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Meng Jiangnü Brings Down the Great Wall brings together ten versions of a popular Chinese legend that has intrigued readers and listeners for hundreds of years. Elements of the story date back to the early centuries B.C.E. and are an intrinsic part of Chinese literary history. Major themes and subtle nuances of the legend are illuminated here by Wilt L. Idema's new translations and pairings. In this classic story, a young woman named Meng Jiang makes a long, solitary journey to deliver winter clothes to her husband, a drafted laborer on the grandiose Great Wall construction project of the notorious First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (BCE 221-208). But her travels end in tragedy when, upon arr...
"It is generally believed that Mao Zedong’s populism was an abrupt departure from traditional Chinese thought. This study demonstrates that many of its key concepts had been developed several decades earlier by young May Fourth intellectuals, including Liu Fu, Zhou Zuoren, and Gu Jiegang. The Chinese folk-literature movement, begun at National Beijing University in 1918, changed the attitudes of Chinese intellectuals toward literature and toward the common people. Turning their backs on “high culture” and Confucianism, young folklorists began “going to the people,” particularly peasants, to gather the songs, legends, children’s stories, and proverbs that Chang-tai Hung here describes and analyzes. Their focus on rural culture, rural people, and rural problems was later to be expanded by the Chinese Communist revolutionaries."
"Flows with the naturalness of conversation". -- The Small Press Book Review "Translated with simplicity and lucidity". -- The Book Reader "This collection of twelve traditional tales from various parts of China in different time periods represents a popular choice and one sure to be well-received". -- Religious Studies Review
The colonization began with a first wave of settlers. On day 183, all contact was lost. Just as mankind has found a way to live together in peace and harmony, Earth grows more hostile by the day. So when scientists discover a way to travel to an alternate Earth, a plan for colonization is quickly formed. But the connection between the two planets breaks, and when it reopens, something has gone wrong. The colony is gone, the settlers have vanished, and the scenery has changed drastically. All that's left is a lost woman who seems to be connected to whatever happened. A second wave of colonists set out for Alternearth. Among them is John, who is on the run from the Chinese mob, and leading geologist Dr. Peter Wagner, John's long lost lover. While John and the mysterious woman develop a unique bond and Peter opens up to the possibility of falling in love again, the colonists must find a way to save both planets ... and are forced to face a long forgotten part of mankind’s history.
Carlos Rojas presents a sweeping survey of the historical and political significance of one of the world’s most recognizable monuments. Although the splendor of the Great Wall has become virtually synonymous with its vast size, the structure’s conceptual coherence is actually grounded on the tenuous and ephemeral stories we tell about it. These stories give life to the Wall and help secure its hold on our collective imagination, while at the same time permitting it to constantly reinvent itself in accordance with the needs of each new era. Through an examination of allusions to the Wall in an eclectic array of texts—ranging from official dynastic histories, elite poetry, and popular folktales, to contemporary tourist testimonials, children’s songs, and avant-garde performance art—this study maps out a provocative new framework for understanding the structure’s function and significance. This volume approaches the Wall through the stories we tell and contends that it is precisely in this cultural history that we may find the Wall’s true meaning, together with the secret of its greatness.
This book advances the study of Chinese folk songs through theoretical innovation in literature-based folk songs and methodological innovation in multidisciplinary cross-interaction. It describes the historical development of folk songs, makes an in-depth study of the intersection and integration of folk songs with other literature and art, as well as the relationship with merchants, folk customs and regional culture, and analyses the literature of folk songs in previous dynasties. It is not only significant for the preservation of cultural heritage, but also to the promotion of folk song research and related fields. This book is applicable to scholars and researchers who have in-depth research on Chinese folk songs.
Through investigation of Chinese cultural ideals and life practices, Prof. Cho-yun Hsu constructs an original portrait of Chinese spiritual life. Apart from focusing on the exalted subtleties of the scholarly elite, Prof. Hsu pays more attention to the everyday people's cultural idea. By examining their daily practices (including eating, living, medical practices, poems, songs, art, and literature) and "collective memory" such as legends, he seeks to clarify Chinese ideas concerning the universe, human life and nature, from traditional times down to the present day. Different from Judeo-Christian tradition centered on "God," the spiritual life of the Chinese people develops around ideas of b...
This book provides a more rational and systematic explanation for the origin and evolution of the Chinese narrative tradition, based on studies of Chinese literary classics, local culture and items such as bronze wares and porcelain vessels with “portrayed stories.” By doing so, it uncovers forgotten interconnections and reestablishes obscured or unacknowledged lines of descent. Furthermore, it makes an initial study of acoustic narrative. Going beyond the field of literature, it employs tools and materials from diverse fields such as anthropology, religious studies, mythology, linguistics, semiotics, folklore and local culture. The book also offers an archeological inquiry into the knowledge found in various narrative texts, objects with “portrayed stories” and perceptions with “relevant plots.” Providing a wealth of insights, inspiring investigative methods and practical tools that can be applied in narrative studies, the book is an essential resource for researchers and students in the fields of comparative literature, narratology and ancient Chinese literature.
“Even if this universe is truly nothing more than a brutal, bloody, shadowy forest, we Cultivators will burn all that we have just to give off a single weak flickering spark in the darkness! “No matter how weak each spark is, how short-lived, how small… As long as the sparks flow unabated, then one day one of those sparks will light some tinder, and that tinder shall light some fallen branches, and those branches shall set ablaze each and every last tree of the forest! “In the end, even the smallest sparks will eventually set the shadowy forest ablaze and illuminate the whole world!” ------ All Pervious Chapter Ch1-Ch79 had been edited! Release Rate: 5 Chapters/Week; will be releas...