The Expansion And Variation Of The Consanguinity Revenge Topic In Modern Chinese Literature

Consanguinity Revenge is not only the common phenomenon in the ancient social life, but the permanent literary topic in the history of Chinese literature. It transcends age and penetrates a variety of works ranging from historical biography and fiction to lyric literature, having formed a unique and relatively stable cultural mentality by interacting on people's many cultural concepts. Literary works under the topic of Consanguinity Revenge construct and reflect the cultural spirit and value orientation of our nation.The thesis consists of the following three parts.Part one mainly illustrates the classical background as well as the specific cultural spirit and value orientation lying behind Consanguinity Revenge Literature. There are large quantities of texts on Consanguinity Revenge in Chinese Narrative Literature, mainly recorded in antediluvian myth, historical biography and fiction. The texts, which collectively reflect that Chinese Ancient Literature attach great importance to the ethical model of Consanguinity Revenge, have great impact on the reproduction and variation of Consanguinity Revenge works henceforth. The deeply-rooted consanguineous patriarchal system in ancient China makes Consanguinity Revenge, which sets family and society as its standard, become the social mission of revealing filial piety and moral good. Since the Confucian mainstream culture praise"courtesy", social criticism has little censure for Consanguinity Revenge. On the basis of such cultural background, a subtle relationship emerges among the sense of Consanguinity Revenge in ancient China, the sense of law and power as well as the legal concept. The popularity of such revenge logic leads to the enlargement and brutality of revenge.Part two is the emphasis of this thesis, which mainly analyzes and explains the expansion and variation of the Consanguinity Revenge topic in modern literature. The novel of Molding Sword by Lu Xun does not acquiesce the rationality of the ethical model of"son revenging his father", but puts emphasis on the mission of revenge and its hardship. The novel predicts that it is a mission impossible and therefore displays the courage, the resolution and the quality of struggle in despair of undertaking it, which deepens the Consanguinity Revenge topic. Revenge by Wang Zengqi observes the original story model from a new perspective by doubting the rationality of revenge in fixed ethical framework and presenting the personal existence, thus eliminating the traditional value connotation of Consanguinity Revenge reasoningly and creating a mentally brand-new revenge novel. Blood Plum Blossom by Yu Hua satirizes and mocks the traditional story model of Consanguinity Revenge by implying that the heavy burden of revenge eventually causes the loss of the avenger's value and ideal and his variance. The revenge story of character Qiu Hu in Field by Cao Yu breakthroughs the traditional framework of Consanguinity Revenge. It no longer stays on the degree of cruelly hurting the flesh of the enemy, but pays attention to moral revenge and results in both the avenger and the enemy suffering from great spiritual torture. Field directs its criticism and charge to feudal patriarchal system for befooling and enslaving people mentally and emotionally. One of Jin Yong's masterpieces Demi Gods And Semi Devils creates an absurd image of revenge hero-Qiao Feng. Revenging his father both destroys him and helps him to fulfill his wishes. He painfully struggles in a heroic world that should have not included him, which makes his strive become a kind of meaningless struggle. The poetic novel Wu Zixu by Feng Zhi tells a story of modern"Odyssey". The whole text of the novel expresses the mental world of Wu Zixu without any schemes of revenge, let alone the actualization and completion of revenge acts. The ethic contained in the prototype story is evaded and laid aside, therefore the theme of the story gets changed accordingly. Zixu's runaway is in fact a process of spiritual about-face and realization, in which"weight"makes him persist, "resolution"lets him overcome, and"musing"helps him change step by step.Part three mainly discusses how the modern transmutation of the Consanguinity Revenge topic reforms and transcends its ancient counterpart. On the one hand, the renovation of revenge sense is expounded from a single plane to multi-dimension. Authors attempt to reflect revenge mentality and its kinship with traditional revenge culture from the perspective of modern sense. The deep analysis of characters'revenge sense enables the works to reach an artistic degree of combining realistic materiality with historical complexity. On the other hand, the artistic innovation is expatiated, that is, to unlock the soul and break through reunion. Based on some foreign literary depiction techniques, modern Consanguinity Revenge works try to make inner observation on avengers, thus giving characters deeper and broader human meanings. Secondly, modern Consanguinity Revenge works tend to break through the model of reunion, transcending and deepening its ancient counterpart with the tragic beauty and the contemplation of aftertaste.