In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

∫ Acknowledgments Growing up in Nanking gave me a false sense of security. I always believed that the characters in the Shih-shuo hsin-yü not only inhabited the same physical space I did but that they also partook of the same local “spirit.” We understood each other. I felt that I could rub shoulders with the “orchids and jade trees” of the Wang and Hsieh clans along the Black-clothes Alley, and listen to the pure-talk debates of monks and gentlemen at the site of the Tile-coffin Monastery. So when the late Professor Kuan Hsiung , one of my mentors at Nanking University, suggested that I explore a topic related to the Shih-shuo hsin-yü for my M.A. thesis, I agreed without hesitation. I thought it would be an exciting and easy job, something that could be done with great joy but without much effort. I was half right. Little did I know that the study of the Shih-shuo hsin-yü would prove to be an intellectual abyss. My M.A. thesis in Chinese on the aesthetics of the Shih-shuo hsin-yü grew into a Yale Ph.D. dissertation (“Being One’s Self: NarrativeArt and Taxonomy of Human Nature in the Shih-shuo hsiny ü”), which became, in turn, an examination of the entire Shih-shuo tradition—from the genesis of the work in the Wei-Chin period to the literally dozens of Shih-shuo imitations produced in China and Japan over the next 1,500 years. Were it not for a timely call to “cease and desist” from my many supportive friends and colleagues, I would still be working on this book. I am most grateful to Professor Richard B. Mather, who, as my spiritual father, has been the best possible example of both scholarship and humanity. This book is a small token of my vast esteem for him. I am also indebted to Professor Richard J. Smith for urging me to expand the scope of my study and for offering valuable advice, incisive criticism, and soultouching inspiration over a long span of time. Thanks also to Professors Kang-I Sun Chang, Richard John Lynn, Ch’eng Ch’ien-fan, Chou Hsün-ch’u, and Haun Saussy for their insightful comments and unfailing support; to Drs. Mervin and Elaine Needell for their editorial assistance and warm friendship; to my Rice colleagues and students for their constant help and encouragement; to Rice University for much-needed released time and research funds; to the Library of Congress, the Peking Library, the Peking University Library, the Nanking Library, the Nanking University Library, the Taiwan Central Library, the Library of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, Japan’s National Diet Library, and the Waseda University Library, for their kind assistance; to my editors, SharonYamamoto, Masako Ikeda, and Lee S. Motteler, who made the publication of this book possible; and last but not least, to my family, who walked me through all the adversities in my life. Finally, a word to Professor MarstonAnderson: When we first sat down together to structure what would become my dissertation, you advised me to think of it as a book for a broad audience. Your idea was that the Shihshuo hsin-yü deserved wider exposure in the Western world, and that perhaps I could complement in some way Richard Mather’s masterful scholarly translation of the work. A genius who could have added more weight to this book died far too young. Now, at least, I can lay this book in front of your tomb. x i i A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s ...

Share