숙명론의 서사학 - 청말 민초 「가정도성기략」과 도덕주의 소설창작

Abstract

This essay explores the continuing legacy of the fatalistic worldview inherent in the literati writings of a tumultuous historical period: the Ming-Qing transition, the end of the Qing empire and the warlord era. Moral criticism, accordingly, intensified as a means of praising and censuring current events. Analysis of the Ming loyalist record of one significant eruption of violence, “The Massacre in Jiading,” reveals that fatalism serves as a motif to enrich the fictional narratives of dynastic collapse: Wu Jianren's A History of Pain (1903-06) and Huang Xiaopei's The Chronicle of Hong Xiuquan (1905-06). In “The Story of Hair” (1920), on the other hand, the modern novelist Lu Xun points out that the moralist discourse may only multiply the victims of violence without improving the present situation, which is ultimately Lu Xun's moral impetus for counting the elements of misfortunes. As for methodology, I note the political ambiguity found in the narratives of martyrdom. In “Jiading,” the loyalists may legitimize revenge against the Manchus; however, its legacy may also demand a need for protecting the existing dynasty, that is, the Manchu Qing. Similarly, the historical novels, even as they prioritize anti-Manchu discourse over factual details, the distortion of history may undermine the mission of moral criticism. Lu Xun knew well that his realism should incorporate hope as well as despair; however, he was concerned about the collision of the two. As a result, he developed a narrative strategy which expressed his fatalistic vision of the deteriorating conditions of China. In “Hair,” Lu Xun projects himself into a third-person character, distancing himself from the narrator's role. This aesthetic of fatalism continued as literati sought justice which further shaped the narrative forms of social criticism.