What is the relationship between novels in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and Buddhism and Taoism metaphysics?

Novels in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties can be divided into two categories: mystery novels and character novels. The former describes fairies, ghosts and strange things. Buddhism and Buddhism's paranormal can be roughly divided into three categories: geography and natural history (neurology, natural history), weird ghosts and gods (biography of Leiyi, search for Ji Shen, interpretation of different records), Buddhism and Buddhism's paranormal science (ghost Ji Xiang, ghost stories). The prosperity of Zhi Ren's novels has a lot to do with the literati's evaluation of characters and the frivolous atmosphere. It can be said that Zhiren's novels are the result of judging characters and advocating frivolous, which in turn promotes the development of this trend. The novels of Zhi Ren are mainly divided into three categories: jokes (Laughing Forest), unofficial history (Miscellaneous Notes of Xijing) and anecdotes (Yu Lin, Guo Zi and common sayings).

First of all, the influence of metaphysics on literature: Wei and Jin dynasties formed a new outlook on life and world, and its theoretical form was metaphysics in Wei and Jin dynasties. The formation of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties was obviously related to Laozi and Zhuangzi's thoughts, and Buddhism was absorbed after the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties provided a new method for interpreting classics and played a positive role in breaking the rule of complicated classics in Han Dynasty. It is a great turning point in the history of China's thought that metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties took Han books. Metaphysics has several important topics: respecting right and wrong, teaching by name and teaching by sex, distinguishing between words and meaning, distinguishing between form and spirit, and distinguishing between name and reason. Those who have a direct influence on literature and art are those who advocate nature and those who don't speak enough.

Secondly, the influence of Buddhism: during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, scholars had a close relationship with Buddhism, and many influential writers believed in Buddhism or made friends with monks.

The influence of Buddhism on literature can be seen from five aspects: First, the richness of the imaginary world. Before Buddhism was introduced into China, there was only this life, and I didn't know the past and the afterlife. As Confucius said, "If you don't know life, how can you know death?" Buddhism has brought the concepts of "three generations", "causal cycle" and "three realms and five Taoism", which has expanded the time and space of thinking. And karma is used to explain many phenomena in the world, so there are note novels such as You, Ghosts, and Miserable Soul. The images of Vimo and Guanyin were also established at this time, which had a wide influence on later literature. Second, the strengthening of the story. With the translation of Buddhist scriptures, a large number of stories recorded in Buddhist scriptures were introduced into China and circulated among the people, which strengthened the storytelling of China literature. Thirdly, the emergence of anti-tangency and the discovery of four tones mainly refer to the influence of Sanskrit Pinyin on ancient phonology, and I don't need to say more. Fourth, the expansion of vocabulary. With the extensive translation of Buddhist scriptures, a large number of words reflecting Buddhist concepts have also been incorporated into Chinese, enriching and expanding the vocabulary of literary terms such as "cause and effect", "fate" and "realm". Fifth, the diversification of literary concepts. The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were a period of great changes in literary concepts, which broke away from the Confucian emphasis on politics and religion. This has a lot to do with metaphysics, but the concepts of reality, mind, realm, image and the other in Buddhism, as well as the discussion on form and spirit, also enrich the literary concept.

Therefore, from the above point of view, the influence of metaphysics in Wei and Jin Dynasties on novels is mainly manifested in novels with lofty aspirations. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, there was a strong pursuit of artistry, individuality and freedom of life, which was influenced by Laozi and Zhuangzi's philosophy and promoted the emergence of novels with lofty ideals.

The influence of Buddhism and even Taoism on novels is mainly reflected in strange novels. It can be said that the prosperity of mystery novels is closely related to the social background at that time, and the prevalence of religious superstition is the soil for its prosperity. First, many stories about the efficacy of witchcraft circulated in society have become the material of strange books. Secondly, since the Qin and Han Dynasties, alchemy has prevailed, and fairy stories have emerged one after another, which also provides nutrition for strange novels. In addition, Taoism established at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and Buddhism introduced to China by the Eastern Han Dynasty spread widely after the Wei and Jin Dynasties, resulting in many stories of ghosts and gods and Buddhism, which also became one of the sources of mystery novels. As for these materials being collected and recorded, there is a purpose of self-study. Some authors of mystery novels are religious. For example, Wang Fu, the author of Miraculous Stories, is a Taoist and Wang Yan, the author of Ghost Stories, is a Buddhist. Of course, some of them just gather for interest.

On the one hand, it is the soil provided by Buddhism and Taoism that forms mystery novels, on the other hand, it also publicizes religious thoughts, and so does mystery novels (I won't go into details as mentioned earlier).

In fact, I think the main influence of metaphysics is reflected in poetry, because the expression of poetry is very suitable for metaphysics, followed by prose, which can only be said to be a side or indirect influence in novels. Metaphysical poetry in Wei and Jin Dynasties has a very unique charm.