Abstract
Yuyan is an important part of the legacy of pre-Qin Chinese literature, and is widely used in persuasive texts of the late Warring States Period. These narratives closely resemble Western parables, especially of the New Testament tradition. The author discusses in detail the history and uses of the term yuyan, and its definitions and interpretations in modern Chinese research, concluding that ‘parable’ seems the closest English-language equivalent of yuyan. The famous philosophical work Zhuāngzǐ is central in this discussion. The author discusses the persuasive function of the parables in Zhuāngzǐ, and points to several distinct features of these narratives compared to other works of the period. These include wide occurrence of purely imaginative texts in a quasi-mythological setting, structural complexity, and the intriguing ‘self-portrait’ of the legendary Zhuāng Zhōu. As such, parables in Zhuāngzǐ should be treated as a distinct group within the wider parable tradition of China, retaining the original name of yuyan.
Highlights
Yùyán is an important part of the legacy of pre-Qin Chinese literature, and is widely used in persuasive texts of the late Warring States Period
Starting with Wáng Huànbiāo and his early, ground-breaking work from 1957, and followed by Gōng Mù 1984, Níng Xī 1992, and especially Chén Púqīng 1987 and 1992, a whole group of researchers who have published dozens of monographs and hundreds of articles devoted to pre-Qín parables has emerged
No one denies the fact that the term itself was first used in the Zhuāngzǐ (Chapters 28 “Metaphors” and 33 “All Under Heaven”),2 the modern understanding of yùyán rests heavily on the ancient Greek tradition of the fable, which somewhat adds to the general terminological confusion
Summary
The Zhuāngzǐ belongs to a group of texts that demonstrate ample usage of parable as a tool of instruction or persuasion In this respect, the Zhuāngzǐ is part of a wider phenomenon that made its mark on the prose of the fourth and third centuries BC. Rather than merely preserving the verbal utterances and oral teachings of the masters, they began to function as truly discursive prose, written to be read, and building argumentation aimed at persuading readers rather than listeners This change is demonstrated by the marked difference between works such as the Lúnyǔ 論語 and much of the Mèngzǐ on one hand, and, on the other, highly personalized and strongly persuasive works such as the Xúnzǐ 荀子 and the Hán Fēizǐ, where we almost feel as if we are debating their authors, Xún Kuàng 荀況 and Hán Fēi 韓非, respectively. With growing tension between the states, and the emergence of
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