Re-Orienting Jin Ping Mei

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Between 1621 and 1661, fiction authors turned to the common people and the contemporary world for their subject matter and infused a stronger moral message into their writings. Two novels that best illustrate such a tendency are Xingshi yinyuan zhuan by Xizhou sheng (ca. 1661) and Xu jin ping mei by Ding Yaokang (ca. 1660). This book explores Jin Ping Mei's influences on the two works in question and reveals the ways the authors manipulated familiar themes and rhetorical devices to reverse the Jin ping mei prototype. It also discusses the didactic function of fiction and the authors' campaign to save the world through the power of fiction. Through examining the commentaries and their historical context, the authors' effort to improve and enlighten their readers are demonstrated and the result evaluated. Their sense of moral mission inspired them to emphasize the fin-de-siècle settings, social irregularities and to rationalize political and social turmoil through karmic retribution. To attain this purpose, widely disseminated reading materials are blended into their novels to reach out to non-elite readers.