The Interpretation Of "Jin Ping Mei" Feudal Bureaucratic Culture

Written during the reign of Emperors Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli in Ming Dynasty, the historical realities which "Jin Ping Mei" reflects are exactly what have happened between the late reign of Emperor Zhengde and the mid reign of Emperor Wanli, particularly those affairs occurred in the reign of Emperor Jiajing. During these periods, the social moral were becoming worse and worse, day by day, because of the rapid decaying of Ming Dynasty. And due to the acute intensification of social contradiction and the corruption among the ruling class which were especially represented by the profligacy of Emperor Wuzong, the fatuousness of Emperor Shizong, and the slothfulness of Emperor Shenzong, the state affairs in these periods deteriorated sharply and become unmanageable. As a great realistic literary work, "Jin Ping Mei" has given a faithful account of what had taken place during these specific times like a mirror. Deeply and thoroughly, it has exposed the darkness and the disgraceful conducts of that time.From the day of "Jin Ping Mei" comes out, the discussion of whether it is an erotic novel has never ceased and has become an unavoidable subject to propose in Chinese literature. However, people’s prejudice against this novel has changed gradually along with the deeper research on it. It is accepted by more and more people who work in literary world and the reading public, not only because it reveals the lechery and evils in human world, but also because it exposes harshly the darkness and the corruption of bureaucracy in the mid-late of Ming Dynasty. The novel exceedingly portrays the fickleness of human relationships, the conspiracy of official circles, and the scandals in bureaucracy of late Ming Dynasty. The purpose of this paper is to unmask the other unnoticed but important side of "Jin Ping Mei"-the feudal bureaucratic culture, to the literary world and the reading public, through out equitable historical view and precise scientific research. The paper is divided into five parts and every part will be discussed in detail. The main contents are as follows:The Introduction part explains three main issues. Firstly, the review of present research on "Jin Ping Mei"; secondly; the significance of the study of feudal bureaucratic culture in "Jin Ping Mei"; and thirdly, the scope and methods of this study.Chapter One focuses on the analysis of the major feudal official customs in "Jin Ping Mei". The author of this book drew a comprehensive, authentic, and vivid description of the feudal officialdom in reality on the late Ming Dynasty, and it must involve all kinds of the feudal official customs. This chapter is divided into four sections, arranges and interprets briefly and strictly the major feudal official customs which involved in "Jin Ping Mei", such as the official system, official dress, official banquets, official Mandarin and so on.Chapter Two focuses on the perspective of main representative images of the feudal officialdom in "Jin Ping Mei". The author depicted nearly a hundred of characters of all kinds of temporal officials, from the three emperors, namely, Song Huizong, Song Qinzong, and Song Gaozong, to the officials at all levels of runners, including the novel’s protagonist Ximen Qing. These feudal officials play different roles in the officialdom, and represent different characteristics. This chapter classifies these feudal officials into seven types:the master-like style as Cai Jing, the wonder style as Ximen Qing, the eccentric style as Zhai Qian, the literati style as Cai Yun, the good fellow style has Zeng Xiaoxu, the villain style as Wu Endian, the lord-like eunuchs, and then dissects and analyzes them one by one.Chapter Three focuses on examining the main property of the feudal bureaucratic culture in "Jin Ping Mei". This chapter is the main content of the paper. As a deep exposure of the feudal officialdom in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, the feudal bureaucratic culture in "Jin Ping Mei" has its distinct characteristics of that era. This chapter discusses and analyses the property of feudal bureaucratic culture from five aspects:from the clique to pursue selfish interests, the decay of the feudal bureaucratic culture of late Ming Dynasty is reviewed; from the collusion between business and politics, the deformity of the feudal bureaucratic culture of late Ming Dynasty is reviewed; from the luxurious lives of the feudal officials, the degeneration of the feudal bureaucratic culture of late Ming Dynasty is reviewed; from the double-faced behavior, the vileness of the feudal bureaucratic culture of late Ming Dynasty is reviewed; from the three impeachments, the anfractuosities of the feudal bureaucratic culture of late Ming Dynasty is reviewed. Chapter Four focuses on the discussion and analysis of the artistic merit of the description of feudal bureaucratic culture. This chapter is the important content of the paper. In view of the previous three chapters has already analyzed deeply the sociality of feudal bureaucratic culture in this book, based on the academic results of previous studies, from the perspective of theory of literature and art, this chapter intends to discuss and analyses the most outstanding artistic achievements in four areas, namely, the merciless disclosure, the revealing the beauty by describing the ugliness, the use of the past to satirize the present, and the fine use of iron.Based on the summary of the discussion and the general idea of the paper, the Conclusion part points out the necessity and practical significance of the current study of feudal bureaucratic culture in "Jin Ping Mei", stressing this paper would be highly beneficial in giving us a new way of thinking and carrying out an all-dimensional research on "Jin Ping Mei", especially on the feudal bureaucratic culture.