General study on late Ming amorous literature

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K00362
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 02020:Chinese literature-related
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: OKI Yasushi 東京大学, 東洋文化研究所, 教授 (70185213)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 中国 / 文学 / 明末 / 清初 / 小説 / 戯曲 / 詩文 / 民間歌謡

Outline of Final Research Achievements

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, many kinds of works of “amorous literature” were produced one after another, including popular novels such as “Plum in the Golden Vase”, plays such as “Peony Pavilion”, collections of women's poetry, and collections of folk songs, such as Feng menglong’s “Mountain Songs”.
Focusing on individual figures such as Feng Menglong and Jiang Shijie during this late Ming and early Qing period, I could give a clear picture on the way how these various literary genres were intertwined within a single person.

Free Research Field

中国文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

小説、戯曲、詩文など、これまで個々のジャンルの中で完結して行われる傾向のあった文学研究にあって、中国明末清初の時期に数多く世に出た「艶文学」を一つの切り口として、詩、詞、曲、小説など、幅広いジャンルにわたって作品を残した馮夢龍、姜実節などの文人に焦点を合わせることによって、個々の人物の中で、これらさまざまな文学ジャンルが交錯していた様相を明らかにしたことは、従来の文学研究の枠を打ち破る端緒となる研究である。