GEH1015: The water margin

Culture in Books:

Example of real life:

Even though the lord of the rings was written by a UK author, we still consider it part of our culture and having watch the movies in singapore.

However, do we understand it the same as UK audiences?

Do we have bad understanding? No

How did it get popular

• Performance
• Scripst
• Books

Origins of the water magin:

• Band of bandits that are operating in china and was defeated 1121
• Song jiang became the leader of the bandits
• Led by song jiang (who will become the leader of the leader)

Yuan dynasty

• The water margin stories were popular topics for this drama
• Number of heros increase from 36 to 10

-We dont know who the novel was written buy.

People claim that shri maian from 13th century to mid century

The water margin:

• No text
• Many variants
• Bottom line: This is a difficult text in a academic sense

Academic aren't that important in the world

Strong characters

Trilling post

Vivid writing

Crossing to japan:

• Earliest text own by tenkai 1536
• TEnkai also like to collect book
• Publish in China in 1594

Chinese books imported through nagasaki

Expensive,so not widely read or own

But quickly becomes popular

Japanese readers to chinese people living in japan about it

Even though it was difficult to read the water margin it slowly became popular slowly.

Its difficult because it is in colloquial chinese, not classical chinese.

In the nara period, education meant learning classical chinese.

Classical chinese can be mechanically parsed into classical japanese.

But doesnt work for colloquial chinese.

Plus new vocabulary words in addition to the new grammer.

For several decades, colloquial “chinese” was a foreign language

Its like a foreign language but its not but a different way of representing.

People have many ways to read new chinese.

1. Study of spoken chinese
1. Refugees from the fall of ming
2. Translators in nagasaki
1. Trade in nagasaki
2. Chinese influence in nagasaki
3. CHinese translators who are working for the trade
4. Give the pronunciation in katakana to translate or learn chinese
3. Zen temple in uji uses chinese for several decades
2. Scholars start to study spoken chinese
1. Invite people to come to his school from nagasaki to teach chinese pronunciation to his class
2. Use water margin to teach in the early 18th century
3. In kyoto, a publisher who is interested in chinese things
1. Publish a japanese version of the water margin in the 18th century
2. The book thus become cheaper
3. Market for the book
4. He is commercially publishing it
5. There is no copy right infringement

Four stages by which the water margin become a japanese book:

1. Original text
2. Japanese publication of the original text
3. Translation of the text into japanese
1. Completed by the mid 18th century
2. Any educated person could read the story
3. Beginning of long history of translation of the water margin into many languages including english
4. This is an important steps for the water margin to become an international text
4. Writing Novels based on the original text but based in Japan
1. “The water margin of japan”
2. Set in nara period, heroes oppose an evil priest and yang guifei is one of the heros. Ayatari dies before finishing it. But veru influential on later novels
3. “The eight dogs”
4. 8 heroes and each hero represent a confusion virtue..very popular
5. Becuase of the decrease in heroes 108> 8, it is now easier to read.
6. This is like harry potter where it its like a gateway book

Water margin becomes a film and in tv.

E.g 3 shw brothers film

Nippon televsion

Not jus east asia but other translation for other languages as well