The Narrative of Talented Women Becoming Immortals in the Ming and Qing Literati Writings and Cultural Implications
From the narratives of talented women becoming immortals,such as those of Ye Xiaoluan and other Ming and Qing women,we can glimpse the process of continuous reconstruction of this female archetype.This includes literati's recollections of historical women,infused with their expectations and aspirations for talented women.The liter-ary imagination and creation related to mystical immortal traces,revelatory dreams,and spirit-writing activities were im-portant means for the immortalization of talented women.The imagination of talented women becoming immortals not only conveyed their desire to break free from secular ethical bonds and preserve their individual spiritual life,but also re-flected the Ming and Qing literati's aesthetic and contemplative views on the death of talented women.This mirrored the real-life circumstances of women's existence and creation at that time.The construction of otherworldly paradises such as"The Leafless Hall"(无叶堂)projected the idealized living and creative state of talented women while also bearing the scrutinizing gaze and fantastical reveries of men.
Ming and Qing Literati WritingsTalented WomanNarratives of Becoming ImmortalsCultural Impli-cations
万方数据
维普
