S23: Folklore Heroes

In 1372, Emperor Taizu received an unusual gift from Jurong, Jiangsu, his ancestral home: Two melons sharing a stalk. What could it possibly mean?

Role play in three groups:

• Court Officials
• Emperor Taizu
• Local officials from Jurong

• Legitimating autocracy: Reign of Yongle Emperor
• Swords and sorcery fiction: New Dragon Gate Inn and the Kongfu Imagination
• Popular culture in Ming China: Impact of commercialization

• Zhu Di wanted to test the loyalty of former Emperor Jianwen’s advisor, Fang Xiaoru 方孝孺 (1357-1402).
• Fang was an orthodox Confucian scholar-bureaucrat and follow of Zhu Xi’s Neo-Confucianism.
• Would Fang write an edict legitimizing his succession?

• Fang Xiaoru refused, choosing death over submission.
• Fang’s loyalty to the dynasty over personal subservience led to severe consequences.
• Following Yongle’s coup, tens of thousands were executed in a brutal purge.

What should the new emperor do to legitimate his rule?

• The Yongle emperor preferred the north over Nanjing, where support for his deposed nephew was strong.
• He declared Beijing the capital and moved his government there in 1420 after rechanneling the Grand Canal to connect Hangzhou with Beijing.

• The Yongle Encyclopedia (永樂大典) is an encyclopedia commissioned in 1403 and completed in 1408.
• With 22,937 manuscript rolls in 11,095 volumes, it was the world’s largest general encyclopedia until surpassed by Wikipedia in late 2007, nearly six centuries later.
• However, only 800 rolls (3.5% of the original) survived in the late 19th century during the Second Opium War.

• The Yongle emperor sought to expand the empire beyond his father’s achievements.
• He sent troops to Mongolia for five expeditions (1410-1424) against feuding Mongol confederations, but none were successful.
• Troops were also sent to Vietnam (Annam), but they withdrew after twenty years with no new conquests.

• Zheng He (1371-1433), a Muslim eunuch, six large-scale expeditions between 1407 and 1422 to Southeast Asia, India, and Africa, a century before Columbus and da Gama.
• He led a fleet of over 300 ships, with some over 60 meters (200 feet) long, carrying over 28,000 men. They were the the largest wooden boats in the world of the time.
• The primary goal was diplomatic recognition for the usurper-emperor Yongle, not trade.

• Emergence of a new literary genre: vernacular novel
• Rise of extended prose fiction in the late 16th century attributed to commercial publishing

One of the four classic novels of the Ming and Qing periods:

• The group of rebellious heroes were based in a secret hideaway surrounded by marshes—the water margin.
• The novel tells the exploits of 108 anti-government outlaws, heroes during an era of political corruption.

泉涸，鱼相与处于陆，相呴以湿，相濡以沫，不如相忘于江湖。与其誉尧而非桀也，不如两忘而化其道。

When the springs dry up, the fish are stranded together on land. They moisten each other with their breath, they moisten each other with their spit. It is not as good as forgetting each other in the rivers and lakes. It is better to forget both Yao and Jie and transform into the Way.

First half

• (of stranded fish) moisten each other with spit – give one’s meagre resources to help another in time of need.

Complete sentence

• It’s better to forget each other in their native rivers and lakes rather than help each other when both are in humble/distress circumstances.
• Instead of staying together in pain, go your separate ways and find your own places in this world.

• “Jianghu” is a Ming dynasty term: It originally meant hermit places, later the Underworld or World of Martial Arts.
• Historically, “River-lake” referred to secret societies and bandits.
• Fictional “River-lake” (Wulin) consists of various outcasts and societal outsiders: lumpen scholars, adventurers, monks, priests, rebels, cultists, unemployed peasants and laborers, itinerant peddlers, beggars, disbanded soldiers, gangsters, smugglers, and more
• The “River-lake” provided a substitute lineage for assistance and protection.

• Why cast Jade as the main female lead? What does she represent?
• What genre is the film? How does it shape our understanding of the film?
• How historically accurate is the film? Does it matter?

• Why isn’t Jade the one who dies?
• Why does the “barbarian” die?
• Why does she decide to follow Chow?

Setting:

• Usually set from the 1850s to the late 1800s in vast landscapes like plains and mountains of the American West.
• Often shows settlers’ conflicts with Native Americans.
• Violence is a common way to solve problems.

Components:

• Cowboys/Gunfighters & Horses
• Pistols and Rifles: represent the “rule of law” and patriarchal (male-dominated) authority
• Desert setting and Wild-west Saloon: Fist-fights often occur in bars

• Cowboys: the quintessential American hero
• The stranger: A guardian angel with few words; a recurring secret is his true purpose, that is to defeat the big bad and his goons.
• Outlaw: A convict who has escaped his crimes.
• The Sheriff: the hero of the story, an authority figure or a corrupted villain
• The Natives: Noble Savage – considered barbaric by outsiders but in fact are nobler; often with magical powers

• Bartenders serve drinks, gather information, and give advice.
• The “Hooker with a heart of gold” is often a main character’s love interest.
• “Miss Kitty” is an older brothel owner who is a love interest for lawmen.

Western:

• Freedom versus responsibility
• Civilization versus the wilderness
• Tradition versus change
• Community versus individualism
• Settling versus nomadic wandering

New Dragon Inn:

• Literary versus Military
• Individualism versus Community
• Lust versus Love
• People versus the State (represented – or corrupted – by eunuchs)
• Civilization versus the “Barbarians”

In our real world, many things are difficult to express, but in the world of wuxia, they can be conveyed in a very romantic manner.

Tsui Hark, producer of New Dragon Gate Inn

• The Western landscape acts as a blank stage for stories.
• Genres use familiar characters, plots, and images as a shorthand.
• Genres help to structure and overcome emotional trauma.

Kungfu scene

• Quick camera movements disorient the viewer and abstract combat poses.
• The guiding principle is speed: in actors, cutting, and camera.
• The result is an overwhelming sense of chaos.

… with poetic sensibilities

• “Like duckweed drifting, I am without roots; wanderer to the ends of the earth, please do not ask.”
• “Come, let’s toast to this nameless, unrecorded year.”
• “People say one should not speak of love in troubled times, but in reality, love runs deeper in troubled times.”

• “Xia”: often translated as hero, swordsman, or knight-errant.
• Wanderers motivated by justice and honor, not just greed; they are not mere outlaws.
• Xia could be seen as forces for good or as subversive vigilantes.
• In modern fiction: idealized as non-conformists fighting for justice, honorable and masters of martial arts.

• “Xia” were roving knights supported by feudal lords.
• These lords used them to maintain order during chaotic times.
• Famous lords gathered many xia under their banners.
• Records before the Qin dynasty are lost, so early history is unverified.
• The Qin government suppressed xia, calling them “vermin of society.”

Similarities:

• Xia shared common attributes like altruism, justice, loyalty, courage, and truthfulness.
• Many of these traits were extensions of traditional Chinese values.

Differences:

• Xia were distinct due to their individualism and willingness to use force; they prioritize personal loyalty over family ties.
• Xia frequently disregarded authority and treated social superiors with contempt.