A Study On Fish In The Novels Of Tang Dynasty

Fishes,born in nature,living across the water from human beings,are inextricably linked.There exist a large number of novels about fish in Tang Dynasty,with rich content,reflecting a deep caring and thinking about the universe,society and individual life of Tang people.The first chapter starts with the fish culture in Tang dynasty,which based on historical materials such as novels,poems and folk customs,briefly analyzes the social and cultural background of fish writing in Tang novels,including the fishery,diet,fish wearing system and fish decoration.According to the theme of the story,the second chapter divides the images of fish into three categories: natural fish,deified fish and humanized fish.The nature fishes reflect the understanding and imagination of regional space.The deified fishes refer to carp,which often been used to symbolize the imperial family of Tang Dynasty or the pass of the imperial examinations.The humanized fishes are monsters endowed with human characteristics.The encounter and departure between them,showing the entangled emotions of the Tang people.Together,they reflect the optimistic cultural character and delicate emotional life in Tang Dynasty.The third chapter analyzes the fish writing in Tang novels from the perspective of folklore and religion,showing the openness and tolerance of the spiritual belief of Tang people.Fish monsters in folk belief are often classified as the sacrificial one by the ruler,or the foil of other gods.Fish in Taoist stories often been used as an elixir for the mounts of the immortals,to promote the idea of immortality,or as an allusion to defend themselves.Fish in Buddhist stories usually used to promote the idea of karma.The fourth chapter analyzes the evolution of the fish clothing story from the mystery novels to the legendary by case.As the representative of the fish clothing story,not only Xue Wei’s narrative technique is the first of the legendary prose in Tang Dynasty,but also the meaning is free from the restriction of Buddhist’ s book.By the mean of deformation,it reveals the alienation of the feudal hierarchy to human beings,which becoming the new change of Tang novels.