Liaozhai Zhiyi
The Liaozhai Zhiyi ( Chinese 聊齋志異 / 聊斋志异 , Pinyin Liáozhāi Zhìyì ) is a collection of around 500 stories, the title of which can be roughly translated as "Strange stories from the Liao study". Author of the collection is Pu Songling ( 1640 - 1715 ).
construction
Until Pu Songling's death only manuscripts and copies of his work circulated; it was not until 1766, 50 years after his death, that the first print appeared. For this reason there are tons of variations on his stories today. The Pu Songling manuscript itself only partially survived; only four of the eight volumes have survived today. The Liaozhai contains a wondrous collection of myths and legends, folk tales, fables, contemporary anecdotes, criminal cases, events of everyday life, extraordinary occurrences and descriptions. As Pu Songling explains in the preface, he wanted to describe the wonders and the astonishing in contemporary China.
style
The stories are all written in classical Chinese ( 文言 , Wényán ). Pu Songling, however, enriches the language with slang elements ( 白話 , báihuà ), especially in dialogues, jokes, disputes or judicial interrogations - also to characterize his characters on the basis of these Baihua dialogues. With this mixture, Pu created a new style of short stories, because before him such a mix of styles was mainly limited to poetry, e.g. B. with Du Fu or Li Bai . Only with the Liaozhai can one speak of the genre of a "Chinese short story", in which Pu brings together three major styles, namely Chuánqí and Zhìguài stories, as well as the Bǐjì writing style:
- Chuánqí ( 傳奇 ) are romantic prose tales that reached their peak in form and style during the Tang period.
- The Bǐjì ( 筆記 ), on the other hand, are factual, short notes in which the Zhiguai stories were often written, and whose form can be found again in the Liaozhai.
- Zhìguài ( 志怪 ) are supernatural stories that have their roots in the Han and Six Dynasties , but only found their place in literature as a separate genre in the Tang period. They are usually collections of short, simple prose anecdotes, the content of which is a mix of bizarre, sober stories of the unusual.
Of the sources used by Pu, the Sōushénjì ( 搜神記 ) from Gan Bao ( 干 寶 , 320 AD) should be mentioned here.
particularities
The foreign is the central theme of the collection: In his stories, Pu Songling juxtaposes two worlds, real and fantastic reality. Central to the Liaozhai is that these two worlds overlap and their boundaries become blurred; the protagonists move between the two worlds without difficulty. The comments by Pu Songling, which can be found at the end of 194 stories, are also special about Liaozhai. These all begin with "the historian of the foreign commented" ( 異 史氏 曰 , Yìshǐshì yuē ). Pu Songling refers to Sima Qian , who ends every chapter of Shiji ( 史記 ) with “the great historian says” ( 太史 公 曰 , Tàishǐgōng yuē ). In terms of content, the comment of the “grand historian” is often morally judgmental; Pu Songling, on the other hand, often gives the stories an unexpected twist with his explanations and comments on them in an ironic, sarcastic tone. Just as Sima Qian saw himself as a commentator on the historical world, Pu shows himself to be an ironic commentator on the unusual and strange world.
Literary context
Pu Songling used the Liaozhai to write stories popular during the Six Dynasties and Tang times . One reason for this choice of subject may be the new editions of the Zhiguai and Chuanqi stories, which were published again at the end of the Ming dynasty. In the stories of Pu, the simple miracle accounts of the Zhiguai stories of the Six Dynasties, the more sophisticated topics of the Chuanqi from the Tang period and the more realistic portrayals of society from the Ming period in Baihua (colloquial language) mix. In total, Pu Songling uses three different areas to create his very own style in Liaozhai:
- Adaptation from old sources, with mainly stylistic improvements
- Tales based on traditional motifs with major changes in content (the most famous stories today), oral traditions, folk fairy tales.
- Stories based on current events and experiences.
reception
In the literary history of China , the Liaozhai Zhiyi is considered the climax of the classic story. However, the collection also forms the end point of the traditional Chinese story, after which all important stories were written in Baihua (colloquial language). Nevertheless, the Liaozhai, together with the " Dream of the Red Chamber " (Hong Lou Meng, 紅樓夢 ), is one of the most remarkable works of literature of the 18th century. In the West, however, the work is hardly known, probably also because of the translation barrier: All literary allusions, the change between colloquial and classical language (Baihua and Wenyan) can hardly be represented without loss. Interestingly, there is a parallel to the Brothers Grimm , who created their collections of fairy tales in Europe at around the same time (around the beginning of the 19th century). In contrast to Pu Songling, however, these changed their stories only slightly, Pu on the other hand created his own stories in a very personal style from various sources. The Liaozhai stories and their effects are still very popular all over China, as the various adaptations for theater and film testify. B. " A Chinese Ghost Story " ( 倩女幽魂 , Qiàn nǚ yōuhún ), a film trilogy from the 80s.
In 2008 the film "Painted Skin" (Hua Pi) was released, starring Donnie Yen .
literature
- Alan H. Barr: The Later Classical Tale. In: Victor H. Mair (Ed.): The Columbia history of Chinese literature. Columbia University Press, New York NY / Chichester 2001, ISBN 0-231-10984-9 , pp. 675-696.
- Ying Hu: Records of Anomalies. In: Victor H. Mair (Ed.): The Columbia history of Chinese literature. Columbia University Press, New York NY / Chichester 2001, ISBN 0-231-10984-9 , pp. 542-555.
- Rania Huntington: The Supernatural. In: Victor H. Mair (Ed.): The Columbia history of Chinese literature. Columbia University Press, New York NY / Chichester 2001, ISBN 0-231-10984-9 , pp. 110-131.
- Karl SY Kao (Ed.): Classical Chinese Tales of the Supernatural and Fantastic. Selections from the Third to the Tenth Century. Indiana University Press, Bloomington IN 1985, ISBN 0-253-31375-9 .
- Pu Sung-ling: From the Liao-dschai-dschi-yi collection. German by Gottfried Rösel. Publishing house Die Waage, Zurich;
- Volume 1: Handling Chrysanthemums. 81 stories from the first 4 books. 1987, ISBN 3-85966-053-5 ;
- Volume 2: Two lives in a dream. 67 stories from volumes 5 to 8. 1989, ISBN 3-85966-054-3 ;
- Volume 3: Visiting the Blessed. 86 stories from volumes nine to twelve. Verlag Die Waage, Zurich 1991, ISBN 3-85966-058-6 ;
- Volume 4: Letting Butterflies Fly 158 stories in volumes thirteen to fifteen. 1992, ISBN 3-85966-059-4 ;
- Volume 5: Contacts with the living. 109 stories from the last two books sixteen and seventeen. 1992, ISBN 3-85966-060-8 .