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From Caizi to Yingxiong: Imagining Masculinities in Two Qing Novels, "Yesou puyan" and "Sanfen meng quan zhuan"
Abstract
There was a trend discernable in Chinese vernacular fiction of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries toward a significant "convergence" of the narrative elements that in the past could only be found separately in works belonging to quite different genres. By focusing on Yesou puyan (Humble Words of an Old Rustic) and Sanfeng meng quanzhuan (Three-Tenths of the Story Is a Dream), this essay seeks to examine how a new type of masculine hero is being constructed in a significant group of the novels from this period and its possible relationships to the new reality these literati authors were confronting.
... As illuminated by the name, cai 'literary talent' is the defining property of caizi; the other indispensable component of caizi is qing which entails sensibility and subversiveness (Song 2004: 3, 104), so caizi-jiaren fiction highlights romantic elements, e.g. celebration of poetic talent, secret rendezvous between lovers in rear gardens, the adamant pursuit of happiness albeit hindrances, etc. (Huang 2003). ...
... Chapter 5. Trans. Mine)There is no denying the fact that in vernacular fiction of the late 18 th and early 19 th centuries, there are male protagonists who are 文武双全 wenwu shuangquan 'distinguished in both literary and military arts'(Huang 2003). In danmei literature, since the tale naturally contains two male protagonists, it is also common to divide the wen-wu dyad by depicting a masculine seme encapsulating wu and a feminine uke encapsulating wen. ...
Danmei, aka Boys Love, is a salient transgressive genre of Chinese Internet literature. Since entering China’s niche market in 1990s, the danmei subculture, predominantly in the form of original fictional creation, has established an enormous fanbase and demonstrated significance via thought-provoking works and social functions. Nonetheless, the danmei genre is not an innovation in the digital age, in that its bipartite dichotomy between seme ‘top’ and uke ‘bottom’ roles bears similarities to the dyad in caizi-jiaren ‘scholar-beauty’ anecdotes featuring masculine and feminine ideals in literary representations of heterosexual love and courtship, which can be attested in the 17th century and earlier extant accounts. Furthermore, the feminisation of danmei characters is analogous to an androgynous ideal in late-imperial narratives concerning heterosexual relationships during late Ming and early Qing dynasties, and the depiction of semes being masculine while ukes being feminine is consistent with the orthodox, indigenous Chinese masculinity which is comprised of wen ‘cultural attainment’ epitomising feminine traits and wu ‘martial valour’ epitomising masculine traits. In terms of modern literature, danmei is parallel to the (online) genre yanqing ‘romance’ that is frequently characterised by ‘Mary Sue’ and cliché-ridden narration.
... His handsome public persona is charismatic, soft spoken, aware, and always impeccably dressed, and is "imbued with qualities that exceed the expected norms of human behavior" (Huang 2003, 72, cited in Hood 2016. Cunxin perfectly embodies the diplomat trope of celebrity humanitarianism through his consistent, loyal dedication to working to solve humanitarian problems within the existing system. ...
Celebrity humanitarianism has been transformed in its scope, scale, and organization in the last thirty years. Its flourishing has generated considerable academic interest from a wide variety of disciplines that share two characteristics. First, these studies are—unusually—well connected, which means that different disciplines have not tended to develop their own separate literatures, but learn from each other’s approaches. This makes it useful and important to identify ways different disciplinary approaches can complement each other. Second, most of this attention has focused on politics of celebrity humanitarianism in the global North. Yet focusing also on the South and on North/South relations will move the field forward. We argue that celebrity humanitarianism must be interpreted through the broader systems of which it is a part. We offer a heuristic typology of celebrity humanitarianism that continues to bridge between different disciplines and which identifies ways in which political science can complement existing studies. We also use this typology to refocus work on the politics of celebrity humanitarian relations away from merely Northern politics. This approach allows us to identify what sorts of politics and political solutions are being advocated by current forms of celebrity humanitarianism.
The entertainment industry is driven to sell certain commodities transnationally, particularly in a world where borders are becoming increasingly diffused through the access afforded by the Internet. Media content is easily consumed, making cultural exporting fast and easy. Similar tropes and plot have been replicated in the East Asian film and TV industry, perhaps in hopes of replicating the success. This paper looks at the manufacture of ideal masculinities within East Asia, particularly China. From ex-members of K-pop group EXO to the successful TV series, cross-influence of East Asian popular culture is prominent. Through this paper, I look at the influence of K-dramas on the Chinese TV industry and particularly the manufacturing of a militarized masculinity on Chinese TV. Far from portraying brute and fearsome soldiers, ideal masculinity on TV is portrayed as “steely exterior but gentle internally” and thus desirable romantic partners to heterosexual women. By exploring the basic conception of Chinese masculinity, I then discuss representations of militarized masculinity on the silver screen (Wolf Warrior II) and C-dramas, with particular focus on the series, You Are My Hero (2021).
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