Chapter 11 Section 1 The Unprecedented Prosperity of Vernacular Novels

The recuperation in the early Ming Dynasty brought prosperity and stability for about a hundred years, and the agricultural economy was restored.In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the commodity economy had a great development.During the Jiajing and Wanli years (1522-1619 A.D.), politics was corrupt, but the commodity economy prospered remarkably.Especially in the areas of Suzhou and Hangzhou, many traditional agricultural villages have turned into industrial and commercial towns.With the development of the commodity economy, the citizen class grew rapidly.Popular literature and art reflecting their spiritual needs prospered accordingly.In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, there was a loosening of thinking in the cultural circles.A trend of individual liberation thought represented by Li Zhi, Xu Wei, Tang Xianzu, Yuan Hongdao, Feng Menglong and others was formed.One of the manifestations of this trend of thought in the field of literature is to raise the status of novels and even popular literature as a whole.Li Zhi thinks: "Why should poetry be selected from the past, why should literature be pre-Qin, descend to the Six Dynasties, change into a similar style, change into a legend, change into a courtyard version, a drama, for, for, for today's work, They are all written from ancient to modern times, and cannot be obtained, but the current situation can be discussed." ("Children's Innocence") compares novels, operas and orthodox literature.However, Feng Menglong, a master of popular literature and art in the late Ming Dynasty, boldly proposed that popular novels can influence and educate people more than Confucian classics such as "Book of Filial Piety".

The great artistic potential of vernacular novels was not fully proved until the Ming Dynasty.The Ming Dynasty was an era of unprecedented prosperity and fruitful achievements in vernacular novels.Regardless of the contempt and oppression of the upper class, the novel develops vigorously under the impetus of the spiritual needs of the bourgeoisie.The achievements of Ming Dynasty novels are remarkable.The only form of the ancient novel was the chapter novel.It was developed from the historical stories of the Song and Yuan Dynasties.It is impossible to tell history all at once, and it must be told many times in succession.Every time I tell it is equal to one chapter of the novel.Therefore, at the end of each chapter of a novel, there is often the words "If you want to know what will happen next, let's listen to the next chapter to break it down".In the middle of the novel, there are often words such as "speaking" and "watching officials".This is the trace left by its development from the script.After the brewing of story books in the Song and Yuan Dynasties and the nourishment of operas, a batch of chapter novels were produced during the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, such as "Ping Yao Zhuan" and so on.These novels are constantly modified and enhanced in the process of rapping and singing from generation to generation, and finally written by the writer.

After the Song and Yuan Dynasties, novels were generally based on historical stories or myths and legends.However, the novels that appeared in the middle and late Ming Dynasty broke away from this tradition and took a different approach. They took ordinary people in the real society and family daily life as the theme, pioneered "human relationship novels", and made ancient Chinese novels on the road of realism. A crucial step has been taken.The vernacular short stories of the Ming Dynasty "extremely imitate the differences between human feelings and the state of the world, and prepare to write about joys and sorrows", which is the inheritance and development of the vernacular scripts of the Song and Yuan Dynasties.The vernacular scripts in the Ming Dynasty gradually developed into desk literature.The needs of the spiritual life of the citizens and the development of the printing industry stimulated the literati's interest in imitating scripts and writing short stories in vernacular.After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, this kind of "mimicking script" gradually flourished.They have absorbed a series of characteristics of Song and Yuan story books that focus on plot, popular language, fast rhythm, depicting the state of the world, and portraying characters' thoughts and personalities through language and actions, and develop towards the direction of delicate description and emphasizing psychological portrayal of characters.During the reign of Tianqi (1621-1627 A.D.), Feng Menglong compiled the "Three Words", including the Song and Yuan scripts, and the "Imitation script" created by the Ming Dynasty.During the reign of Chongzhen (1628-1644 A.D.), Ling Mochu created two collections of imitation storybook novels (collectively called "Erpai").The vernacular short stories of the Ming Dynasty reflected the extensive social life in a more flexible form in a more timely manner.

The rapid development of vernacular novels in the Ming Dynasty made our country's classical novels really get rid of the traditional shackles and influence of historical biography literature, making the novels closer to life and people, and thus more full of vigor and vitality.On the whole, the vernacular novels of the Ming Dynasty generally adopt secular themes, realistic techniques, and language close to life.The author's eyes shifted from history to real life, and his interest also shifted from the ups and downs of achievements to the sorrows and joys of sex. The description of the state of the world became more important, and the traditional mode of narrative art began to break through.