| The text of "Chang Lao" combines two distinct narratives. In close reading the tale, moreover, the careful reader comes upon a number of resonances and several analogue texts. In the context of these analogues, the author of "Chang Lao" has attempted to project an extended level of meaning that comments on his socio-political situation. This dissertation is an attempt to explore the interaction of those texts and to probe the possible projected references that the "Chang Lao" tale may imply, as the Introduction argues.;Prior to such a study, however, long-standing questions regarding the tale's provenance need to be addressed. In chapter two I explore the several arguments and establish the author of the text as Li Liang (c. 775-833 style name Fu-yen). The textual history of "Chang Lao" and the collection in which it has been transmitted, Hsu Hsuan-kuai lu, follows in the third chapter The fourth chapter divides a translation of "Chang Lao" into five sections, each determined by distinct changes in setting and narrative focus. Following a comparison of the T'ai-p'ing kuang-chi version with the synoptic Lei shuo text, the first two sections are analyzed. Two analogues related to the first section, "Heng-shan yin-che" and "Wei Shih" are introduced, as is a parallel for the second section, the Hsu Hsuan-kuai lu narrative, "Tiao Chun-chao".;The fifth chapter presents sections three through five and their parallels, further revealing the complex structure of "Chang Lao." The third section is shown to be an inversion of events that occurred in the first section, and the fifth section to be an inversion of events in the third section. The fourth section is shown to similarly mirror the second section, and to have been created by retelling part of "Chang Li erh kung". The Conclusion discusses how the tale was consciously constructed from imagery, ideas, and storylines found in existing narratives, producing a balanced text that voices the concerns of its author. |
