상인과 여인 그리고 선비- 중국 전통시기의 문학작품에 등장하는 상인을 예로 들어-

Abstract

The triangle relationship among businessman, woman and literati is often represented in classical Chinese literature. The representation is modeled on the failure of businessmen in winning women’s heart in competition with the literati, whose literary talents are often adored by the female with bias against the wealth of businessmen. In fact, this triangle relationship is imagined by the literati in compensation for their defeat by businessmen in real life. In literary imagination, the literati gain the upper hand over businessmen and retaliate upon them whom they can hardly overpower in reality. From Tang poetry to Yuan drama, to Ming novels in vernacular, and to Qing novels in classical Chinese, literati’s literary imagination turns from hidden to overt, and gradually exhibits realistic and even comical features. This thesis gives a detailed description and analysis of the evolution of the everlasting imagination of the literati.