On the Imagination of"Journey to the West"in Late Qing Novels from the Depiction of the"Five Ministers Going Abroad"
From 1906 to 1911,novelists in the late Qing Dynasty almost exclusively employed artistic techniques such as"Journey to the West"style allegorization and demonization to depict the Five Ministers'overseas study tour,offering a unique representation in the history of literary portrayals of envoys.These depictions are rich in wit and allegorical significance,reflecting an aesthetic focus on"absurdity,"as well as on grotesqueness,strangeness,and ugliness.This artistic approach is closely linked to the profound disillusionment that followed the collapse of the constitutional reform movement.The frequent portrayals of the Five Ministers as vile and grotesque characters were not coincidental but rather mirrored the public's urgent desire to break free from the shackles of feudal autocracy.The reason why the Five Ministers were portrayed as"jumping clowns"by late Qing novel-ists and even constantly"demonized"is not only due to the increasingly rising revolutionary trend and its irreversible historical trend,but also due to the continuous attention and negative reports from news media and newspapers.The literary representations of the Five Ministers significantly enriched the diversity of character archetypes in modern Chinese literature.Moreover,they serve as a microcosm of the century-long quest for national rejuvenation,embodying the complex and tortuous path of China's modernization.
Constitutional Movement of the late Qing Dynastyfive ministers championing constitutional reform"Journey to the West"narrativerevolutionary trendsmedia and newspaper representation
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