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Medientyp:
E-Artikel
Titel:
The Legend of Li Yen: Its Origins and Implications for the Study of Ming-Ch'ing Transitions in 17th Century China
Beteiligte:
Forges, Roger des
Erschienen:
American Oriental Society, 1984
Erschienen in:
Journal of the American Oriental Society, 104 (1984) 3, Seite 411-436
Sprache:
Englisch
ISSN:
0003-0279
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
<p>The story of Li Yen, the supposed Honanese scholar who helped Li Tzu-ch'eng overthrow the Ming in 1644, is well known to historians of China. In a recent article I have shown how the kernel first appeared in writing in the early Ch'ing and grew considerably in history and literature over the last three centuries. The story has long been subject to question, however, and in 1978-79 Professor Ku Ch'eng of Peking Normal University demonstrated that there never was any degree-holder named Li Yen from Ch'i district, Honan, who played an important role in Li Tzu-ch'eng's uprising. There was, however, a degree-holder named Li Yen from Lai-yang district, Shantung, who served as a local official in North Honan when Li Tzu-ch'eng was building a base there. It is the central thesis of the present article that this historical Li Yen was the basis on which the Li Yen story first arose. The story of Li Yen most likely originated in diverse rumors in Honan province in 1642 and grew through oral traditions that surrounded the rise and fall of the Shun regime in 1643-44. It was challenged by some knowledgeable contemporaries, but it was never destroyed because it was a valuable allegory for widespread literati involvement with the Shun regime. The Li Yen story must now be seen as a legend, but it was also part of a larger myth about the Shun interregnum. Although it can no longer be accepted as literal history, it can be studied as important evidence of the mentality of the Ming-Ch'ing transition.</p>