Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Knowledge, Emotion, and Imagination: Negotiating Cultural Boundaries in The Eunuch Sanbao's Voyage to the Western Ocean

Knowledge, Emotion, and Imagination: Negotiating Cultural Boundaries in The Eunuch Sanbao's... The Eunuch Sanbao's Voyage to the Western Ocean, a late sixteenth-century novel loosely based on the historical expeditions commanded by Zheng He (1371–1433), is a peculiar mixture of factual accounts of foreign lands and fantastic narrative. While previous studies have confirmed its historical value, evaluated its literary achievement as fantastic literature, or criticized its plagiarism, this article situates the novel within the context of the late-Ming publishing boom and expanding world knowledge and examines how its author negotiates cultural boundaries through refashioning historical accounts and classical allusions. The key questions explored are whether the broadened knowledge of the world beyond China brings about new ways to conceptualize and imagine cultural others, and how the novelist maneuvers between an enlarged understanding of the world and a long-standing Sinocentric discourse. The article demonstrates that the novel reveals much of the curiosity, ambivalence, and conflict at work during the early stages of global contact. Throughout the novel, its author oscillates between conflicting urges to differentiate or assimilate, to antagonize or empathize, and to emphasize Ming superiority or identify a common humanity. These oscillations give us a glimpse into the complex responses to a changing world and propel us to reflect more deeply on the conflicts and struggles experienced in the early stages of global contact. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture Duke University Press

Knowledge, Emotion, and Imagination: Negotiating Cultural Boundaries in The Eunuch Sanbao's Voyage to the Western Ocean

Download PDF
34 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/duke-university-press/knowledge-emotion-and-imagination-negotiating-cultural-boundaries-in-NJtPhAfBsx
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 by Duke University Press
ISSN
2329-0048
eISSN
2329-0056
DOI
10.1215/23290048-8313546
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

The Eunuch Sanbao's Voyage to the Western Ocean, a late sixteenth-century novel loosely based on the historical expeditions commanded by Zheng He (1371–1433), is a peculiar mixture of factual accounts of foreign lands and fantastic narrative. While previous studies have confirmed its historical value, evaluated its literary achievement as fantastic literature, or criticized its plagiarism, this article situates the novel within the context of the late-Ming publishing boom and expanding world knowledge and examines how its author negotiates cultural boundaries through refashioning historical accounts and classical allusions. The key questions explored are whether the broadened knowledge of the world beyond China brings about new ways to conceptualize and imagine cultural others, and how the novelist maneuvers between an enlarged understanding of the world and a long-standing Sinocentric discourse. The article demonstrates that the novel reveals much of the curiosity, ambivalence, and conflict at work during the early stages of global contact. Throughout the novel, its author oscillates between conflicting urges to differentiate or assimilate, to antagonize or empathize, and to emphasize Ming superiority or identify a common humanity. These oscillations give us a glimpse into the complex responses to a changing world and propel us to reflect more deeply on the conflicts and struggles experienced in the early stages of global contact.

Journal

Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture – Duke University Press

Published: Apr 1, 2020

References

  • “Mingdai huanguan yu Zheng He xia xiyang de guanxi” 明代宦官與鄭和下西洋的關係
    Chan Hok-lam 陳學霖
  • “Sanbao taijian xiaxiyang ji yanjiu.” 《三寶太監下西洋記》研究
    Chang Hwo-ching 張火慶
  • “Desultory Notes on the Hsi-yang chi.”
    Duyvendak, J. J. L
  • “Divina Commedia.”
    Duyvendak, J. J. L
  • “The Buddhist Cosmos: The Thrice-Thousandfold World.”
    Gethin, Rupert
  • Daydreaming Dynasty: The Eunuch Sanbao's Journeys in the Western Seas and ‘Present-Dynasty’ Fiction of the Ming.
    Gregory, Scott W.
  • The Sources of Chin p'ing mei.
    Hanan, Patrick D.
  • “Yuan mo Ming chu mingseng laifu shiji kao” 元末明初名僧來復事迹考
    He Xiaorong 何孝榮
  • “Sanbao taijian xiyang ji tongsu yanyi: Yige fangfa de shiyan” 三寶太監西洋記通俗演義——一個方法的實驗
    Hou Jian 侯健
  • “Lun Jin Ping Mei cihua de ‘xiangqian’” 論金瓶梅詞話的鑲嵌
    Huang Lin 黃霖
  • Guanyin's Parrot: A Chinese Buddhist Animals Tale and Its International Context
    Idema, Wilt L. Alfredo Cadonna
  • “Gongye Chang jie niaoyu kao” 公冶長解鳥語考
    Kin, Bunkyo 金文京
  • “Deng baimashan humingsi” 登白馬山護明寺
    Kong, Deshao 孔德紹 Peng Shuxia 彭叔夏
  • “Ming Tianyuan” 明天淵
    Lang Ying 郎瑛
  • “Sanbao taijian xiyang ji tongsu yanyi zhurengong Jin Bifeng benshi kao” 《三寶太監西洋記通俗演義》主人公金碧峰本事考
    Liao Kebin 廖可斌
  • “Shenmo chuantong yushang haiwai zhishi: Sanbao taijian xiyang ji zhong de shijie xushi yu xiangxiang” 神魔傳統遇上海外知識:《三寶太監西洋記》中的世界、敘事與想像
    Liu Chiung-yun 劉瓊云
  • “Zhongguo xiaoshuo shilue” 中國小說史略
    Lu Xun 魯迅
  • “Sanbao taijian xiyang ji yu Xiyang fanguo zhi” 三寶太監西洋記與西洋番國志
    Ma Y. W. 馬幼垣
  • The Country Ma-i-[tung] in the late Ming Novel Hsi-yang chi
    Ptak, Roderich
  • “Hsi-Yang Chi 西洋記—An Interpretation and Some Comparisons with Hsi-Yu Chi.”
    Ptak, Roderich
  • The Impact of Zheng He's Expeditions on Indian Ocean Interactions
    Sen, Tansen
  • Jin Ping Mei cihua and Late Ming Print Culture
    Shang, Wei Judith Zeitlin Lydia Liu
  • “Xiaoshuo de yanyi: Sanbao taijian xiyangji tongsu yanyi shuxie xianxiang zhi yanjiu.” 小說的衍異：《三寶太監西洋記通俗演義》書寫現象之研究
    Wu Pei-rong 吳佩蓉
  • “Guanyu sanbao taijian xia xiyang de jizhong ziliao” 關於三寶太監下西洋的幾種資料
    Xiang Da 向達
  • “Yiyu xiangxiang yu wenren guannian: Lun wan Ming Qingchu tongsu xiaoshuo huseng xingxiang de seqinghua” 異域想像與文人觀念：論晚明清初通俗小說中胡僧形象的色情化
    Xue Yingjie 薛英傑
  • “Sanbao taijian xia xiyang ji” 三寶太監下西洋記
    Zhao Jingshen 趙景深
  • “Xiyang ji de kanke yu Ming Qing haifang weiji zhong de ‘Zheng He jiyi’” 《西洋記》的刊刻與明清海防危機中的「鄭和記憶」
    Zhou Zhenhuan 鄒振環
  • “Mingdai huanguan yu Zheng He xia xiyang de guanxi” 明代宦官與鄭和下西洋的關係
    Chan Hok-lam 陳學霖
  • “Sanbao taijian xiaxiyang ji yanjiu.” 《三寶太監下西洋記》研究
    Chang Hwo-ching 張火慶
  • “Desultory Notes on the Hsi-yang chi.”
    Duyvendak, J. J. L
  • “Divina Commedia.”
    Duyvendak, J. J. L
  • “The Buddhist Cosmos: The Thrice-Thousandfold World.”
    Gethin, Rupert
  • Daydreaming Dynasty: The Eunuch Sanbao's Journeys in the Western Seas and ‘Present-Dynasty’ Fiction of the Ming.
    Gregory, Scott W.
  • The Sources of Chin p'ing mei.
    Hanan, Patrick D.
  • “Yuan mo Ming chu mingseng laifu shiji kao” 元末明初名僧來復事迹考
    He Xiaorong 何孝榮
  • “Sanbao taijian xiyang ji tongsu yanyi: Yige fangfa de shiyan” 三寶太監西洋記通俗演義——一個方法的實驗
    Hou Jian 侯健
  • “Lun Jin Ping Mei cihua de ‘xiangqian’” 論金瓶梅詞話的鑲嵌
    Huang Lin 黃霖
  • Guanyin's Parrot: A Chinese Buddhist Animals Tale and Its International Context
    Idema, Wilt L. Alfredo Cadonna
  • “Gongye Chang jie niaoyu kao” 公冶長解鳥語考
    Kin, Bunkyo 金文京
  • “Deng baimashan humingsi” 登白馬山護明寺
    Kong, Deshao 孔德紹 Peng Shuxia 彭叔夏
  • “Ming Tianyuan” 明天淵
    Lang Ying 郎瑛
  • “Sanbao taijian xiyang ji tongsu yanyi zhurengong Jin Bifeng benshi kao” 《三寶太監西洋記通俗演義》主人公金碧峰本事考
    Liao Kebin 廖可斌
  • “Shenmo chuantong yushang haiwai zhishi: Sanbao taijian xiyang ji zhong de shijie xushi yu xiangxiang” 神魔傳統遇上海外知識:《三寶太監西洋記》中的世界、敘事與想像
    Liu Chiung-yun 劉瓊云
  • “Zhongguo xiaoshuo shilue” 中國小說史略
    Lu Xun 魯迅
  • “Sanbao taijian xiyang ji yu Xiyang fanguo zhi” 三寶太監西洋記與西洋番國志
    Ma Y. W. 馬幼垣
  • The Country Ma-i-[tung] in the late Ming Novel Hsi-yang chi
    Ptak, Roderich
  • “Hsi-Yang Chi 西洋記—An Interpretation and Some Comparisons with Hsi-Yu Chi.”
    Ptak, Roderich
  • The Impact of Zheng He's Expeditions on Indian Ocean Interactions
    Sen, Tansen
  • Jin Ping Mei cihua and Late Ming Print Culture
    Shang, Wei Judith Zeitlin Lydia Liu
  • “Xiaoshuo de yanyi: Sanbao taijian xiyangji tongsu yanyi shuxie xianxiang zhi yanjiu.” 小說的衍異：《三寶太監西洋記通俗演義》書寫現象之研究
    Wu Pei-rong 吳佩蓉
  • “Guanyu sanbao taijian xia xiyang de jizhong ziliao” 關於三寶太監下西洋的幾種資料
    Xiang Da 向達
  • “Yiyu xiangxiang yu wenren guannian: Lun wan Ming Qingchu tongsu xiaoshuo huseng xingxiang de seqinghua” 異域想像與文人觀念：論晚明清初通俗小說中胡僧形象的色情化
    Xue Yingjie 薛英傑
  • “Sanbao taijian xia xiyang ji” 三寶太監下西洋記
    Zhao Jingshen 趙景深
  • “Xiyang ji de kanke yu Ming Qing haifang weiji zhong de ‘Zheng He jiyi’” 《西洋記》的刊刻與明清海防危機中的「鄭和記憶」
    Zhou Zhenhuan 鄒振環