Jin Shengtan - Literary Theory and Criticism

Literary Theory and Criticism

He was known for listing what he called the "Six Works of Genius" (六才子書): Zhuangzi, Li Sao, Shiji, Du Fu's poems, The Story of the Western Wing (Xi Xiang Ji) and Water Margin (Shuihu Zhuan). This list contained both highly classical works, like Li Sao and Du Fu's poems, and novels or plays in vernacular Chinese that had their origins in the streets and marketplace. The six works were chosen based on their literary merit, as opposed to their upstanding morals. For these reasons, Jin was considered an eccentric and made many enemies among the conservative Confucian scholars of his day. Jin edited, commented on, and added introductions and interlinear notes to the popular novels Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and the Yuan dynasty drama, The Story of the Western Wing.

Jin believed that only the emperor and wise sages could truly "author" a work. He points out that even Confucius took pains to avoid being named the author of the Spring and Autumn Annals. In Jin's view, the authoring of books by commoners would lead to the undermining of heavenly order and peace. He saw his commentary as the only way to minimize the damage caused by books "authored" by those who were unworthy to do so. In writing his commentaries, Jin firmly believed that the story that was written should be read on its own terms, apart from reality. In his commentary on The Story of the Western Wing, he wrote, "the meaning lies in the writing, and does not lie in the event". In other words, it is the story that is written that matters, rather than how well that story emulates reality. At the same time, Jin believed that authorial intention is less important than the commentator's reading of a story. In his The Story of the Western Wing commentary, he writes, "Xixiang Ji is not a work written by an individual named Wang Shifu alone; If I read it carefully, it will also be a work of my own creation, because all the words in Xixiang Ji happen to be the words that I want to say and that I want to write down".