Body, Knowledge And Narrative:Study On Jin Ping Mei Cihua

This study aims to illustrate that as an intrinsic part of the social and mental changes, Jin Ping Mei cihua(金瓶梅词话) creates a rare "thick description" of the vicissitudes of its time. This dissertation tries to relate body exposures in this text to daily encyclopedias in Late Ming such as Wu che ba jin (五车拔锦) and Santai wanyong zhengzong (三台万用正宗), as well as to the publishing industry in this period, in order to illuminate the episteme relationship of them. Daily encyclopedias in Late Ming, which provide much information about the human body, have a deep connection with this encyclopedical novel Jin Ping Mei cihua. Firstly, the two are isomorphic since they share the same tradition of knowledge. Secondly, the knowledge about the human body in daily encyclopedias plays an important role in this narrative. Thirdly, the novelist tries to address the issues of body, desire, identity and limitations by narrating, opening up new ways of writing saga novels in ancient China at the same time.This dissertation employs multiple methods to analyze the novel Jin Ping Mei, among which body theories are the most important theoretical resources. We need to draw from these theories both to explain the plots of the novel better and to dig out information about the human body in daily encyclopedias in Late Ming. All reflections on the human body from different disciplines, such as philosophy, history, anthropology and sociology, are essential to our survey. Only through these perspectives from the "other" could we find new ways to interpret this traditional text Jin Ping Mei cihua, and take notice of the valuable information in daily encyclopedias which we used to ignor. In the second place, this dissertation peruses the text paying special attention to information about the human body. And in the last place, we have tried to employ cross-disciplinary research methods.The introduction part outlines the research which has been done to Jin Ping Mei cihua, emphasizing the importance of the issue of body, making clear the research subject, methodology, theoretical resources and reference materials.The main part has been seperated into three chapters. The first one is "Publishing industry in Late Ming and Jin Ping Mei cihua". Focusing on body narratives, this chapter reexamines the position of Jin Ping Mei cihua in the history of zhanghui novels in Ming and Qing; and how is it related to the issue of its turn of themes. In the background of the prosperous publishing industry in Late Ming, the privatization of vision and reading is closely related to the turn of the themes made by Jin Ping Mei cihua, and the latter has a profound episteme relationship with daily encyclopedias in Late Ming. The first section tries to explain why the themes of this novel has changed. And a tentative answer is that this turn can be seen as an intrusion of the narrative novel to people’s private life and body.The second chapter entitled "Body economics, sex as knowledge and family crisis" includes three sections. The first section "Body exchange and money logic in Jin Ping Mei cihua" focuses mainly on money logic reflected by knowledge about brothels in daily encyclopedias in Late Ming and its influence on life both in brothels and one’s household. The second section is about "Endeavors to conceive an heir in Jin Ping Mei cihua from the perspective of fertility knowledge in Late Ming". And the third section deals with the "Metaphorical relationship between body and medicine in Jin Ping Mei cihua".The third chapter "Narratives of diseases in Jin Ping Mei" investigates how people get sick and die in this novel. The focus is on the relationship between the knowledge in medical books, daily encyclopedias and its transformation in the novel. The first section "The symptom of Li Pinger’ disease and its medical interpretation" explores two sorts of contradicting medical ideas and interpreting discourses. The second section "Literary expression of disease and its justification in medicine" indicates that the deaths of Li Pinger and Xi Menqing can be totally explained in accurate medical terms. The third "Infantile convulsion and the human interference with the death of Guange" deals with the issue of superstitions in Late Ming and the actual cause of the baby’s death. The fourth section "Plots of disease and death and their significance in narratives" explores how people end their lives in this novel. Compared to three other master works before Jin Ping Mei cihua, people’s life are ended in more reasonable way in this latter one. It has created an appropriate ambience, furnishes with both reasonable narratives and ghostic narratives, and incorporates moral didactics while defiant from moralistic bias subtly.This dissertation has shown that the language explosion of body in Jin Ping Mei cihua is part of the changes happening in its society. The description of body in this novel has explored the frontier of narrative for Chinese novels.