As is known, vernacular fiction is the representative literary genre of Ming China (1368-1644). Ming vernacular fiction was swiftly transmitted to neighbouring nations such as Vietnam, Joseon and Japan, gaining widespread popularity and thus became highly influential. At present, both Japan and Korea has preserved a large amount of fiction in Ming editions, many of those being rare copies long lost in China. Hence it is no exaggeration to say that studying Ming fiction is impossible without resources from Japan and Korea. This lecture will introduce the main editions of representational Ming works such as The Romance of Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin, and Journey to the West collected in Japan and Korea, as well as the challenges faced by relevant academic institutions in present days.
Professor Kin Bunkyō is Professor emeritus of Kyoto University. He has taught in Keiō University, Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University and Tsurumi University. Professor Kin is an expert in Chinese, Japanese and Korean literary traditions, with his decades of research covering a range of themes from Chinese fiction and drama to Literary Sinitic. His publications include Kanbun to higashi ajia: Kundoku no bunkaken 漢文と東アジア—訓読の文化圏 (Literary Sinitic and East Asia: A Cultural Sphere of Vernacular Reading, trans. Ross King, Brill, 2021), Genkan zatsugeki no kenkyū 元刊雜劇の研究, Sangokushi no sekai 三国志の世界 etc.
This public lecture will be conducted in Chinese and in-person only. All are welcome.
This lecture is part of the TEXTCOURT lectures on Chinese Humanities series. The TEXTCOURT project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 819953). Learn more about TEXTCOURT on our website https://textcourt.ames.ox.ac.uk/.
