청대 홍루몽의 판본삽화와 대중전파

Abstract

In Qing-editions of Hongloumeng we can find two different kinds of illustrations. Some illustrations appear as illustrations that are embedded in the edition (揷圖, chatu), while others are published as an extra picture book(畵冊). This paper discusses the characteristics of chatu in four representative editions. We can find chatu that visualize the main characters and those that depict important scenes of the story. The first edition of Hongloumeng that includes chatu is the Cheng-edition, compiled by Cheng Weiyuan(程偉元) in 1791. It includes 24 illustrations. The Wang-edition with comments by Wang Xilian(王希廉) appeared in 1832 and has 64 illustrations that show the main characters in combination with plants. Relating the characteristics of a person to the image of a flower was one way of commentary. Jinyuyuan(金玉緣), which was published as lithographic edition around 1884, begins with 120 illustrations of the characters followed by 240 illustrations of visualizing the story. This masse of illustrations helped the edition to survive in the competition with other works of illustrated narrative fiction. Shitouji(石頭記), which was published in 1892 as stereotype edition, used a totally new method according to which each illustration could be changed. It includes 19 illustrations of characters and 240 illustrations that depict parts of the story. Illustrations in works of narrative fiction can be understood as a new reading of the characters and the story. But it was also the only way for its popularization.