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What does it take to be human?: foreignness in Yuan Mei's Zi buyu

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Yuan Mei 袁枚 (1716-97) is often thought of as a rebellious figure within the eighteenth-century intellectual and literary landscape. His perceived rejection of nearly all aspects of Confucian values was so extreme that he was even dubbed a "sinner against the teachings of Confucius." This thesis examines six stories within…

Yuan Mei 袁枚 (1716-97) is often thought of as a rebellious figure within the eighteenth-century intellectual and literary landscape. His perceived rejection of nearly all aspects of Confucian values was so extreme that he was even dubbed a "sinner against the teachings of Confucius." This thesis examines six stories within Yuan Mei's Zi buyu 子不語 (What Confucius Did Not Talk About) and, through close reading, shows how Yuan Mei utilizes each foreign group's physical traits and their ability to verbally and/or ethically communicate with the Chinese protagonist, in order to reflect their adherence to Confucian values and acceptance of Chinese imperial authority to arrange them along a spectrum of humanness that reflects the Chinese-foreign distinction. Furthermore, by examining each story in their historical and literary contexts, it is discovered that nearly every foreign group portrayed in Zi buyu is based on historical groups that actually existed on the periphery of the Qing empire, and that the different degrees of foreignness of each subject reflect each historical foreign group's acquiescence to or rebellion against the imperial authority of the Qing empire. Contrary to commonly held opinions, Yuan Mei's negotiation of foreignness demonstrates his own deep subscription to Confucian ethics and adherence to imperial order.
ContributorsCampos, Miles (Author) / Ling, Xiaoqiao (Thesis advisor) / Oh, Young Kyun (Committee member) / West, Stephen H. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
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Intervent and compromise in Sang Hu's movies from 1947 to 1948

Description
During 1947-1948, three commercial films: Everlasting Love( 1947) Long Live the Wife (1947) and Happiness and Sorrow of Middle Ages (1948) from the director Sang Hu were released. Although the results from box-office were stunning, they suffered fierce criticism from progressive critics largely because the films lacked descriptions of China…

During 1947-1948, three commercial films: Everlasting Love( 1947) Long Live the Wife (1947) and Happiness and Sorrow of Middle Ages (1948) from the director Sang Hu were released. Although the results from box-office were stunning, they suffered fierce criticism from progressive critics largely because the films lacked descriptions of China as a nation-state with critical explorations on nationalism, anti-imperialism, and feudalism. This ideological bias resulted in a long time neglect of the artistic and social value of these three films. This paper attempts to analyze the directors original intention through the love story vehicle, illustrate his concern toward individuals, society, urban culture and moral standards and further discuss this new film genre through a comparison of today's film market. In my opinions, his films contain considerable artistic and social values which deserve scholarly attentions. They show great compassion toward the dilemma of ordinary human beings and privilege the perspectives of common citizens; The director depicts various kinds of interpersonal relationships in a semi-colonial city and thus demonstrates considerable concern with the social realities. In their particular political environment, these films negotiate the economic market and yet successfully contribute their own intervention in the wider cultural discussion of post-war social reconstruction and the development of ethical values.
ContributorsWu, Jie (Author) / Zou, John (Thesis advisor) / Ling, Xiaoqiao (Committee member) / West, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012