Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio was once considered as a master of China's classical novels. Judging from the language and some expressions used by the author, this evaluation has some truth; However, judging from the development of China's ancient novels, this evaluation is not comprehensive enough. Therefore, further expansion is needed.
China's ancient novels have two development systems. A system belongs to classical Chinese, which originated from the whimsy of the Six Dynasties and flourished in the legends of the Tang Dynasty. A system belongs to the vernacular, starting from the script formed by the speech in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and then developing into a novel. Wen is Wen, white is white, and the boundaries are clear. Of course, there are some exceptions, such as people who write novels in classical Chinese. However, these two systems do not interfere with each other under different historical conditions, but influence each other, compete with each other and even struggle. From this perspective, the appearance of Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio is not simply the result of the natural and smooth linear development of China's classical novels.
Mr. Lu Xun once said that Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio "is based on legendary methods, but on strange books". According to the original intention, it means to express a strange theme or content with legendary expression, that is, to accept the advantages of this classical Chinese novel before it, so Lu Xun included it in the "quasi-Jin and Tang novels" and correctly pointed out its source. By his own admission, Pu Songling is "willing to protect, looking for God with elegance, loving Huangzhou and talking about ghosts". He consciously and consciously inherited this novel tradition and embarked on the creative road pioneered by his predecessors. However, judging from the situation at that time, this road was already a wrong one. He used the main energy of his life to lead the wrong road to a wide and flat avenue and built a historical monument under the tree.
Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio is a work in the early Qing Dynasty and the 17th century. Gambao has been searching for God for more than a thousand years, and the legend of the Tang Dynasty has flourished for nearly a thousand years. For the development of China's classical novels, the appearance of Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio is indeed "the decline of literary works for a thousand years", and its contribution is no less than "the decline of literary works for eight generations".
According to Lu Xun, China's ancient novels in the strict sense began to appear in the Tang Dynasty, and "they were intended to be novels at the right time". The previous mystery novels were not only "rough" and "unintentional novels", but also "thought that people and ghosts were real because of the difference between the dark and the bright, so their descriptions of strange things were different from their records of ordinary things in the world, and they regarded themselves more sincerely and falsely." Taking Search for Ji Shen, the masterpiece of The Book of Wisdom and Weirdness, as an example, the author Gan Bao said that his creative motivation was "inventing Shinto without falsehood". Pu Songling's modesty is not Gambao's talent, but "elegant love to seek God". He looked at the strange books of the Six Dynasties from the perspective of "talent". He had the right to create illusions and wonders, instead of following his Shinto, replacing it and abandoning it, so he could get rid of the evil path of pure imitation. Scholars in the Six Dynasties created absurd illusions, which was different from simply preaching superstition. In order to impress people, they must make you feel real. In this writing practice, the imagination of literature is undoubtedly exercised and developed, and the expression of so-called romanticism in later generations is developed. It is this positive literary factor that inspired Pu Songling by Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio.
The legend of the Tang Dynasty is indeed a wonderful work of the Tang Dynasty, which has produced a large number of works, such as Pillow Story, Song of Eternal Sorrow, Biography of Li Wa, Biography of Yingying and Biography of Conan Taishou. Most of the authors are famous poets and writers, who are determined to write people, emphasize plots and respect literary words. Therefore, they can leave vivid characters through euphemistic and tortuous stories, make legends become wonders, and let later imitators lag behind. This achievement has a lot to do with the less restriction of literati's thoughts and the more open social fashion at that time. Because of this, legends flourished only in the Tang Dynasty, but declined gradually in the Song Dynasty. There is no more famous work than the Tang Dynasty. As a representative of China's classical novels, the heyday of Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio has passed. There are many reasons for the decline of China's classical novels. Although the appearance of The Legend of Tang Dynasty marks that "novels are for novels" and novels have officially entered the literary world, it does not mean that novels have gained their due literary status. The word "legend" is derogatory, and it can't keep up with the huge pace of Tang poetry and prose. The classical Chinese novels after the Song Dynasty, in Lu Xun's words, are "plain and lack of literary talent, and their legends are also relying on the past to avoid the present, antique and far-reaching, and even less original."
Words. At this time, another new novel form originated from the folk, namely, Pinghua, appeared. Pinghua is a vernacular novel, which has a direct relationship with the broad masses of the lower classes, mainly serving them and being loved by them. After several generations and hundreds of years, it has become more and more vigorous. Together with another kind of drama literature originated from the folk, it became an important symbol of the major achievements of China's ancient literature in the later period, and the position of poetry became less and less important. At this historical stage, classical Chinese novels are different from vernacular novels, far away from real life and the broad masses of the people, and become interesting works of literati, just like literati sketches in the late Ming Dynasty, which have fallen behind the trend of the times and gone to the end. They lack the vitality of vernacular novels, and compared with Tang legends, the difference is incalculable.
The decline of China's classical novels reached its climax in the Ming Dynasty, so when Lu Xun talked about "novels of the Jin and Tang Dynasties in the Qing Dynasty and their tributaries", it was not so much affirmation as indifference and criticism. "The charm of the earth really pervaded the world in the late Ming Dynasty", but not many people can be sure. As for the classical Chinese novels in the late Qing Dynasty, although "the notes are different and the looks are strange, they are not enough to be called novels." It is a pity that China's classical novels have developed to such a state.
Under the situation that the decline of China's classical novels "spread all over the world", Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio has sprung up suddenly and is unique. Even Wang Yuyang, a famous scholar at that time, dared not write about these three rural teachers. What is the reason?
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The motive and purpose of Pu Songling's creation of Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio is not a general legendary story, but a traditional legendary story to express his long-term "loneliness and anger", which is a struggle against the society at that time and also a struggle to revive classical Chinese novels. Pu Songling lived in an era of violent turmoil and great changes. He experienced the demise of the Ming Dynasty, the peasant uprising led by Li Zicheng, the looting and repression before and after the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, and the anti-Qing struggle between the nationalities and peasants in the early Qing Dynasty. After the relatively stable unification and consolidation of the Qing Dynasty, he dreamed of becoming an official through the imperial examination system. However, after his first talent, it was followed by setbacks again and again. In the end, he only got the name of "old tribute". Apart from being an adjutant for a short time in Jiangsu, he lived in rural Shandong all his life. He never gave up the illusion of promotion. However, with the disillusionment, he, a junior intellectual, directly and widely observed all aspects of social life. From this observation, he spontaneously felt "loneliness and anger" and consciously reflected this "loneliness and anger" in his novel creation. Tracing back to the development of China's classical novels for more than 1000 years, which writer is like him? Most of the authors of Tang legends are well-known literati with high status, and legends are also related to sacrifices. To put it bluntly, it is still a tool for seeking names. Although Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio is not as good as the three eight-part essays in the imperial examination, he thinks it is the most important work in his life. Why? Although he writes legendary articles, his heart may not be completely with his predecessors. In his mind, he followed Sima Qian, the founder of "Twenty-four History". At the end of many stories in Strange Stories from Strange Studio, there is a lot of discussion. On the surface, it imitates the writing of "official statement". At the root of it, I'm afraid I still regard my novel as "history", which is higher than any classical Chinese novelist before. Of course, he still doesn't understand the history of the image, but he reflects the true face of history and puts forward sharp social problems.
In a word, Strange Tales from a Lonely Studio highlights several major social problems. In Pu Songling's pen, politics at that time was very dark and cruel. It was the middle and lower feudal officials who colluded with the landlords and bullies and were sheltered. They devour the lives of the weak like a pack of wolves. In Pu Songling's words, it is "the world is like a ghost" and "officials and tigers are everywhere". Xi Fang Ping's article pays attention to and typically exposes the social relations and bureaucracy of cannibalism. Pu Songling is young and clever, but he tries again and again. Although he has not been disillusioned and disillusioned for a long time, through his personal experience and extensive observation of intellectuals' mental state, he sees that the imperial examination system is a system that traps intellectuals. This system not only fails to give full play to the intelligence of intellectuals, but also cultivates all kinds of mediocre and incompetent waste. In Pu Songling's view, the so-called "learning to be an excellent official" advocated by feudal society can't be realized at all, because the examination room has become a corrupt exchange, blind and talented, which actually answers why Pu Songling failed the exam. In Pu Songling's works, women's problems are also reflected in many aspects, such as the unreasonable marriage system arranged by parents, the disharmony of the family created by concubines, and the dispute between the two. What's more, he created many hazy images of young women who longed for freedom, such as Ying Ning and Qing Feng. They initially broke through the cage and bondage of feudal ethics in the form of fantasy and explored and pursued towards another new world.