Lost Xiaonanzhou Group

Chapter 200 Random Guessing When "Water Margin" was Compiled ([-])
"Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "Three Kingdoms", "Fengshen" and other Ming Dynasty novels were written in Song and Yuan scripts.

From the perspective of bibliographies of editions, although there are no physical editions of the vernacular scripts in the Song Dynasty, and the texts are rare, judging from the relevant bibliographies preserved in the literature, they should be the "materials" for the origin of Ming edition novels.In the Song Dynasty, the scripts related to "Water Margin" were first handed down in the streets and alleys. The Wasi singing books or the outlines of the storytellers were widely circulated among the people by word of mouth, and at most they were copied.

At the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, Yuan Zaju or Beixi Opera became popular. At the same time, the story outlines (Pinghua) of Ming edition novels began to be published in the form of "publications" in this era.

According to the facts, I personally limit this period to the period of publication as Zhizhi 1321-1323 in the Yuan Dynasty (the new publication has five kinds of Pinghua).

The "Pinghua" about the outline of the story of "Water Margin" included in "Xuanhe of the Great Song Dynasty" should also be in this era.

From the perspective of novel creation, the Pinghua of Yuan Magazine (such as: "Pinghua of Three Kingdoms", "Pinghua of King Wu's Fighting against Zhou", "Pinghua of Journey to the West (Yongle Dadian)", "Pinghua of Water Margin (Xuanhe Legacy)"...), Auxiliary "full appearance" and "out of appearance" (similar to today's comic strips, plot illustrations), should be equivalent to today's novel creation:
"Outline", "main line" of plot characters, "plot outline", and undertake the function of "detailed outline" of key plots (with low requirements for the creator's writing style).

Song Huaben and "36 praises (embroidered portraits, poetic praises of characters)" are equivalent to "personal design".

The libretto of Yuan Zaju (Northern Opera) reads white...the composition of "fold" and "out" is the content of the novel "juan", "hui" and "chapter", that is, the "drama meat" of the plot is generated (to the creator There are requirements for writing strength, brushwork, and strokes).

In the history of Chinese literature, I personally believe that Yuan Zaju is a treasure trove of novel plot creation, which is very similar to today's web novel creation.

According to the summary of the Ming Dynasty, there are "twelve subjects" in Yuan Zaju. According to today's saying, they are "subject types", such as "martial arts", "cultivation", "urban", "supernatural"...

Judging from the bibliography of the existing Yuan Zaju, it can be found that "Water Margin", as the "father" of martial arts novels, occupies a large proportion in the catalog of existing Yuan Zaju. It is indeed China's "top hot topic".There are also creators who specialize in martial arts dramas such as "Water Margin" in Yuan Zaju, which is a product of strong market demand.

The creators of Yuan Zaju are slightly different from the "literati" of previous and later generations. Due to the social structure and system of the Yuan Dynasty, the so-called "ten Confucians and nine beggars", most of the scholars of the Han nationality have low social status, probably similar to the social status of chariot dealers. (It's similar to the author of today's web articles)!

Earn a living by writing articles, market consumer demand is formed, like Luo Guanzhong, Gao Wenxiu and other cultural people who are called "ghosts" by Luguibu, write a "script" for opera troupes or Fujian booksellers, and publish for booksellers. It is normal to be a writer and editor of "Pinghua".

I seriously doubt that the "Book Club" that appeared at that time is the model of today's commercial "editorial department" and "studio".

At the same time, the "Zhe" and "Out" of "Northern Opera" drama texts correspond to the "juan" and "hui" of Ming novel texts, which are related to the "dramatic meat" of the characters in the plot. Why are only the texts read today to be "fresh and vivid" , should be related to the plot creators themselves.Some zaju creators are both plot creators and actors, and what they did was Jiang Wen's "Let the Bullets Fly"; Storytellers write stories about the market, professional technicians write professional technical jobs, and poor scholars write about the ambitions of crouching dragons and phoenixes to set the world.

For example, "Li Er in Scarlet Letter" recorded in "Record of Ghost Book", there is a repertoire of "Wu Song Fighting the Tiger" in the catalog. He is also an actor himself, and I suspect that he is a martial arts student.

There are so many wonderful scenes in the text of "Water Margin", such as Yuan Jiaban's fighting scenes, the kind of punches to the flesh, the knife sees the blood, the accuracy and strength of the motion capture and martial arts flow, obviously it is not a hanging book that is powerless A bag scholar, or an author who is used to writing Gongdou opera, wind, flowers, snow and moon, can write it.

"Water Margin" and "Journey to the West" are two Chinese novels with wonderful texts and written texts. I seriously doubt that many of the texts are directly cut from Yuan Zaju.

The second stage of the writing of "Water Margin", based on the time nodes of two documents and real objects (1307 "36 People's Praise" ~ 1330 "Recording Ghost Book")
This period of time is a critical period for the completion of "Water Margin", because:
"Outline" (Pinghua), Cheng;

"People" 36 Tiangang and sporadic earth-shattering designs (embroidered statues, poems, operas, etc.), completed;

"Settings" include "Water Margin", "Liangshan Water Park", "72 Guys" and other appearances.

"Main line" and key "plot outline" such as: the story of the birthday outline, the three strikes at Zhujiazhuang, Xiaojuyi, the Nine Heavens Xuannv granting the heavenly scriptures, the conquest of Fang La (in plain words), the conquest of the four bandits (in plain words)...

"Water Margin", as the patriarch of the Chinese "martial arts" theme, created the following keywords related to martial arts:
Green forest, heroes, martial arts, martial arts, bravery, chivalry, fighting violence and peace, doing justice for the heavens, forcing people to go to the Liangshan...

(End of this chapter)