陳洪綬의 《水滸葉子》와 明末의 憂國정서

Abstract

Since the late 16SUPth/SUP century the Ming dynasty reached a high plane of achievements in terms of culture while it encountered crisis in terms of politics and military. In those days, The Story of the Water Margin (Shuihuzhuan, 『水滸傳』) was more than a novel. At that time its story was published in books and performed as a play. The general public enjoyed pictures pertaining to this novel and moreover indulged in this story even using gambling devices on which figures from this story were portrayed. This fever for Water Margin was one of the immediate causes of the situations brought about at the end of the Ming dynasty that was on the verge of ruin.BR The content of Water Margin can be deemed anti-government and anti-state. Characters in the story include outlaws who commit crimes, formed a group, and resist against the government in the first half of the novel. However, those heroic persons subjugated the Liao dynasty founded by the Khitan people and the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchen people as well as suppressed rebellions domestically. With this content implicatively reflecting the situations of the late Ming dynasty, this novel has been able to work as a symbol of patriotic sentiment. BR Images associated with The Story of the Water Margin were existent mainly in the form of illustrations. The typical images are from Water Margins Game Cards (Shihu yezi, 《水滸葉子》) by Chen Hongshou(1599~1652). Water Margins Game Cards is a collection of the prints of 40 key figures Chen portrayed among 108 heroes in The Story of the Water Margin.BR Chen appropriated the image of Guan Yu who had respected as the guardian god of the state for Song Jiang and Lu Junyi and the image of Zhuge Liang who had been regarded as the epitome of wisdom for Zhu Wu and Wu Yong, thereby wishing for salvation from the threat of foreign power. He also represented patriotic sentiment with f lowers set on the heads of good-looking heroes such as Chai Jin and Shi Shou. Chen’s illustrations are not mere portrayals of figures from The Story of the Water Margin but reflect the painter’s patriotic sentiment.BR The manifestation of such sentiment by the medium of The Story of the Water Margin was closely associated with representations and expressions by ordinary personas as well as intellectuals during the end of the Ming dynasty. They enjoyed the novel The Story of the Water Margin in a variety of forms such as book, theater, painting, gambling, and discourse. The Story of the Water Margin, a novel that emerged at the end of the Ming dynasty was an alternative medium in its chaotic society and a spiritual haven as well as a symbol of patriotic sentiment and a phenomenon penetrating society.