Chapter 22 Chapter 21 Condemnation of Novels in the Late Qing Dynasty

In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the corruption and darkness in the officialdom had reached the point of shame.As a result, many literati with a sense of justice picked up their own pens and used the popular Zhanghui novels at that time to portray one after another vivid images of corrupt officials.Among them, Wu Yanren's and Li Boyuan's are the most famous. Their sharp writing and profound revelations have reached a new stage in the development of satirical novels. Wu Jianren (1866-1910), whose name was Woyao, styled cocoon man, later changed to Jianren.He was born in Nanhai, Guangdong, and because he lived in Foshan, he called himself a "Foshan native".Wu Jianren has a resolute personality. Although his life has been rough, he never lowered his eyebrows and bowed his head in a servile and coquettish manner.In his twenties, he moved to Shanghai and made a living writing essays for daily newspapers.Later, I lived in Shandong for a period of time, and then traveled to Japan, but I was not satisfied. Finally, I returned to Shanghai and served as the chief writer of "Yueyue Novels".Wu Jianren was mainly engaged in running newspapers throughout his life, and wrote more than 30 novels. He was also a prolific writer at the time. His major works include "Nine Fate", "Strange Status Quo in the Past Ten Years", and "New Stone". Wait, his works are quiet and bright.

Wu Jianren's masterpiece, the book has a total of 108 chapters, mainly describing all kinds of anecdotes and strange things that a protagonist who claims to have "nearly died" saw and heard in the 20 years after the Sino-French War in 1884. The book dabbles The scope of the book is relatively wide, focusing on exposing the darkness of officialdom and the ugliness of shopping malls, foreign markets and feudal families. The novel highlights the word "weird", and uses comic techniques to portray lifelike, ridiculous and despicable characters.Among them are the foreign ministers who hand over the country to foreigners, the ignorant, cowardly and fearful naval officers, and the county magistrates who become thieves in order to get promoted and get rich.In order to achieve their goals, they resort to unscrupulous means to kill people, betray their country, flatter them, and betray their conscience.Wu Jianren used a vivid brush to outline the ugly appearance of arty officials and declining literati who are trying to gain fame.The protagonist can rush out of this bizarre and smoky world, which can be described as a "near death".

Undoubtedly, the filthy world shown in the novel is a symbol of the corrupt and dark Qing Dynasty, and heralds the impending collapse of the Qing Dynasty. Li Boyuan (1867-1906), formerly known as Li Baojia, nicknamed Nantingchang, was born in Shandong, where his father was an official.Li Boyuan's father often urged him to study classics and history works when he was very young, so Li Boyuan was good at poetry and crafts when he was young, and he also liked seal cutting.When he was in school, he had excellent grades and won the first place in the examination of scholar, but in the subsequent imperial examinations, he was not listed again and again, which made him hate the selfishness and fraud in the officialdom.At the same time, the failure of the imperial examination intensified his dissatisfaction with the society. He no longer seeks to be an official, but uses his pen to expose the ugly phenomena in the officialdom and society.

Later, he went to Shanghai and started to run a newspaper.The "Guide", which was launched first, ceased publication after a short period of time.Afterwards, he also ran "Game News" and "World Prosperity News".During the period of running the newspaper, he wrote "A Brief History of Civilization", "Gengzi Guobian Tanci", "China's Status Quo", and "Living Hell".Every time, as soon as he finished the draft, everyone rushed to see it first.It is the most influential work of Li Boyuan, and also the most representative one among condemnation novels.

This book is 60 pieces in total, composed of many short stories, focusing on criticizing the corruption and darkness of the officialdom in the late Qing Dynasty, and exposing the corrupt and decadent situation within the ruling class during the collapse of the late Qing Dynasty.Li Boyuan hated that sinful world, and he turned his hatred into ugly images in his pen. From high-ranking bureaucrats to sesame-sized county magistrates, none of them escaped his scolding.Among them, in the thirteenth chapter, the part where the TV station meets foreigners is the most exciting.This boss was domineering and domineering on weekdays, swearing at his subordinates and punching his subordinates, but when he met a foreigner, he immediately changed his face and bowed his knees, almost kneeling and kowtowing.There is a habit of making Taiwan that guests are not allowed to announce visitors when they are eating. One day, when he was eating, his subordinates announced that there were guests coming. He was half short, but in order to find himself a step down, he slapped his subordinate again, blaming him for why he knew it was a foreigner and didn't report back earlier, making people wait for such a long time.

A character in the novel is the epitome of corrupt bureaucrats in the Qing Dynasty.Although it is written with light-hearted and funny stories, after reading it, there is a sense of heaviness that cannot be unloaded, because this is exactly the living environment of my own disaster.Therefore, the author reveals the idea of ​​improving society in the book. A common feature of condemnation novels in the late Qing Dynasty is the passion for saving the country and the people in varying degrees. It exposes and criticizes the corrupt rule and dark reality of the Qing Dynasty, aiming to inspire people's desire and actions for social reform.At the same time, it also reflects the broad social life and has certain achievements in art.