Clarity of thought is prior to expression
To express yourself clearly
you have to think clearly
Of course it's different in speech and writing
When you speak you haven't time to think
You try your best to keep a clear head
But you're given allowances:
It's okay to repeat yourself
It's okay to repeat the same point
We're less tolerant of repetition in writing
That's why writing requires organization and editing
Let's discuss "narration"
Narration is the art of story-telling
It has several characteristics
A narrative is the plot of a story
A "plot" is how a story is told
There are characters
This isn't a science fiction class
Science fiction may feature
non-human characters like aliens
Narratives also have themes
Certain characters are chosen to advance the plot
in order to express a certain theme
In the story of the assassin Jing Ke
the theme might be "righteous self-sacrifice"
or overthrowing the tyrant ruler of Qin
Something like that
In any case, narratives have themes
Narratives also have a "view-point"
Authors decide how much the narrator knows
To put it simpler
there are omniscient narrators and limited narrators
An omniscient narrator
knows what characters are thinking
This in reality is impossible
Think about it
Do you know what others are thinking?
Even your family and loved ones?
Do you really know what they think?
It's not likely, is it?
You can only guess
But in fiction, the author can claim
to know what characters think
Fiction allows it
but what about history?
History does not
It's impossible for historians
to personally know the historical people
or what they thought
So historians write "objective" narratives
but that doesn't mean history is objective
Viewpoints can be objective
but historians are prejudiced
They may portray a historical person
positively or negatively
Prejudice is part of a historian's viewpoint
These are all issues worth considering
So narratives can be analyzed
by examining plot, characters, theme and viewpoint
In Records of the Grand Historian
observe how Sima Qian portrays characters
Then look at other sources
Not just "Strategies of Yan"
Strategies of the Warring States
is the source for many of Sima Qian's characters
But Strategies portrays Wei Wuji
one of the Four Lords of the Warring States
Nas a tyrant
But Sima Qian used some other source
Clearly he didn't use Strategies
As many have pointed out
Sima Qian wrote charitably
about Wei Wuji
Sima Qian really liked Wei Wuji
Another example is Bo Yi
Bo Yi is not in Strategies
He lived before the Warring States era
during the Western Zhou (1045-771 BC)
So these characters are not in Strategies
But some characters are in both histories
You can compare the plots
The historical personages are the same
but maybe not the cast of characters
Perhaps one source has more characters
There are often discrepancies
in the dramatis personae
You can also compare characterization
and the themes
Earlier I mentioned viewpoint
The viewpoint may still be objective
but what about the historian's prejudice?
Viewpoint includes a historian's prejudice
his praise or censure
Try analyzing a historical narrative
Try analyzing works of literature
Literature can be analyzed
It isn't just for appreciation
Compare Han Xin's biography and Xiang Yu's annals
Xiang Yu's faults aren't in his chapter
Sima Qian decided to put it elsewhere
Han Xin's biography
reveals Xiang Yu's soft-heartedness and indecisiveness
Han Xin told Liu Bang so
Han Xin knew Xiang Yu's fault
and that's how he defeated Xiang Yu
Sima Qian designed the narrative
and arranged the plot carefully
He arranged it so Xiang Yu was a nice person
but we later learn his downfall elsewhere
That's the art of editing
That's the way you edit
to turn the subject matter
into a gripping piece of writing
You'll soon learn how
Myths often seem bizarre
But it's only to humanists
or humanistic rationalists
In a "primitive" society
myths may be completely natural
In studying mythology, we should try to put aside
our own "common sense"
Some things may seem bizarre
but maybe they made sense in an ancient world
Maybe that was how people saw the world then
Let's talk about mythical narratives
The characters in myths are divine
We'll talk about Kua Fu who chased the sun
and the headless fighter Xing Tian
Legends are less supernatural
Legends feature heroes
or beings with superhuman abilities
like Houyi who shot the suns or Chang-e who ascended
to the moon
"Houyi" and "Chang'e" used to be myths as well
but were rewritten as legends
We'll discuss this later in our class
Chinese writers liked to historicize myths
The Chinese humanistic spirit
doesn't accept fantasy
If something is not humanly possible
Chinese writers think it's "incredible"
and rewrite it to make it more credible
Characters
There's only one character in this myth: Kua Fu
There's also the sun he chases
maybe that makes it two characters
Pretty simple
Myths have simple characters and plots
It's like the seed of a story
Kua Fu chased the sun
to see who was faster
Does the sun move fast or slow?
We now know that the sun doesn't move
It's the earth turning
But the ancients believed
the sun moved, because it rises and sets
Kua Fu caught up with the sun
No matter if the sun was fast or slow
Kua Fu could keep up
He was probably quite fast
He caught the sun and felt very thirsty
because it was very hot in the sun
He wanted some water
Water here is "yin" 飲
"He drank (yin) from the Yellow and Wei"
In this line, "yin" is drank
He started to drink from the rivers
The rivers couldn't slake his thirst
Absurd, right? How can one drink a river?
Absurdity is not an issue in a myth
Myths are fundamentally absurd
If you insist on plausibility
you're being absurd
So myths are inherently absurd
After draining the Yellow and Wei rivers
Kua Fu went north towards the Great Marsh
Some ask where this Great Marsh is
and some suggest it's a sea
At any rate, he was still thirsty
so he headed north
Perhaps he had chased the sun south
and wanted to return north
North of the Yellow and Wei rivers
That much is clear
But, he never made it to the marsh
He died of thirst halfway
But the narrative doesn't end here
He "tossed his staff, which became a grove"
This additional line
makes a great difference
It changed the theme
If the story ended with Kua Fu dying halfway
the theme would have been failure:
Kua Fu chased the sun and failed
But then Kua Fu tossed his staff
before dying
and his staff turned into a peach grove
Now there's a vivid symbol
The staff becomes a forest, the myth involves
a metamorphosis
He dies, but leaves behind a peach grove
Let's take a closer look
The story is written in short sentences
very succinct
Kua Fu moves quickly
He catches the sun, feels thirsty
drinks a pair of rivers, goes north
and dies halfway
He's hurried, always in a rush
and he moves vast distances
In myths, time is usually hard to track
but space is clearly defined
There's space in any narrative
It has to take place somewhere, in a given society
even dynasty
But myths seldom feature dynasties
they're temporally hard to place
The plot is very concise
Kua Fu chases the sun and catches up
gets thirsty, drinks water
but can't drink enough in time
Then his staff turns into a peach orchard
This is a myth about a posthumous deed
that benefits later generations
There might be several interpretations
of the theme
Because his staff turned into a peach grove
it's not a story of a failed hero
In death, Kua Fu benefits posterity
by leaving behind a peach grove
called the Deng Forest
The blossoms are beautiful, the fruits juicy
Later generations can enjoy the peaches
and quench their thirst
Kua Fu died hoping nobody would go thirty here
Sheltering posterity may be a theme
just not the main theme
The main theme is conquering nature
The sun and moon were the first mysteries to humans
Why do they rise and set day after day
in a regular pattern?
What's the secret?
Men wanted to comprehend nature
to learn its secrets
Or perhaps they sought light or eternity
That's reasonable in a northern myth
It's so cold there
one would want to capture sunlight
and bask in its warmth
Perhaps the theme was time
the pursuit of eternity?
Human life is limited
but we want to live forever
The sun represents eternity
It never dies
and rises every day
So to chase the sun is to pursue eternity
This is another interpretation
You can interpret the Kua Fu story in many ways