Golden Saint Lament - Golden Saint Lament

The first critic in the late Ming and Qing dynasties of China. His name was Renzui. He was known by his pen name Shengtan. He was from Suzhou (Jiangsu Province). He led a free-spirited and anti-worldly life for over 50 years, and was executed for treason after participating in a student movement that pursued illegal activities by the prefecture governor. He gradually abandoned the usual path of intellectuals who studied Confucianism and took the imperial examinations, and was drawn to Buddhist scriptures, especially the Lotus Sutra. He also recommended the literary works of the unique philosophers and writers of the past and present who he was devoted to, such as Zhuang Zhou's Zhuangzi, Qu Yuan's Li Sao, Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, the poems of Du Fu, as well as the play Records of the Xixiang and the novel Water Margin, which he called the "Books of the Six Talents." Furthermore, following the advocacy of Li Zhi and others, in order to break down the old literary view that looked down on dramatic novels as vulgar, he revised two books, "Records of the Xixiang" and "Water Margin," and published a critical volume full of brilliant writing. This had a significant impact and played a role in preparing the way for the birth of modern literature.

[Sohei Ito]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、明(みん)末清(しん)初の批評家。名は人瑞(じんずい)。号の聖嘆で知られる。蘇州(そしゅう)（江蘇省）の人。50余年の生涯を奔放かつ反俗的な生き方で貫き、県知事の不法を追及する学生運動に加担、反逆のかどで刑死した。儒学を修めて科挙に応ずる知識人の常道をつとに放棄し、仏典とくに『法華経(ほけきょう)』にひかれる一方、傾倒する歴代の個性的な哲人・文人たちの文業――荘周(そうしゅう)の『荘子』、屈原(くつげん)の『離騒(りそう)』、司馬遷(しばせん)の『史記』、杜甫(とほ)の詩、それに戯曲『西廂記(せいそうき)』、小説『水滸伝(すいこでん)』を配し、「六才子書」と併称して推奨した。さらにまた李贄(りし)らの主張を受け、戯曲小説を通俗と卑しめる旧来の文学観を打破すべく、『西廂記』『水滸伝』の2書を改訂、縦横に才筆を振るった評本を出版したので、その影響は小さくなく、近代文学の誕生を準備する役割を果たした。

［伊藤漱平］

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