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Meng Jiangnü Brings Down the Great Wall - Ten Versions of a Chinese Legend (Paperback)
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Meng Jiangnü Brings Down the Great Wall - Ten Versions of a Chinese Legend (Paperback)
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Meng Jiangnü Brings Down the Great Wall brings together ten
versions of a popular Chinese legend that has intrigued readers and
listeners for hundreds of years. Elements of the story date back to
the early centuries B.C.E. and are an intrinsic part of Chinese
literary history. Major themes and subtle nuances of the legend are
illuminated here by Wilt L. Idema's new translations and pairings.
In this classic story, a young woman named Meng Jiang makes a long,
solitary journey to deliver winter clothes to her husband, a
drafted laborer on the grandiose Great Wall construction project of
the notorious First Emperor of the Qin dynasty (BCE 221-208). But
her travels end in tragedy when, upon arrival, she learns that her
husband has died under the harsh working conditions and been
entombed in the wall. Her tears of grief cause the wall to collapse
and expose his bones, which she collects for proper burial. In some
versions, she tricks the lecherous emperor, who wants to marry her,
into providing a stately funeral for her husband and then takes her
own life. The versions presented here are ballads and chantefables
(alternating chanted verse and recited prose), five from urban
printed texts from the late Imperial and early Republican periods,
and five from oral performances and partially reconstructed texts
collected in rural areas in recent decades. They represent a wide
range of genres, regional styles, dates, and content. From one
version to another, different elements of the story--the
circumstances of Meng Jiangnu's marriage, her relationship with her
parents-in-law, the journey to the wall, her grief, her defiance of
the emperor--are elaborated upon, downplayed, or left out
altogether depending on the particular moral lessons that tale
authors wished to impart. Idema brings together his considerable
translation skills and broad knowledge of Chinese literature to
present an assortment of tales and insightful commentary that will
be a gold mine of information for scholars in a number of
disciplines. Haiyan Lee's essay discusses the appeal of the Meng
Jiangnü story to twentieth-century literary reformers, and the
interpretations they imposed on the material they collected.
General
Imprint: |
University of Washington Press
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Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
March 2008 |
First published: |
June 2008 |
Translators: |
Wilt L. Idema
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Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 19mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback - Trade
|
Pages: |
240 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-295-98784-2 |
Categories: |
Books >
Social sciences >
General
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LSN: |
0-295-98784-7 |
Barcode: |
9780295987842 |
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