1,720,975 research outputs found
La bellezza che porta all’eccesso (yin li 淫麗) Utilizzo e rilettura del giudizio critico di Yang Xiong nei confronti della poesia rapsodica durante il primo medioevo cinese (220-598)
Full text linkThe article investigates how Yang Xiong’s 揚衿 (53 BCE-18 CE) famous judgment about rhapsodic poems («The fu of the Odes poets, through their beauty, offer standards [of moral behaviour], the fu of the epideictic poets are beautiful and lead to excess» 詩훙裂賦麗鹿則，辭훙裂賦麗鹿尼) was recalled and reinterpreted in order to make a point about what genre is worth pursuing in literary writing. Yang’s words were first quoted in the concluding remarks at the end of the «Shifu» 詩賦 section of the Hanshu’s 漢書 (Book of Han) «Yiwen zhi» 藝匡羚 (Bibliographical chapter), and since then, they became a well known trope particularly used in fu 賦 (rhapsody, poetic exposition) poetry literary criticism. The article makes an overview on how and when Yang’s judgment was utilized, to provide evidences of the different kinds of approaches regarding literature, and in particular fu poetry, since Han to VI century
Collecting Stories to Entertain: Tales of Simpletons and Literati from the Xiaolin 笑林 (Forestof Laughs)
No full textThe Xiaolin (Forest of Laughs), traditionally ascribed to Handan Chun (fl. 220), is considered the earliest collection of jokes in the history of Chinese literature. Most of its anecdotes, retrieved from later sources (mainly the Taiping guangji and the Taiping yulan), present narrative features similar to the illustrative examples found in the works of the Masters, while a few stories are reminiscent of the anecdotes about literati gathered in anthologies (such as the Shishuo xinyu) and recorded in the
biographical sections of official histories. However, as the title Xiaolin suggests, its stories were probably collected more for entertainment purposes than to convey didactic messages or historical information. Since the status of the Xiaolin as the first work of its kind is well-known but its contents are not equally familiar, this article aims to provide an overview of its narratives, highlighting the features that link the text to early and early medieval collections of anecdotes. It also aims to identify
the humour within its narratives and to address the issue of the ‘genre’ to which this text could be affiliated.The Xiaolin (Forest of Laughs), traditionally ascribed to Handan Chun (fl. 220), is considered the earliest collection of jokes in the history of Chinese literature. Most of its anecdotes, retrieved from later sources (mainly the Taiping guangji and the Taiping yulan), present narrative features similar to the illustrative examples found in the works of the Masters, while a few stories are reminiscent of the anecdotes about literati gathered in anthologies (such as the Shishuo xinyu) and recorded in the
biographical sections of official histories. However, as the title Xiaolin suggests, its stories were probably collected more for entertainment purposes than to convey didactic messages or historical information. Since the status of the Xiaolin as the first work of its kind is well-known but its contents are not equally familiar, this article aims to provide an overview of its narratives, highlighting the features that link the text to early and early medieval collections of anecdotes. It also aims to identify
the humour within its narratives and to address the issue of the ‘genre’ to which this text could be affiliated
Narrative Variation and Motif Adaptation in Ancient Anecdotal Lore: A Perspective on the Bird-gift Story in Early and Early Medieval Chinese Sources
Full text linkThis article examines a string of stories collected from different kinds of sources: the Hanshi waizhuan (2nd century BC), the Shuiyuan (late-first century BC), the Lu Lianzi (third century BC), the Shiji (first century BC), the Yinwenzi (fourth century BC), and the Xiaolin (third century AD). It aims to illustrate how a single story, defined as a tale-type, was adapted in six similar versions and how specific variations in its narrative served to convey different political or rhetorical agendas. In particular, this study aims to highlight how stories which were part of the traditional anecdotal lore and, in historical texts and works of the Masters, were used to substantiate an argument, once changed their reading context, could change their reading paradigm and become entertaining pieces of literature
I Sette Savi del Bosco di Bambù: Personalità eccentriche nella Cina medievale
No full textXi Kang, Ruan Ji, Xiang Xiu, Wang Rong, Shan Tao, Liu Ling e Ruan Xian, ovvero “I Sette Savi del Bosco di Bambùˮ sono dei famosi letterati, scrittori e musicisti, attivi nel periodo di transizione tra la dinastia Wei e Jin durante la metà del III sec. d.C. Secondo la tradizione, I Sette erano membri di un gruppo e, nei testi che ci tramandano le loro gesta, sono rappresentati come personalità eccentriche, libere dalle convenzioni comuni, dediti al bere in compagnia, sino all’eccesso, e amanti del taoismo.
Gli aneddoti che li riguardano, tradotti in questo volume, e diventati poi famosi in campo letterario, sono tratti dallo Shishuo Xinyu 世說新語 (Nuove informazioni dalle storie del mondo), un’opera del V secolo di natura ibrida, a metà tra l’intrattenimento e l’informazione storica. Successivamente alla loro morte, i Sette Savi divennero infatti un modello ideale di amicizia tra anime affini, e nei secoli furono fonte di ispirazione per molti letterati. Il libro contiene un saggio introduttivo sui letterati e il primo periodo medievale e propone, oltre agli aneddoti, una selezione di brevi testi rappresentativi della produzione artistica di alcuni Sav
Maurizio Paolillo, La lingua delle montagne e delle acque: Il Libro delle Sepolture (Zangshu) e la tradizione della geomanzia cinese (Fengshui)
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“Fuori dal Canone: Pratiche e Forme Letterarie di Intrattenimento a Corte (Periodo Han-inizio Wei)”
No full textrecensione di Mazza, Caterina (ed.).2012. Traduzione e parodia. Le riscritture contemporanee di Kawabata(Translation and parody: Contemporary reworkings of Kawabata [Yasunari]). Venice: Libreria Editrice Cafoscarina. 208 pp. ISBN: 978-8-8754-3331-4. €18,00.
No full textThe Shiji chapter "Guji liezhuan" (Traditions of Witty Remonstrants): A Source to Look for Rhetorical Strategiesinn Early China
No full textThe “Guji liezhuan” 滑稽列傳, found at the chapter 126 of Sima Qian 司馬遷’s (c. 145–c. 90 BC) Shiji 史記, in modern times has been considered the starting point to discuss the topic of “humour” in ancient China (Chen Wenxin), and the word guji 滑稽sometimes has been translated as “humorist” (Knechtges), someone who entertains by making people laugh. At the same time, this chapter has also been considered an historical source to analyse the figure of the court jester (Feng Yuanjun, Wang Guowei); however, the Great Historian constructed the anecdotes in a way in which the focal point of the stories had to be identified in the speeches of the characters presented. Those speeches, performed by low class individuals (mostly jesters), were linked by the author to the Six Disciplines (Liuyi 六藝) as they were conceived as important for the government of the state, and they can be classified as examples of indirect remonstrance (fengjian 諷諫) (Schaberg). The crucial point and what makes this chapter peculiar is that the remonstrances pronounced by the characters are expressed in a “humorous” way, which means they make the addressee of the rhetorical discourse laugh. This quality is identified by the word guji, then an adjective, in the title of the chapter. My paper aims to stress how Sima Qian made the term guji meaningful (a feature already pointed out by Timoteus Pokora) constructing anecdotes in which the protagonists express their issues in an entertaining way of speech and behaviour; so as to say, “humorous” here is a rhetorical quality of their speeches. My aim is also to point out that term guji so understood is peculiar only to the part supposedly written by Sima Qian. In fact, Chu Shaosun褚少孫 (c. 105–c. 30 BC), the only contributor to the Shiji who reveals himself, adding some anecdotes at the end of the chapter, understood guji more as an “humorous”-entertaining features of the characters and stories
The Forest of laughs (Xiaolin): mapping the offspring of self-aware literature in ancient China
No full textLa mia ricerca è concentrata sull’analisi del Xiaolin (Foresta di risate), una collezione di aneddoti ascritta a Handan Chun (?132–225? d.C.), famoso studioso della fine degli Haninizio Wei. Oggi il Xiaolin è considerato la prima collezione aneddotica scritta principalmente per intrattenimento. Se è vero che gli aneddoti del Xiaolin non hanno altro fine che quello di intrattenere il lettore, questa collezione può, a giusta ragione, essere considerata una delle prime testimonianze della nascita di una letteratura consapevole di sé nella Cina antica. Il mio lavoro cerca di dimostrare quest’ultima affermazione. Per fare ciò,
presento un’indagine storica del dibattito intellettuale tra gli studiosi membri dell’elite del periodo Han e Wei. In secondo luogo analizzo le morfologie e le strutture delle brevi narrative raccolte sotto il nome di Xiaolin. Successivamente fornisco informazioni storiche sulle opere e le vicende legate all’autore, cercando di metterlo in luce come personaggio
caratteristico dell’elite intellettuale della sua epoca. In fine, presento l’edizione critica del testo e la traduzione in inglese degli aneddoti.My research is centred on the analysis of the Xiaolin (Forest of Laughs), a collection of anecdotes ascribed to Handan Chun (?132–225? AD) a famous scholar of Later Han – Wei period. Today the Xiaolin is considered the first specimen of collections of anecdotes specifically written for entertainment purposes. If it is true that Xiaolin’s anecdotes had no other aim than entertaining, it can, with reason, be considered the offspring of self-aware
literature in ancient China. My research tries to bring evidences to this last statement. In order to do this, I provide a historical survey of the intellectual debate at court among the members of educated elite since Western Han to Wei Jin period. Then, I draw attention to the morphology and the structure of the brief narratives, which are collected under the title of Xiaolin. I provide historical information of the author’s deeds and compositions, to show him
as a characteristic member of the educated elite of his own time. Finally, I present the critical edition of the anecdotes ascribed to the Xiaolin, with their translations
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