Research Of Hai Rui's Image-In "Full Biography Of Hai Rui-Big Red Robe" And "Full Biography Of Hai Rui-Small Red Robe"

Hai Rui, as the fine example and symbol of ancient Chinese upright and honest official, he is called"Baogong of the South". (Baogong was the most famous upright and honest official in Chinese history). The two novels,"Full Biography of Hai Rui---Big Red Robe"and"Full Biography of Hai Rui--Small Red Robe"are two long novels based on his life events, in which the image of an upright and honest is properly portrayed to carter to the readers'and civilians'ideals and expectations. As a historical figure, Hai Rui had his own image, but how his image in the folk's eye should be presented, and what a literal image should be portrayed, and what such an image reflects as a national cultural psycho, are provided by these two novels. This essay is an attempt to carry out a relatively complete study on the following themes: what do normal Chinese people think of Hai Rui, what his influence is, and what is the literal values of these two novels are.This essays assumes that, the image of Hai Rui as an upright and fair official described in these two novels is quite similar to that of Bao Zheng in the novel"Biography of Bao Zheng", which reflects ancient Chinese people's desire. These people were exploited, suppressed and tortured but had no means of escaping. So they had to fancy there could be upright and fair officials like Hai Rui and Bao Zheng, which was both an ideal expectation and sad choice. This may explain why novels based on good official have been so popular. In this sense,"Full Biography of Hai Rui---Big Red Robe"and"Full Biography of Hai Rui--Small Red Robe"are have more instructive values than literal values.This essay is divided into 4 chapters. Chapter one is a summary, introducing Hai Rui as a historical figure and the different versions of"Full Biography of Hai Rui---Big Red Robe"and"Full Biography of Hai Rui--Small Red Robe"including a summary of research on these two novels; Chapter two is"Research of Hai Rui in His Youth", which discusses what Hai Rui is like before he becomes a government official; Chapter three is"Research of Hai Rui in his Middle Age"which describes Hai Rui's ups and downs in his career life in the empire's government official community; and finally Chapter four,"Research of Hai Rui in His Late Years", which focuses on Hai Rui's image as a government official. As a well-known historical figure, there have been enough records about him, but novels are fictions based on such records. So, this essay compares historical records two the two novels in an attempt to find a deep understanding and mastery of the figure image of these novels to seek the artistic values of novels.