Comparison between Chinese literature Jin Ping Mei" and Japanese literature "The Tale of Genji"

The Chinese literature " Jin Ping Mei" and Japanese literature "The Tale of Genji" are answering the following question: Both Jin Ping Mei and The Tale of Genji describe in exhaustive detail the clothing, appearance, manners, and aesthetic or literary tastes of their times. In this essay I will discuss how such descriptions function in their respective narratives, in terms of setting off or conceptualizing the events they describe. I will also analyze what these two poems tell about the values of these two societies. In this essay, I shall be analysing two literary pieces -- the Chinese literature "Jin Ping Mei" and Japanese literature "The Tale of Genji. Jin Ping Mei, or The Plum in the Golden Vase (English translation) is a Chinese naturalistic novel. The novel was composed in vernacular Chinese during the late Ming Dynasty. The book was written by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng. However, this was not a real name of the author. Initially, the novel appeared in the form of handwritten scripts, and it was only in 1610 when the first block-printed book was released. The present day Jin Ping Mei is a complete version of the book which comprises one hundred chapters. Each chapter has over a thousand pages. The book has become so popular that it sometimes is considered to be the fifth classical novel after the Four Great Classical Novels. The book has won a public acclaim and a level of notoriety for its graphically explicit depiction of sexuality. The novel describes the three central female characters Pan Jinlian, Li Ping'er, a concubine of Ximen Qing, and Pang Chunmei, a young maid who became very influential in the family. The presence of these three heroines is not occasional. Each of these three Chinese characters symbolizes a certain aspect about human nature. Many researchers also

conform that the symbols used in the novel such as mei, plum blossoms are in fact the metaphoric signs for sexuality. (Ding 6) Within Chinese societies, Jin Ping Mei is known as a pornographic book due to the explicit portrayal of sex scenes. However, some critical studies that have emerged during the period of the Qing Dynasty stood against oversimplified explanation of the book stating that the book had marked the development of the narrative art form in Chinese literature. (Sexual thing in Jing Pin Mei, 2002) Furthermore, the book became significant not only from a specifically Chinese perspective but in a world-historical context mainly because of a high level of sophistication and prose complicacy. The novel itself is focused around the life of the Ximen household during the years 111127. It was the time when the Northern Song Dynasty governed the state. The main protagonist of the story is Ximen Qing, a corrupt social climber and lustful merchant. This man is wealthy enough to marry a consort of six wives and concubines. A key episode of the novel shows how Ximen Qing seduces the adulterous Pan Jinlian. The seduction has the place after Ximen Qing secretly murders the husband of Pan, after which Ximen Qing marries his former wife. The other important motive of the story is the domestic sexual struggles of the women within his clan as they are striving to gain prestige and influence amidst the gradual decline of the Ximen clan. An interesting fact to mention is that during the novel Ximen had 19 sexual partners including his 6 wives and mistresses. The book gives a detailed explanation of Ximens relation with each of his wives. Totally, the book has 72 detailed sexual episodes. This rather a surprising number of descriptions of sexual objects and coital techniques could be considered a very unusual thing for the present day literature. One more feature of

Jin Ping Mei is the extensive use of foul language, (it contains a lot of bawdy jokes) as well as the presence of oblique but still titillating sexual euphemisms. Naifei Ding, the author of Obscene Things, is one of few scholars who made an accurate contextual analysis of the novel "Jin Ping Mei" and saw a hidden meaning in this early scandalous Chinese novel of sexuality and sexual culture. Just to mention, in her analysis Ding relied upon a 1695 version of the book by Zhang Zhupo. It is this version of the book in particular on which Ding focuses her attention while making her contextual analysis. Contrary to her predecessors, Ding challenges the traditional explanation of the meaning of the book as erotic narrative and suggests her own more elaborated and refined contextual analysis of the book. Instead of focusing on mere eroticism this author highlights the presence of fundamental misogyny inherent in Jin Ping Mei.(Ding 13) Additionally, the author points to the dominance of traditional masculine biases which are showed by means of describing obscene sexual scenes. In summary, Ding suggests a controversial view on the book presenting Jin Ping Mei as the story of a seductive bondmaid-concubine, sexual opportunism, domestic intrigue, adultery and death.(Ding 25) Ding came to this conclusion after conducting a deep contextual analysis of the book. Additionally, Ding accentuates her attention on the social meaning of this novel - the emergent Chinese gender and hierarchical ideologies. By arguing from the standpoint of feminism, obscene Things in Jin Ping Mei will contribute to studies of Chinese culture and political ideology. The novel is also important for the studies of Chinese literature, Asian studies, feminism, politics of sexuality, and cultural studies of this country. The Chinese literature "Jin Ping Mei" also marked the beginning of a new period in the development of traditional Chinese fiction as a narrative genre. That time was marked by significant changes in conceptions of the fundamental nature of desire. Martin W. Huang, the

author of Desire and Fictional Narrative in Late Imperial China suggests the idea that the rise of vernacular fiction during the late Ming dynasty should be studied in the context of contemporary debates on desire. (Huang 45) After conducting a structural contextual analysis of the book the author came with the new and complex views regarding a true meaning of this ancient text. According to this author, the book can be classified as desire and fictional narrative (Huang 2). The book itself shows that the obsession of authors with individual desire is not simply a pornographic element of the book but a hint on an essential quality of the book that defines traditional Chinese fiction as a narrative genre. (Huang 45) Huang also states that the maturation of the genre is achieved in the book by applying an increasingly sophisticated exploration of the phenomenon of desire. (Huang 48) Some critics have argued that the highly sexual descriptions are essential to give reader a real meaning of the novel. Other critics state that the presence of sex scenes gave the novel a "liberating" flavor. (Huang 79) In the same way as Chinese Jin Ping Mei, Japanese Tale of Genji also describes societal features of Japanese society. In fact, The Tale of Genji is a long and multifaceted novel that covered three generations. For many researchers the book is somewhat idealized version of Heian society. The main focus in the book is put on Genji, a dashing and amorous young man. The novel depicts the life of this individual from his childhood till his gradual aging. Particular focus in the novel is put on the women and children of Genji as well as on the lives of his descendants. In the book Genji is a young man who has all charm and handsomeness, talent and ardor. At the same time, this person demonstrates his self-centeredness, rashness, and his insensitivity to the feelings of others. In the book he brings pain and disaster to women he loves. A lot of attention in the book is paid to describing the main features of Genjis

character, who is presented as ideal lover, man of taste, and accomplished beyond all others in the various arts. Genji is someone who is intensely alive, feelingful, generous, as well as a lecherous, and hypocritical master of self-deceit. (Shirane 67) To some extend the author of the book has managed to create a whole list of characters. This gallery is mostly composed of women characters. Each woman has a distinct personality like Murasaki. The character of this woman is the fully realized portrait of a woman of her time, who has made a long way from petulant and bashful childhood to the moment of her death as a wise, sad and loving wife. The author ranges over many personality types thus shaping readers ideas about Japanese society of those times (Hempel 56). Jin Ping Mei" appears to be an ambiguous novel with the main subject being the young man. The most obvious way of looking at the poem would be to see it as a description of the young man who is looking for adventurers, using many references of descriptive attributes to reiterate this point; however, it could also be seen that the novel has a deeper meaning, as there are many phrases relating to describing individual features of people. ( Field 8) In summary, I can say that both The Tale of Genji and Jin Ping Mei" describe in exhaustive detail the clothing, appearance, manners, and aesthetic or literary tastes of their times. Jin Ping Mei" uses a lot of symbols that tell us a lot about human nature and sex roles in Chinese society of those times. Many researchers also conform that the symbols used in this novel such as mei, plum blossoms are in fact the metaphoric signs for sexuality, and can be explained as a direct hint on male dominance in Chinese society. In the same way as Jin Ping Mei Tale of Genji puts the main emphasis on describing the domestic life of Japan, its culture and social values. However, Tale of Genji definitely shows that women start to

realize their role in Japanese society. Additionally, the novel gives readers some basic knowledge of Heian period. The novel also helps people understand Japanese culture as well as to perceive its emotional influence on a further development of Japanese arts. Contrary to Jin Ping Mei" that gives a very realistic portrayal of Chinese society and its values, Japanese the Tale of Genji is supremely sensitive to human emotions and the beauties of nature. In addition, the story also reflects a Buddhist conviction of the vanity of this world.

Works Cited: Hempel, Rose. The Golden Age of Japan, 794-1192. New York: Rizzoli, 1983. Huang M., Desire and Fictional Narrative in Late Imperial China. Chapter SIX . Desire and Karmic Retribution in Xingshi, 2001. Field, Norma. The Splender of Loging in the Tale of Genji. N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1987. Naifei Ding.. Obscene Scenes: Sexual thing in Jing Pin Mei. Duke University Press, 2002 Shirane, Haruo. The Bridge of Dreams: A Poetic of the Tale of Genji. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 1987.