Jiǎndēng Xīnhuà 剪燈新話
New Tales Written While Trimming the Lamp by 瞿佑 (著)
About the work
The Jiǎndēng Xīnhuà 剪燈新話 (“New Tales Written While Trimming the Lamp”) is one of the most important early-Míng collections of classical-language fiction (chuánqí 傳奇 / zhìguài 志怪) in 4 juǎn, comprising 20 tales, with two additional stories in an appendix. The author is Qú Yòu 瞿佑 (1347–1433). Written in the late Yuan / early Míng transition period, the tales are set predominantly against the backdrop of the turmoil of the Yuan–Míng transition and explore themes of love, ghostly encounters, the supernatural underworld, loyalty, and fate. The Kanripo text also includes the Jiǎndēng Yúhuà 剪燈餘話 (“Remaining Tales While Trimming the Lamp”) in 5 juǎn, a companion collection by Lǐ Zhēn 李禎 (fl. early 15th c.).
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The Jiǎndēng Xīnhuà was composed by Qú Yòu 瞿佑 (1347–1433; also written 瞿佑), zì Zōngjí 宗吉, a native of Qiántáng 錢塘 (modern Hángzhōu, Zhèjiāng). According to internal evidence and later accounts, the tales were composed around Hóngwǔ 11–14 (1378–1381). Qú served as education official in Lǐnghǎi 臨海 (Zhèjiāng) and later as a literary official, before being exiled to Bǎo’ān 保安 (Guìzhōu) in 1403 on charges connected with the Jiànwén loyalist cause; he was not rehabilitated until his eighties. CBDB records entries under 瞿佑 (personid 243404 and 441658) without dates, but the standard dates 1347–1433 are well-established in the secondary literature.
The 20 stories of the Xīnhuà span the spectrum of supernatural tale-telling: romantic ghost stories (notably “Mǔdān Dēng Jì” 牡丹燈記, “The Peony Lantern,” one of the most celebrated supernatural tales in Chinese fiction), tales of the underworld bureaucracy (“Lìnghú Shēng Míngmèng Lù” 令狐生冥夢錄, “The Ghost-Dream of Lìnghú Shēng”), encounters with Daoist immortals, and stories set in famous gardens and temples. The collection is presented in refined classical literary Chinese (wényán 文言), unlike the vernacular huàběn tradition, and reflects the author’s classical education and poetic accomplishments. Many tales include embedded poems.
The Jiǎndēng Xīnhuà circulated widely: the Koryŏ / early Joseon Korean court was interested enough to have it reprinted in 1421 (an edition that survives when the original Chinese editions do not), and the collection profoundly influenced Korean fiction of the Joseon period, especially Kim Shiseup’s 金時習 Geumo Sinhwa 金鰲新話 (c. 1465). It also influenced early modern Japanese fiction. In China, the Jiǎndēng Xīnhuà was banned by the Chénghuà emperor (1465–87) as “lewd and licentious” (yín huà 淫話), which suppressed its open circulation for a period but did not eliminate it. The Jiǎndēng Yúhuà 剪燈餘話 by Lǐ Zhēn 李禎 (fl. c. 1420s), included in the Kanripo text, was composed as a direct sequel and companion to the Xīnhuà and follows the same genre conventions.
The table of contents in the Kanripo text lists the 20 Xīnhuà stories across 4 juǎn, plus the appendix stories “Qiūxiāng Tíng Jì” 秋香亭記 and “Jì Méi Jì” 寄梅記, and then presents the Yúhuà in 5 juǎn with 20 additional stories. The text appears to be a collated edition combining both collections.
Translations and research
- Yau, Shun-chiu, and Christopher Chaves, trans. Contes extraordinaires au fil des heures. Paris: Gallimard/UNESCO, 1984. (French translation of selected tales.)
- Hammond, Charles E. “Impersonation and Deception: A Reading of Jiandeng xinhua.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 113, no. 3 (1993): 359–367.
- Barr, Allan. “Pu Songling and the Qing Examination System.” Late Imperial China 7, no. 1 (1986): 87–111. (Comparative study situating the tale collection tradition.)
- Idema, Wilt. Chinese Literature: An Introduction. Leiden: Brill, 2022.
- Li, Wai-yee. “The Collector, the Connoisseur, and Late-Ming Sensibility.” T’oung Pao 81, nos. 4–5 (1995): 269–302.
- Hanan, Patrick. The Chinese Short Story. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1973.
Other points of interest
“Mǔdān Dēng Jì” 牡丹燈記 (“The Peony Lantern”) — tale of a young man’s fatal love for a ghost carrying a peony lantern — became one of the most frequently retold supernatural stories in East Asian literature. The Japanese adaptation Botan Dōrō 牡丹灯籠 (1861) by Sanyūtei Enchō 三遊亭圓朝 is especially celebrated.
Links
- Wikipedia: Jiandeng xinhua
- Wikidata: Q5963085 (Jiandeng xinhua)
- Wikidata: Q901095 (Qu You)