The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng

By contrast, the author of Jin ping mei attempts a reversal of Wu Song by re-presenting him, that is, reconfiguring Wu Song’s gallant attributes as symptomatic as a failed hero. In particular, the author of Shuihu zhuan depicts Wu Song as an authentic hero, whom is celebrated for his uninhibited expression of heroism. In Shuihu zhuan, the author valorizes the concept of righteous loyalty and the gallant fellow ideal, but in Jin ping mei, the author critiques them as lacking relevance and as impossibilities in a world dominated by the wealthy and powerful.

Yet, how should one account for the creative choice to simultaneously maintain continuity with Shuihu zhuan and also attempt a move of “discontinuity:” innovating a new narrative outside the Shuihu tradition? This issue may be better understood through a juxtaposed reading of Shuihu zhuan and Jin ping mei, by which one is positioned to appreciate one of the novelistic agendas of the latter: to redefine the concept of righteous loyalty (yi) and to reconstruct the image of the gallant fellow (haohan). It is one of the “four masterworks” of the Ming dynasty that is both indebted to Shuihu zhuan, in that the former’s narrative momentum centers on Wu Song, Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian, but nonetheless demonstrates a clear departure from the Shuihu tradition. Jin ping mei is known for its sophisticated and eclectic narrative style. The International Workshop on Ming-Qing Studies, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, July 21-22, 2016. In doing so, however, they efface the Cihua's unruly celebration of contingency, the novel's seductive insinuation that it might be written otherwise. Later commentators, notably Zhang Zhupo 張竹坡 (1670-1698), reorganize the game sequences within which bouts of character manipulation are embedded for the purposes of narrative prolepsis and character development, advocating an approach to reading enigmas as portents that influenced late imperial novelists. Jin Ping Mei cihua enlarges the presentation and associations of riddles in fiction through its engagement with contemporaneous theatrical literature and the entertainment culture of the brothel. This essay asks where the Cihua edition's fascination with character manipulation (a procedure the author refers to as chaibai daozi 拆白道字) comes from and how it relates to literary riddles that precede and follow this landmark sixteenth-century novel. Jin Ping Mei cihua 金瓶梅詞話 (Plum in the Golden Vase) displays an unprecedented interest in breaking apart and reassembling the components of words.

The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng