What the Master Would Not Discuss
| Author | Yuan Mei |
|---|---|
| Original title | 子不語 |
| Country | Qing dynasty China |
| Language | Chinese |
| Genre | Biji, Gods and demons fiction, supernatural, fantasy, adventure |
Publication date | 1788 CE |
| Media type |
| What the Master Would Not Discuss | |||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 子不語 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 子不语 | ||||||||||||||
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What the Master Would Not Discuss (Chinese: 子不語; pinyin: zǐbùyǔ, alternatively known as Xin Qixie Chinese: 新齊諧; pinyin: xīnqíxié) is a collection of supernatural stories compiled by Qing Dynasty scholar and writer Yuan Mei.[1]
Title
The title of the work refers to the passage of the Analects that states, 'Confucius did not speak of strange events, violence, riots and supernatural things.'[2] His reference to the master was criticised as a 'heretical' use of Confucian texts.[3]
Yuan later changed the title to Xin Qixie when he discovered there was a Yuan dynasty text with the title What the Master Would Not Discuss. However, Yuan's collection is still commonly known by its original title.[4]
Release
What the Master Would Not Discuss first appeared in 1788.[5] In contrast to the prevailing Confucian orthodoxy of the imperial court, the 746 short stories depicted a rich tapestry of daily life, including themes of ghosts, sex, betrayal, revenge, tranvestism, homosexuality, and corruption.[3] However, Yuan defended the collection, as the whims of an ageing man enjoying his last days as much as possible,[6] though the content of his stories relates to many of his personal grievances with the Confucian establishment.[7]
The work was so popular that the government censored it in 1836 during attempts to suppress anti-establishment sentiment.[3]
Stories
The stories were collected over a lengthy period of time.[5] The sources included oral accounts from friends and relatives, official gazettes, or other collections.[8]
In popular culture
One of the supernatural creatures mentioned in this collection called the Hua Po (花魄), literally Floral Spirit, is a recurring demon in the popular Japanese video game series Megami Tensei.
External links
References
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Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
Citations
- ↑ Yuan (2013).
- ↑ Shu Er, Analects（《论语·述而》）: "子不语怪、力、乱、神。”
- 1 2 3 Yuan (1996), p. xxiii.
- ↑ Yuan (1996), p. xxxiii.
- 1 2 Yuan (1996), p. xxx.
- ↑ Yuan (1996), p. xxiv.
- ↑ Thome (2008), p. 27.
- ↑ Yuan (2013), p. 1.
Works cited
- Thome, Jennifer (2008). STRANGE OVERTONES: THE EXPRESSIONS OF RESENTMENT AND COMPASSION IN YUAN MEI’S WHAT THE MASTER DOES NOT SPEAK OF (MA). Arizona State University.
- Yuan, Mei (1996). Louie, Kam; Edwards, Louise, eds. Censored by Confucius: Ghost Stories by Yuan Mei. New York: M. E. Sharpe.
- Yuan, Mei (2013). Santangelo, Paolo; Yan, Beiwen, eds. Zibuyu, What the Master Would Not Discuss. Netherlands: BRILL.