RAS-1961 — Page 42

RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 All AI Reviewed

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch

RASHKB and author

Vol. 1 (1961)

ISSN 1991-7295

one called "The Capture of Chi Pu". This refers to the same General Chi Pu mentioned earlier, whose life was saved by the knight errant Chu Chia. In this popular version, which is in doggerel verse, the story differs from the historical account. The name of Chi Pu's benefactor is given as Chu Chieh instead of Chu Chia. This is probably due to a confusion between the names Chu Chia and Kuo Chieh, the two most famous knights of early Han. Moreover, in this version, Chu is the official sent to arrest Chi Pu, and he is blackmailed into saving the latter's life rather than doing so voluntarily. This tale in doggerel verse has no great literary merits, but is of considerable historical interest as a specimen of popular chivalric literature of the Tang period.

During the Sung dynasty, professional story-tellers flourished. According to the Tsui-weng t'an-lu (B680), a miscellaneous collection of stories and verses probably printed at the end of Sung, the story-tellers divided their tales into eight categories: "miracles" (ling-kuai), “female ghosts" (yen-fen), “love romances" (ch'uan-ch'i), “legal cases" (kung-an), “long swords" (p'u-tao), “clubs" (kan-pang), "gods and immortals" (shen-hsien), and “magic” (yao-shu)." Two of these, "long swords” and “clubs”, obviously deal with chivalrous deeds. The difference between the two, judging by the examples given in the Tsui-weng t'an-lu, seems to be that the former refers to battles waged between armies using long weapons, while the latter refers to private fights involving the use of short weapons. The latter is therefore more strictly concerned with knights errant, who usually fought as individuals rather than as leaders of armies. As for chivalric tales involving the supernatural, such as the story of Hung Hsien, they were classified under "magic".

Many of the prompt-books used by the story-tellers, known as hua-pen, have come down to us, though usually edited by later hands. Moreover, some of them became integral parts of long prose romances. The most outstanding example of a chivalric romance based on oral tradition is the Shui-hu chuan, of which there are two English versions, one by J. H. Jackson entitled The water margin, the other by Pearl S. Buck entitled All men are brothers. The historical events on which the oral legends and the prose romance were based took place at the end of the Northern Sung period. According to the History of the Sung dynasty, in A.D. 1121 a group of rebels led by Sung Chiang and thirty-five others ravaged several prefectures

10 Wang Chung-min and others, Tun-huang pien-wen chi (Peking, 1957), vol. 1, pp. 58-71,

17 Tsui-weng t'an-lu (reprinted Shanghai, 1957), pp. 3-4. This is the most precise contemporary account of the classification of stories. Other accounts are similar but not so clear.

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Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 38 one called "The Capture of Chi Pu". This refers to the same General Chi Pu mentioned earlier, whose life was saved by the knight errant Chu Chia. In this popular version, which is in doggerel verse, the story differs from the historical account. The name of Chi Pu's benefactor is given as Chu Chieh instead of Chu Chia. This is probably due to a confusion between the names Chu Chia and Kuo Chieh, the two most famous knights of early Han. Moreover, in this version, Chu is the official sent to arrest Chi Pu, and he is blackmailed into saving the latter's life rather than doing so voluntarily. This tale in doggerel verse has no great literary merits, but is of considerable historical interest as a specimen of popular chivalric literature of the Tang period. During the Sung dynasty, professional story-tellers flourished. According to the Tsui-weng t'an-lu (B680), a miscellaneous collection of stories and verses probably printed at the end of Sung, the story-tellers divided their tales into eight categories: "miracles" (ling-kuai), “female ghosts" (yen-fen), “love romances" (ch'uan-ch'i), “legal cases" (kung-an), “long swords" (p'u-tao), “clubs" (kan-pang), "gods and immortals" (shen-hsien), and “magic” (yao-shu)." Two of these, "long swords” and “clubs”, obviously deal with chivalrous deeds. The difference between the two, judging by the examples given in the Tsui-weng t'an-lu, seems to be that the former refers to battles waged between armies using long weapons, while the latter refers to private fights involving the use of short weapons. The latter is therefore more strictly concerned with knights errant, who usually fought as individuals rather than as leaders of armies. As for chivalric tales involving the supernatural, such as the story of Hung Hsien, they were classified under "magic". Many of the prompt-books used by the story-tellers, known as hua-pen, have come down to us, though usually edited by later hands. Moreover, some of them became integral parts of long prose romances. The most outstanding example of a chivalric romance based on oral tradition is the Shui-hu chuan, of which there are two English versions, one by J. H. Jackson entitled The water margin, the other by Pearl S. Buck entitled All men are brothers. The historical events on which the oral legends and the prose romance were based took place at the end of the Northern Sung period. According to the History of the Sung dynasty, in A.D. 1121 a group of rebels led by Sung Chiang and thirty-five others ravaged several prefectures : : 10 Wang Chung-min and others, Tun-huang pien-wen chi (Peking, 1957), vol. 1, pp. 58-71, 17 Tsui-weng t'an-lu (reprinted Shanghai, 1957), pp. 3-4. This is the most precise contemporary account of the classification of stories. Other accounts are similar but not so clear.

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Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch RASHKB and author Vol. 1 (1961) ISSN 1991-7295 38 one called "The Capture of Chi Pu". This refers to the same General Chi Pu mentioned earlier, whose life was saved by the knight errant Chu Chia. In this popular version, which is in doggerel verse, the story differs from the historical account. The name of Chi Pu's benefactor is given as Chu Chieh instead of Chu Chia. This is probably due to a confusion between the names Chu Chia and Kuo Chieh, the two most famous knights of early Han. Moreover, in this version, Chu is the official sent to arrest Chi Pu, and he is blackmailed into saving the latter's life rather than doing so voluntarily. This tale in doggerel verse has no great literary merits, but is of considerable historical interest as a specimen of popular chivalric literature of the Tang period. During the Sung dynasty, professional story-tellers flourished. According to the Tsui-weng r'an-lu (B680), a miscellaneous collection of stories and verses probably printed at the end of Sung, the story-tellers divided their tales into eight categories: "miracles" (ling-kuai). “female ghosts" (yen-fen M}), “love romances" (ch'uan-ch'i (# ), “legal cases" (kung-an 4), “long swords" (p'u-tao JJ ), “clubs" (kan-pang ## ), ##), "gods and immortals" (shen-hsien s¶¶ ), and “magic” (yao-shu)." Two of these, "long swords” and “clubs”, obviously deal with chivalrous deeds. The difference between the two, judging by the examples given in the Tsui-weng r'an-lu, seems to be that the former refers to battles waged between armies using long weapons, while the latter refers to private fights involving the use of short weapons. The latter is therefore more strictly concerned with knights errant, who usually fought as individuals rather than as leaders of armies. As for chivalric tales involving the supernatural, such as the story of Hung Hsien, they were classified under "magic". Many of the prompt-books used by the story-tellers, known as hua-pen (), have come down to us, though usually edited by later hands. Moreover, some of them became integral parts of long prose romances. The most outstanding example of a chivalric romance based on oral tradition is the Shui-hu chuan (*), of which there are two English versions, one by J. N. Jackson entitled The water margin, the other by Pearl S. Buck entitled All men are brothers. The historical events on which the oral legends and the prose romance were based took place at the end of the Northern Sung period. According to the History of the Sung dynasty, in A.D. 1121 a group of rebels led by Sung Chiang and thirty-five others ravaged several prefectures : : 10 Wang Chung-min and others, Tun-huang pien-wen chi # (Peking, 1957), vol. 1, pp. 58-71, 17 Tsul-weng t'an-lu (reprinted Shanghai, 1957), pp. 3-4. This is the most precise contemporary account of the classification of stories. Other accounts are similar but not so clear.

2026-05-12 12:53:58 · Baseline

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Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch

RASHKB and author

Vol. 1 (1961)

ISSN 1991-7295

During the Sung dynasty, professional story-tellers flourished. According to the Tsui-weng r'an-lu (B680), a miscellaneous collection of stories and verses probably printed at the end of Sung, the story-tellers divided their tales into eight categories: "miracles" (ling-kuai). “female ghosts" (yen-fen M}), “love romances" (ch'uan-ch'i (# ), “legal cases" (kung-an 4), “long swords" (p'u-tao JJ ), “clubs" (kan-pang ## ),

##), "gods and immortals" (shen-hsien s¶¶ ), and “magic” (yao-shu)." Two of these, "long swords” and “clubs”, obviously deal with chivalrous deeds. The difference between the two, judging by the examples given in the Tsui-weng r'an-lu, seems to be that the former refers to battles waged between armies using long weapons, while the latter refers to private fights involving the use of short weapons. The latter is therefore more strictly concerned with knights errant, who usually fought as individuals rather than as leaders of armies. As for chivalric tales involving the supernatural, such as the story of Hung Hsien, they were classified under "magic".

Many of the prompt-books used by the story-tellers, known as hua-pen (), have come down to us, though usually edited by later hands. Moreover, some of them became integral parts of long prose romances. The most outstanding example of a chivalric romance based on oral tradition is the Shui-hu chuan (*), of which there are two English versions, one by J. N. Jackson entitled The water margin, the other by Pearl S. Buck entitled All men are brothers. The historical events on which the oral legends and the prose romance were based took place at the end of the Northern Sung period. According to the History of the Sung dynasty, in A.D. 1121 a group of rebels led by Sung Chiang and thirty-five others ravaged several prefectures

10 Wang Chung-min and others, Tun-huang pien-wen chi # (Peking, 1957), vol. 1, pp. 58-71,

17 Tsul-weng t'an-lu (reprinted Shanghai, 1957), pp. 3-4. This is the most precise contemporary account of the classification of stories. Other accounts are similar but not so clear.

RAS-1961 — Page 42

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