The Invention of Li Yu

Patrick Hanan

Published by Harvard University Press 1988

The Invention of Li Yu

Patrick Hanan

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674332270

Overview
Contents

About this book

Li Yu, 1610-1680, was a brilliant comic writer and entertainer, a thoroughgoing professional whose life was in his work-plays, stories, a novel, criticism, essays, and poems. Patrick Hanan places him in the society of his day, where even his precarious livelihood, his constant search for patronage, did not dampen his versatility, his irreverent wit, or his jocund spirit. Li was also an epicure, an inventor, a pundit, and a designer of houses and gardens. He was an exceptional figure in Chinese culture for two reasons: his disregard of the authority of tradition, and his dedication to the cause of comedy.

Hanan uses the term "invention" in his title in several ways: Li Yu's invention of himself, his public image-his originality and inventiveness in a multitude of fields and the literary products of his inventiveness. With expert and entertaining translations Hanan explores the key features of Li Yu's work, summarizing, describing, and quoting extensively to convey Li's virtuosity, his unconventionality, his irreverence, his ribaldry. This is a splendid introduction to the art and persona of a Chinese master of style and ingenuity.

Author / Editor information

Hanan Patrick :

Mr. Hanan is Professor of Chinese Literature, Harvard University.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	vii
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
1. Making a Living Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2. Creating a Self Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
3. The Necessity of Invention Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
4. The Primacy of Pleasure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
5 Paradoxical Farceur Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	76
6. Comic Erotiker Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
7. Virtuoso of Fine Stitching Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	138
8. Specialist in Idle Pursuits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	209
Editions of Independent Words (Yijia Yan) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	248
Glossary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	258
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	267

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 272
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 5
- Other: illustrations
Keywords: HISTORY / General; LITERARY CRITICISM / Asian / Chinese; Li, Yü, 1611-1680? -- Criticism and interpretation.

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674332270

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 1988
ISBN: 9780674332263