Full metadata
Title
What does it take to be human?: foreignness in Yuan Mei's Zi buyu
Description
Yuan Mei 袁枚 (1716-97) is often thought of as a rebellious figure within the eighteenth-century intellectual and literary landscape. His perceived rejection of nearly all aspects of Confucian values was so extreme that he was even dubbed a "sinner against the teachings of Confucius." This thesis examines six stories within Yuan Mei's Zi buyu 子不語 (What Confucius Did Not Talk About) and, through close reading, shows how Yuan Mei utilizes each foreign group's physical traits and their ability to verbally and/or ethically communicate with the Chinese protagonist, in order to reflect their adherence to Confucian values and acceptance of Chinese imperial authority to arrange them along a spectrum of humanness that reflects the Chinese-foreign distinction. Furthermore, by examining each story in their historical and literary contexts, it is discovered that nearly every foreign group portrayed in Zi buyu is based on historical groups that actually existed on the periphery of the Qing empire, and that the different degrees of foreignness of each subject reflect each historical foreign group's acquiescence to or rebellion against the imperial authority of the Qing empire. Contrary to commonly held opinions, Yuan Mei's negotiation of foreignness demonstrates his own deep subscription to Confucian ethics and adherence to imperial order.
Date Created
2012
Contributors
- Campos, Miles (Author)
- Ling, Xiaoqiao (Thesis advisor)
- Oh, Young Kyun (Committee member)
- West, Stephen H. (Committee member)
- Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
Resource Type
Extent
iii, 85 p
Language
eng
chi
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.14907
Statement of Responsibility
by Miles Campos
Description Source
Viewed on Nov. 1, 2012
Level of coding
full
Note
thesis
Partial requirement for: M.A., Arizona State University, 2012
bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85)
language
English and Chinese
Field of study: East Asian languages and civilizations
System Created
- 2012-08-24 06:25:29
System Modified
- 2021-08-30 01:46:41
- 3 years 2 months ago
Additional Formats