Tángdài Gōngtíng Yànshǐ 唐代宮廷豔史
Scandalous History of the Tang Imperial Court by 許嘯天 (撰)
About the work
Tángdài Gōngtíng Yànshǐ 唐代宮廷豔史 is a large Republican-era historical novel by 許嘯天 (Xǔ Xiàotiān), companion volume to his KR4k0310 Qīngdài Gōngtíng Yànshǐ. The Kanripo text preserves the first part (dì yī bù 第一部), comprising at least 210 chapters (huí 回). The narrative begins with the late Suí court (the title “Nèifǔ kāi jiāyàn” 內府開家宴 and “shēn gōng xì Xuān Huá” 深宮戲宣華 in ch. 1 refer to the Suí Yáng Dì’s court and Consort Xuān Huá 宣華夫人). The novel covers the Táng founding under Lǐ Yuān 李淵 and Lǐ Shìmín 李世民 through the full arc of the Táng dynasty, including the notorious romantic episode of the second Táng emperor Tài Zōng 太宗 inheriting his father’s favorite consort (the “son possesses father’s concubine” episode of ch. 2, referring to the Xuān Huá consort scandal). The famous episode of the “Red Fly” (Hóng Fú Jī 紅拂姬) — the courtesan who eloped with the hero Lǐ Jìng 李靖 — appears in ch. 6.
Tiyao
No tiyao found in source.
Abstract
The Táng dynasty provided the richest material for the gōngtíng yànshǐ genre: the romantic figure of the Tang emperor Xuán Zōng’s 玄宗 infatuation with Consort Yáng Guìfēi 楊貴妃, the warrior empress Wǔ Zétiān 武則天, the legendary courtesan Hóng Fú Nǚ 紅拂女, and the romantic and martial adventures of the early Tang founding all provided canonical material for popular historical fiction. 許嘯天 covers this rich territory using the gōngtíng yànshǐ formula: the romantic-political episodes are centered on imperial women (Consort Xuān Huá, Consort Yáng, Wǔ Zétiān, and others) as the structural pivot around which the dynasty’s political history revolves.
The chapter 6 episode of Hóng Fú Nǚ 紅拂女 (the “Red Fly Lady”) who recognizes and elopes with the hero Lǐ Jìng while serving in the household of the minister Yáng Sù 楊素 is one of the most famous romantic tales of the Táng, originating in the Tang chuánqí 傳奇 tale Qiú rán kè zhuàn 虯髯客傳 (attributed to Dù Guāngtíng 杜光庭). This legendary episode had been a staple of Chinese popular fiction since the Yuán and Míng periods.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located on this specific novel.