu Lingyi and her sister Wu in Tongcheng. ), Xu Shi in Hangzhou (wife of Xu Zongyan, Liang Desheng and her daughter, Xu Yunlin) and Jishi in Wujiang (wife of Ji Jiahe, mother of Jin Dui, sister-in-law of Jin Dui, Shen, Song Jingyi and daughter of Jin Dui, Ji Jieqing and Chao). Ruan Shi is in Yizheng (Ruan Yuan's wife Kong, concubine Liu Wenru, Tang Qingyun, female Ruanan, eldest daughter-in-law Liu Mirong, second daughter-in-law Xu, female grandson Ruan Enluan, etc. ), Bi's in Taicang (Bi Yuan's mother Zhang Zao, sister Bi Fen, female, Zhou Yuezun and Zhang in the side room), and Wu Jin's (Zhang Qi's daughter? Ying, Shan Ying, Lun Ying, and their daughters), the Zheng family in southern Fujian (nine women in the countryside, except for nine women who died young in Bing Wan and five women who lost the list, the other seven women: Jing Rong, Yun Yin, Qing Ping, Jin Luan, Yu Qing, Feng Diao, all with poems) and Guizhou. The prosperity of this family culture has its economic and social factors, but it is more rooted in the humanistic atmosphere, that is, the cultural tradition of poetry and ceremony, and the emphasis on the influence of education, especially family education, on women. All these formed a prosperous situation in which talented women came forth in large numbers and women's literature developed in Ming and Qing Dynasties (Wanli period). Women in Ming and Qing dynasties are versatile and rich in writing. Due to the good family education and the awakening of women's consciousness of self-improvement, female writers in Ming and Qing dynasties studied hard and devoted themselves to artistic and literary creation after housework. Besides poetry, they also created various literary works and made certain achievements. Stylistically, women's writing before the Ming and Qing Dynasties was monotonous, and the literary variety was limited to poetry and prose, with no other literary forms. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, there were Sanqu writers, drama writers, ci writers, dramatists and novelists among women. Sanqu is a new literary form in the North in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, which reached maturity in the Yuan Dynasty. Most women in Yuan Dynasty wrote Sanqu mainly by prostitutes, while ladies in Ming Dynasty wrote Sanqu contracts. Famous writers include Mrs. Huang, Shen Duanhui and others, the wife of Yang Shen in Ming Dynasty, and Wu Gan, Gu, Wu, Fang Yukun and Zhu Shu. In the Qing Dynasty, Wu Zao was the most famous (1799- 1862).

Although Yuan Zaju was popular, women in Yuan Zaju did not write dramas. The first woman to write zaju should be Ma Shouzhen of Ming Dynasty (1548- 1604). She wrote The Legend of Sansheng (note: this play is incomplete, and there are only two existing ones, namely "Hosts Farewell" and "Learning to Sing and Dance"), which is about Wang Kui. The most complete script in existence should be Ye Xiaowan's drama Yuanyang Dream in Ming Dynasty. Ye Xiaowan (16 13- 1657), whose real name is Huisi, was born in a scholarly family with a strong literary flavor. Her father Ye Yuan Shaogong writes poems, and her mother Shen Yixiu is a writer. She is the niece of Shen Jing, a famous composer. She is proficient in melody and has a certain influence on Xiaowan's opera creation. Xiaowan's sisters are all proficient in poetry, elegant in manners and literary talent (see above). Beautiful women are unlucky. Xiaowan's sister Wan Wan and her sister Xiao Luan both died young, and her mother also died in middle age. Xiaowan has always missed the affection of her dead mother and sister, so she wrote the drama "Yuanyang Dream". This is the first complete female script preserved in the history of China literature, which is worth cherishing. After Xiao Wan, there were still some dramas created by women, such as Yuan Zaju by Liang Yuer in Ming Dynasty and Xiang Si inkstone by Liang, but these dramas are not seen today. Ruan Lizhen in the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty was a female writer who contributed to the creation of traditional Chinese opera. The Swallow Notes, which was widely circulated for a period of time, was written by her and revised by her father Ruan Dacheng. In addition, she also wrote such plays as Dream Tiger and Luan Pa Blood, the texts of which have been lost. Among the women in the Qing Dynasty, there were also many people who wrote plays. According to relevant historical records, there are nearly 20 female dramatists (note: in addition to those mentioned in the article, there are also (writing Pisces), Li (biography), Cao Jianping (Yaotai Banquet), Kong (Yuan) and Song Lingyun (Yuan), etc.), but most of the plays have been lost. What really stayed behind were Zhang Mi's Suzhou Double Knock, An Wangyun's Hua Meng and the Story of Happiness, He's Pear Blossom Dream in Shexian County, Anhui Province, Jiang Hengqiu in Xin 'an Wu, Qiao Ying by Wu Zao in Hangzhou and Liu Qingyun in Donghai. In addition to drama, female writers in Ming and Qing Dynasties also wrote tanci. As a literary style, Tanci is composed of women from the creative subject to the accepting subject. The representative works handed down today include Tian Yuhua (written by Tao Zhenhuai), Destiny of Reincarnation (written by Chen Duansheng, continued by Liang Desheng), Jade Legend (written by an anonymous mother and daughter), Flowers Born by a Pen (written by Qiu Xinru) and Jade Chain (written by Zhu Zhu).

Women in Qing dynasty also began to try to write novels. In ancient times, novels were gossip, betrayal of Confucianism and gossip. Mr. Lu Xun once said: "In China, novels are never regarded as literature" (Note: Introduction to Straw Shoes, Complete Works of Lu Xun, Volume 6, People's Literature Publishing House, 19865438+. ), is the feudal ruling class "has always been regarded as evil" (Noe: "Preface to Xu Maoyong Handyman Collection", "Complete Works of Lu Xun" Volume 6, page 29/kloc-0. )。 Because the novel is based on folk materials, it is regarded as "absurd" and "outrageous and absurd" by the upper-class literati, and some people even vilify it as "teaching prostitutes and thieves" In short, in ancient times, novels were regarded as low-level genres compared with traditional poems and essays. Most enlightened ancient literati can agree that women write poems, because gentle and honest poetry teaching is close to women's teaching, but they don't approve of women writing novels. For example, Chen Duansheng, the author of the first seventeen volumes of Rebirth, whose grandfather Chen Jushan was a famous writer in Qing Dynasty, agreed with women writing poems, but opposed women writing tanci and novels. In this cultural environment, few women dare to write novels. Strictly speaking, before 1840 (twenty years of Daoguang), no woman in China had written a novel. According to legend, Wang Duan (1793- 1839), a poetess and scholar in the Qing dynasty, once wrote the novel A Lost History of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, but I still doubt whether this book has been written or published, and the Comprehensive Textual Research on Women's Works in Past Dynasties has not mentioned this book, which can also provide a proof for my suspicion. The first woman who wrote novels in Qing Dynasty was the Manchu poet Xilinchun (Gu Taiqing). In his later years, he wrote "The Shadow of a Dream of Red Mansions", signed Yuncha Waishi. Twenty-four novels were published in the same year in Yuxian and Guangxu three years (1877). As mentioned earlier, the ancient scribes did not approve of women writing novels, so the publication of the first novel written by women in China was tantamount to "an adventure of breaking into the men's fortress" (Note: Cora Kaplan's Poems of Aurora Leigh, etc., see Feminist Literary Theory edited by Mary Eagleton, Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House, 1989, 2009). ), so that there is doubt on the copyright issue. However, Gu Taiqing wrote A Dream of Red Mansions, which is a historical fact. There are five quatrains in Gu Taiqing's Poems on the Pavilion of Heaven, and the second sentence is self-explanatory: "I continued a dream of red mansions several times, named" The Shadow of a Dream of Red Mansions ",in the order of mutual admiration. Don't be lazy after reading the manuscript and tasting the responsibility. This play is called:? My sister is almost seventy years old. If she doesn't write the book soon, I'm afraid she won't succeed. ? According to The Shadow of a Dream of Red Mansions, it was published in Ding Chou (1877), the third year of Guangxu, and the preface mentioned in the note was the preface before the book was published. At the end of the preface, it reads: "When Xianfeng was eleven years old, he had something to do with drinking by the West Lake." In the eleventh year of Xianfeng 186 1, the West Lake is another work of Shen Shanbao, a female poet in Hangzhou. Shen Shanbao died on1June, 862 1 1 day. The preface was written a year ago. At this time, the shadow of A Dream of Red Mansions has not been finished. He is probably afraid of death, so he wrote the preface first. This point has been explained in Gu's note. Gu Shi and Xu Shen can prove that The Shadow of a Dream of Red Mansions was written by Gu Taiqing. )。 Later, Chen Yichen's Dead Tower, Hangzhou Wang Miaoru's Female Prisoner Flower (about 1877- 1903) and Jixi Shao Zhenhua's Chivalrous Man. These novels are all chapter by chapter. The first female novelists in the history of China literature appeared in the first two decades of the 20th century, which was in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China (discussed in another article here).