Fiction as Hagiography, Mission by Means of Literary Production

Richard G. Wang, University of Florida

          The paper will examine the activities of the late Ming publisher and novelist Yang Erzeng (fl. 1601-1623).  Yang Erzeng was an author of two extant novels, and responsible for the printing of a collection of classical tales.  Inheriting a family tradition of publishing business, he was quite active in Hangzhou, one of the publishing centers of the late Ming, and pubished many books covering works of philosohy, histories, belles lettres, fiction, religion, painting manuals, medicine, and travel books, all of which were hot topics of the time.  At the same time, he was a devout Daoist follower, compiling and printing two important Daoist hagiographies and an “armchair traveller’s” collection of maps and illustrations of mountains, including holy mountains and temples, and was also responsible for publishing another Daoist work.  In his career, his printing of the religious texts and religious fiction is very different from his other projects.  For the religious works and religious fiction, he handled them very carefully, with conscious collation, and first-rate illustrations, making the quality of these works high, among the best examples of Ming prints.  In terms of the contents and styles of these works, they also surpass most similar works printed by others, making them the masterpieces in their own categories.  By investigating Yang Erzeng’s life, studying textual issues, and analyzing these works per se, I argue that because Yang Erzeng treated fiction as hagiography, he wrote it very seriously, intending to spread the Daoist teachings.  Meanwhile, as a writer and, more importantly, as an experienced publisher, he knew how to appeal to the market for his religious works.  Even in his mission of composing and printing religious works, he exhausted all means to amuse his readers, making the religious texts more like stoties and art works.  This paper will further pursue Yang Erzeng in a larger cultural context of the late Ming, presenting his case as an example of the common phenomenon and practice among the publishers/novelists who had strong religious consciousness.

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