英文摘要 |
A close relationship existed between folk beliefs and daily life in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The Sanyan Erpai 三言二拍, which circulated widely in the late Ming, clearly shows the influence of folk beliefs. A Dream of Red Mansions 紅樓夢 also attests to the popularity of folk beliefs during the Ming-Qing period. Belief in the Xiaogu Fairy had started to spread in the early Ming dynasty, and it became even more popular during the very late Ming. Thus, it is not surprising that the early Qing author Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹 was influenced by it when writing A Dream of Red Mansions. Although the possible influence of Du Liniang over Lin Daiyu has been recognized, discussions of the Xiaogu Fairy’s influence on A Dream of Red Mansions has been lacking in contemporary scholarship. The intertextuality between The Peony Pavilion 牡丹亭 and A Dream of Red Mansions indicates that Cao was the recipient of the former work. Moreover, on the basis of Kang Laixin’s 康來新 assertion that A Dream of Red Mansions possesses the characteristics of memory literature (which means it referred to Cao Xueqin himself and his personal life experiences), this article examines how Cao Xueqin developed the image of the Xiaogu Fairy from The Peony Pavilion, how he transcended time and space to communicate with past authors, and how, in the process, he found a spiritual place beyond the material world. |