Li Baojia

Li Baojia (Traditional Chinese: 李寶嘉, Simplified: 李宝嘉, Pinyin: Lǐ Bǎojiā, Wade–Giles: Li Pao-chia), courtesy name (zi) Li Boyuan (Chinese: 李伯元, Pinyin: Lǐ Bóyuán, Wade–Giles: Li Po-yüan; 1867-1906[1]), art name nickname (hao) Nanting tingzhang (T: 南亭停長, S: 南亭停长, P: Nántíng tíngzhǎng, W: Nan-t'ing T'ing-chang) was a Qing Dynasty-era Chinese author. He was a writer, essayist, ballad author, poet, calligrapher, and seal carver. He edited a fiction periodical and several tabloids.[1]

History

Li Baojia was born in Shandong. His ancestral hometown was Wujin in what is now Changzhou, Jiangsu.[1] Li Baojia lived in Shandong for his early childhood and young adulthood, spanning the years 1867 to 1892. After 1892 he moved to Wujin into the residence of his parents. For a five-year period he studied for the xiucai imperial examination and passed it. He then studied for the juren exam but did not pass. He moved from Wujin to Shanghai at age 30 and worked as a writer and journalist.[2]

Initially Li served as the principal writer and editor of several area tabloids and magazines. They included the Shanghai Shijie Fanhua Bao (T: 上海世界繁華報, S: 上海世界繁华报, P: Shànghǎi Shìhìjiè Fánhuá Bào, W: Shanghai Shih-chieh Fan-hua Pao; "The Bustling World of Shanghai" or "The Glittering World"), the Zhinan Bao (T: 指南報, S: 指南报, P: Zhǐnán Bào, W: Chih-nan Pao; "The Guide" or "News About the Pleasure Quarters"[3]), and Youxi Bao (T: 遊戲報, S: 游戏报, P: Yóuxì Bào, W: Yu-hsi Pao; "Amusement News" or "News About Recreation"[3]). By 1903 he became the editor of and a contributor to the Xiuxiang Xiaoshuo (T: 繡像小說, S: 绣像小说; P: Xiùxiàng Xiǎoshuō, W: Hsiu-hsiang Hsiao-shuo; "Illustrated Fiction" or "Fiction Illustrated"), a reputable fortnightly publication that was published by the Commercial Press of Shanghai, then the city's largest publisher.[2]

He died in Shanghai at age 39.[1]

Writing style

The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Part 1 wrote that in Li Baojia's time, his writings were popular and "suited the social and political climate" of the late Qing Dynasty.[2] Li Baojia wrote novels for an audience who did not receive a classical education, and he used everyday vernacular speech in his works.[4] The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Part 1 stated that some people characterized his writings as "satirical, vituperative, and exaggerated".[2]

Li Baojia's works are meant to reflect Chinese society. His characters were written to represent social groups so he did not use complex characterization. He patterned each of his novels from an identical plot organized in thematic cycles. He used this plot as a base to systematically describe social strata. Milena Doleželová-Velingerová, author of "Chapter 38: Fiction from the End of the Empire to the Beginning of the Republic (1897-1916)", wrote that "These new inventions in the structural configuration of the novel made Li Pao-chia an unsurpassed master of the late Ch'ing novel while presenting a broad picture of Chinese society."[4]

The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Part 1 stated that Li Baojia's works were "artistically uneven".[2]

Purpose of his writing

The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Part 1 argued that Li Baojia's novels "portrayed China in a serious state of disrepair and in need of drastic change" and that his works "served an important political and social function in a critical transitional period."[2] The book further argued that many later readers of Li Baojia's works interpreted them as advocating for radical changes but that Li Baojia himself was a moderate reformer who was against radical change.[2]

Works

Novels:

Ballads:

Miscellaneous writings

The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Part 1 stated that "There are also a number of works of doubtful authorship attributed to him."[1]

References

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 PL, p. 547.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 PL, p. 548.
  3. 1 2 Wang, David Der-wei (1997). Fin-de-siècle Splendor: Repressed Modernities of Late Qing Fiction, 1849–1911. Stanford University Press. p. 3. ISBN 0-8047-2845-3.
  4. 1 2 Doleželová-Velingerová, p. 724.
  5. 1 2 Holoch, p. 76.
  6. ↑ Yang, Xiaobin, p. 248 (Notes to pages 8-15).

Further reading

External links

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