What are the reasons for the prosperity of novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties?

Literature is a reflection of history. The prosperity of novels in Ming and Qing dynasties is the result of their social history and literary development.

From the perspective of social history, analyze the reasons from the following aspects:

First, after the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the seeds of capitalism gradually emerged, and new economic factors were bound to be reflected in social ideology, including literature and art. Therefore, popular literary novels and operas, which can best reflect citizens' thoughts and feelings and complicated social life, broke the unification of orthodox poetry and made great progress.

The second is the development of science and technology and the needs of people's lives. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the prosperity of industrial and commercial towns and the rapid development of bookstores, printing and printing industries, interesting novels suitable for the general public had a broad market demand and were widely circulated. At that time, both literati and businessmen, farmers and workers liked reading novels and listening to books. In the Qing Dynasty, some people even regarded novels as another religion with wider influence alongside Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.

Third, the ruling class in Ming and Qing dynasties adopted a policy of netting and suppressing intellectuals. In this case, many literati dare not touch the real politics in their poetry creation. The orthodox poetry creation since the Tang and Song Dynasties was blocked in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the literati exerted their creative potential in novel creation, which objectively strengthened the motivation and space for novel creation.

From the perspective of its literary development, there are the following reasons:

First, China's classical novels, after three generations' gestation, preparation and development, have accumulated rich artistic experience in artistic methods, plots, characterization, structure and language, which laid a solid foundation for the prosperity of novels in Ming and Qing Dynasties. At the same time, novels and operas, with their own creative achievements, show social functions and literary values that cannot be ignored. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, some writers, such as Li Zhi and Yuan Hongdao, broke the traditional literary prejudice, stood up for the literary position of novels and operas that had always been despised, and made extremely lofty comments, which opened the way for the development of novels and operas in theory.

Secondly, after Jiajing and Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, progressive thinkers, represented by Wang Gen and Li Zhi, criticized Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism and opposed the reactionary preaching of "keeping justice in heaven and destroying human desires". Li Zhi also advocated "the theory of childlike innocence", thinking that works that express childlike innocence are good works. These progressive ideas have had a positive impact on the creation of novels and operas, such as Peony Pavilion and some fictional novels. The progressive thoughts of Gu, Huang Zongxi, Wang Fuzhi and others in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties also had a noticeable influence on the creation of Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio, The Scholars and A Dream of Red Mansions.