Structural Cyclicity in Shuihu Zhuan: From Self to Sworn Brotherhood
- Structural Cyclicity in Shuihu Zhuan: From Self to Sworn Brotherhood
Footnotes
1. For a detailed discussion of the formation and development of the Shuihu stories, and the compilation and revisions of the novel, see Irwin’s The Evolution of a Chinese Novel: Shuihu Chuan.
2. See, for example, Mao Dun’s discussion on Shuihu (1950). He claims that the novel is not an organic organization of stories, which, though each being tightly constructed, are independent of each other.
3. See the 1977 article by Hu Juren, in which he argues that, as characters who appear earlier in the novel are reintroduced later, the all-absorbing snowball metaphor is inappropriate.
4. P. Hanan (1967), pp. 183–184.
5. P. Li (1977), pp. 84–82.
6. Y. Zheng (1985), pp. 249–251.
7. See C. T. Hsia (1968) for an insightful discussion of sexual puritanism and misogynic sadism in Shuihu zhuan. Partially basing his discussion on this observation, Sum (1981) hypothesizes that Shuihu zhuan was a work written by and for the bandits.
8. For more of Jin Shengtan’s discussion on zhengfan and other structural features, see hi “Du diwu caizi shu fa.” The entire work is included in Ma Tiji, ed. Shuihu ziliao huibian, 1980, pp. 32–38. See also A. Plaks’s investigation of the narrative rhetoric of Shuihu zhuan in his book entitled The Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel (1987), pp. 279–358 Of particular relevance to this study is his argument that “in each of these chains of recurrent types, the author’s chief aim is to manipulate the conflicting aspects of similarity and difference involved in the juxtapositions of roles and types in order to cast an ironic reflection on the final interpretation of all the figures involved”(p. 316).
9. Lin Chong’s story appears in Chapters 7–12. The particular incident referred to here can be found in Chapter 12.
10. All passages quoted translation in this paper are taken from Shapiro’s Outlaws of the Marsh. The passage cited here is on p. 331 in the translation.
11. Song Jiang has been aware of the illicit affair, but chooses to ignore it with the reasoning that Yan Poxi is not his legal wife selected by his father.
12. The part of the informer in the Pan Jinlian episode is played by Yunge. 䣇哥, a fruit vendor who, in an attempt to get even with the abusive Wang Po, not only tells Wu Dalang about the secret love affair but also helps him to devise a scheme to trap the adulterous pair. Yunge finds his counterpart in Tang Niur 唐 牛兒 in the first episode, a young peddler of pickled meats and vegetables. As in Yunge’s case, Tang gets into a fight with Yan Poxi’s mother, and the confusion provides a chance for Song Jiang to flee from being arrested. There is again an observable trace of development from a chance interference to an intentional interception, concluding with a calculated exposition in the Pan Qiaoyun episode. Jin Shengtan also notes this repetition in his Shuihu comments.
13. Shapiro, p. 747.
14. The slaughtering of Lu Qian, again with heart and liver tom out, is one of the earliest cases in which the violation of sworn brotherhood is avenged. Lin regarded Lu as his brother with whom he shared his thoughts and worries; the latter, however, readily betrayed him in exchange for favor from the corrupted officials.
15. Shapiro, p. 736.
16. Shapiro, p. 736.
17. Shapiro, p. 747. For “brotherly relationship,” Shapiro has “my brother’s name.” The expression in the original text is xiongdi qingfen 兄弟情分.
18. Shapiro, p. 790.
19. Shapiro, p. 796. Shapiro uses “cousins” instead of “brothers” for Xiongdi 兄弟, which is more sensible in the English reading, but fails to capture the idea of the all-inclusive fraternity.
20. It is interesting to note that the role of a squire appears in all three tiger-killing episodes. But, whereas the squire remains anonymous and innocuous in Wu Song’s story, the ones in the next two accounts become increasingly schematic and antagonistic. This negative development in depicting the class...
