On The Thematic Evolution Of Tang Legend And Its Influence

Tang Legend is a polyphyletic “significance entirety”, its aesthetic manner andstylistic features are simulated and followed in large quantities by the later narrativeliterature, its greatest contribution to the later novels, scripts for story-telling andChinese operas is its rich offering of the subject matters, which become a majorsource of the later classical opera themes. Among the various kinds of literarycreation, this paper takes four masterpieces of Tang Legend as its study contentwhich are highly recreated by the later generations, they are Bu Jiangzong BaiyuanZhuan, Li Hun Ji, Zhen Zhong Ji and Ying Ying Zhuan. The author studies theevolutionary process of these masterworks from naissance, inheritance, remouldingto surpassing, mainly focuses on the themes and their differences in plot constructionand characterization, especially analyzes the differences from the perspectives suchas the historical background of the production of these masterpieces, the authors’ideological mentality and life experiences, as well as the literary appreciation customand psychological trend, etc.This paper mainly focuses on the evolution and significance of the fourmasterpieces above. It contains three parts: the first part introduces the topic basis,the research significance, literature review and research method, which aims to makea systemic collection and analysis of the previous research results and then launchthe author’s effective study.The second part summarizes the creation situation of the Tang Legend. After acomprehensive review of the emergence and development of Tang Legend, itscreative periods as well as its artistic breakthrough and innovation, the authorcomprehends the time features and artistic image of Tang Legend as a whole whichlay a foundation for the following comparative study.The third part is the major part of the paper, it tackles the evolutionary spread process of the four works as well as summarizes four subject patterns and analyzesthem respectively: firstly, the basic narrative pattern of “the marriage between peopleand ape” subject, it analyses the inheritance and breakthrough of this subject inaspects such as creative purpose, creative content, plot construction, scene depictionand character images, together with a cultural analysis; Secondly, the pattern of “theliving without soul” subject. The paper introduces the formation and development ofthe subject, discusses the influences of the ancient psychic and religious concepts,the evolution and its reasons of “the separation of soul and soma after death” and“the resurrection of soul through body”, as well as the transcendency; Thirdly, thesource and pattern of “the pipe dream”. In Song Dynasty, it reflects the integratedthoughts of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism in generic period, in MingDynasty there appear breakthroughs on character images and dramatic conflicts, andthen in Qing Dynasty the achievements in thematic creation and artistic explorationare also unprecedented; the last pattern is the “West Chamber” subject matter. Theauthor analyzes the emergence of this theme and its status and influence in TangLegend: Song Dynasty exploits series of singing literature, Jin Dynasty makes afundamental reform on its creative themes, contradictory results, plot modes andpersonal characters, Yuan Dynasty expands the prototypes and gains outperformance,and then Ming and Qing Dynasty recreates and disseminates the subject. The paperalso analyses the subjective and objective causes of the thematic differences in theseevolutionary works. During their mutual inheritance and communication, everysubject matter forms its own solid artistic tradition.