The Research of Du Yang Za Bian

Tang Dynasty novels have been well known for Chuanqi since a long time ago, but the supernatural story collection also prevailed in Tang Dynasty. Thus, this thesis mainly focuses on a Tang Dynasty encyclopedic novel called Du Yang Za Bian. Through three aspects of research: history of Chinese novel, literary themes, and political allegory, this paper aims to give Du Yang Za Bian a comprehensive study. No matter in literary subjects, forms or writing consciousness, Du Yang Za Bian succeeds many Han Wei and Six-dynasty novels such as Shi Yi Ji, Dong Ming Ji, and so on. Besides, Tang novel You Yang Za Zu and Du Yang Za Bian also have many things in common. So this appearance can explain why Du Yang Za Bian is enough to be regarded as an encyclopedic novel. On the other side, Du Yang Za Bian still describes a variety of strange things from many distant countries. By writing uncommon things and people, the author presented his rich imagination and romantic perception under the big environment of Tang culture. However, Du Yang Za Bian is not only interested in supernatural things, but still concerned with history events. For example, this novel especially depicts political disorders, auspicious signs, and important figures in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, which show the author’s great attention to history and politics. In brief, this thesis attempts to find out the peculiar style of Du Yang Za Bian so that it could make a contribution of Tang story collection research.