A Study On The Narratology Evolution Of Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel

In the history of Chinese novels, the Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel has always been neglected. Lu Xun once commented,"The works of scholars in Song Dynasty is mythical in nature. They are plain and lack literary embellishment. Its legend stems from the past and is not contemporary. They replicate the ancient but are far from that. And there is no originality." Thereafter, not many researchers take on the study of this Classical Chinese Novel. Trapped between the post-peak of the Five Dynasty and Tang Dynasty novel creation era and new emergence of "Colloquial Stories"(Hua Ben) in the same era, Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel seems to be placed in an awkward position. It is not of no value at all, however. As an important representative in the transitional period of novel development, Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel should be given more importance, whether in good light or otherwise. This paper essentially seeks to investigate the artistic feature and evolution origin of Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel through text-reading, study of narrative or story-telling, broadcasting, language and linguistics, history and knowledge of such.This thesis is written in five chapters. The first three chapters talk about the art of narration and development of the Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel; whereas the last two chapters discuss the origin of Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel.Chapter One primarily looks into the narration or story-telling of the Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel. This chapter adopts the means of analysis by categorization to identify the creative type of Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel. According to the change of time, the novels can be divided into five phases. The first three phases concern more on the narration of North Song Dynasty and the last two phases focus on the analysis of Classical Chinese Novel of the South Song Dynasty.The second chapter is on the art of narration or story-telling of the Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel. Story-telling is an important element of novels. The examining of the art of narration is thus inevitable. As Classical Chinese Novel originates from the development of historical studies, it is to a large extent that the art of narration scholars of the Song Dynasty use is founded in their knowledge of historical studies. This chapter therefore explores the narration of the Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel from the aspects of historical studies and novels. Chapter Three concerns about the change of (language) register in Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novels to one that is non-classical or simplified. This chapter first addresses the evolution of classical and simplified language, which then proceeds to elaborate the effect of language register change in novels of this dynasty. In comparison to Classical Chinese Novels before its era, Song novels write mostly in simplified language. Such phenomenon did not happen overnight. It had gone through a long period of development, where the change of language style directly affected the artistic feature of its novels. Hence, this chapter probes on the subject matter by substantially bringing in the knowledge of language and linguistics.The fourth chapter discusses the influence of the imperial examination and scholars towards the development of novels. Formulation of the imperial examination system has rocked the societal structure of Song Dynasty. The royalties no longer perpetually maintain their status, while lower levels of the society such as farmers, workers, business people and commoners are open to opportunities of literacy and intellectual progress. The imperial examination system fuels societal development and is reflected in the novels as well. Besides the well-educated from the upper class, authors who write such Classical Chinese Novels have begun to include normal scholars arising from lower level of the society. They came from the bottom of the social structure and would usually reflect this part of the society in their works, in so giving the Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novels a fuller picture.The fifth chapter is about the "Status Establishment of Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novel and Rise of Ancient Chinese Fictional Theory". The "Anthology of Tales from Records in the Taiping Era" from Song Dynasty is extracted to look at the status establishment of Classical Chinese Novel in the Song Dynasty. It is known also to have further contributed to the progress of Classical Chinese Novel in this era. The Song citizen’s love for novels has been more expressed compared to previous dynasties. They did not repel novels for being non mainstream mainly because the governors or rulers appreciate novels too. Swept by the winds of following by examples, the status of novels is elevated higher. The Song’s trend of enjoying novels also fuels the development of fictional theory. Scholars and intellectuals are passionate in creative production and discussing novels, under which a much systematic concept of novels is gradually shaped. These concepts did not significantly affect the creation of Song Dynasty Classical Chinese Novels but instead, promoted the development of novels in its future times.