Who is Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng?

As of November 23, 2020, the true identity is unknown.

Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng, a writer of the Ming Dynasty, is the pen name of the author of the chapter novel "Jin Ping Mei" in the "Four Great Books". Lanling is an ancient place name. There is Beilanling (in Shandong Province). ) Nan Lanling (in Jiangsu Province), and the book uses Shandong spoken language extensively. The author may be a Shandong native, or be familiar with the Shandong environment.

The most outstanding, while the descriptions of upper-class characters are simple, and most of the poems written by the author himself in the works are not standard. The author is probably a lower-class literati from a poor family, not a "big celebrity" as Shen Defu said.

1. Five major theories

The true identity of Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng is still controversial. So far, more than 60 candidates have been proposed, among which the more credible ones are: Huang Lin's "Tu Long Theory", Bu Jian's "Li Kaixian Theory", Lu Ge and Ma Zheng's "Wang Zhideng Theory", Xu Jianping and Huo Xianjun's "Wang Shizhen Theory", Pan Chengyu's "Xu Wei Theory", etc. are known as the five major theories. .

2. Wang Shizhen said

Since "Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng" is only a pen name or a pseudonym, no other direct evidence has been found so far to prove who this person's real name is and who Ming Shen is. Defu's "Wanli Yehuobian" said that it was "written by a famous scholar during the Jiajing period." In the past, the most common theory was that Wang Shizhen was the author. In the Qing Dynasty, scholars such as Gu Gongxie, Li Ciming, and Liang Zhangju also believed that the author of "Jin Ping Mei" should be Wang Shizhen.

Lu Xun held an opposing view. He pointed out in the "Preface to the Japanese Translation of "A Brief History of Chinese Novels": ""The Words on the Plum in the Golden Ping" was discovered in Peiping and is the ancestor of the same book that is still in use today. Although the article It is rougher than the current version, but the dialogues are all written in Shandong dialect, which definitely proves that this book is definitely not written by Wang Shizhen from Jiangsu." Wu Han also verified that the author could not be Wang Shizhen.

Legend has it that when Wang Shizhen served as the deputy envoy of the Chengxuan Political Envoy Department in Shandong, his father Wang Yan was unjustly killed by Yan Song's son Yan Shifan because he refused to hand over the treasured "Along the River During the Qingming Festival". Yan Shifan was fond of reading strange books. Wang Shizhen wrote "Jin Ping Mei". There were many obscene contents in the book. People couldn't put it down after reading it. They dipped the corners of the book in arsenic poison and then sold the book to Yan Shifan. Yan Shifan was so addicted to reading the book that he kept putting his hands on his mouth. I dipped some saliva on it and turned the pages. After reading this book, I got poisoned and died.

This rumor is not reliable. Lu Xun thought it was too far-fetched: "The later generations advocated this theory and topped it with the theory of bitter filial piety. They were just trying to reduce the attack methods in society, which is not true. There is evidence provided by Wang Shizhen."

Xu Jianping's "A Research on Jin Ping Mei" and Huo Xianjun's "Microbiography of "Jin Ping Mei"" were once again identified as Wang Shizhen's work. Xu Jianping believed that "the research on "Jin Ping Mei" in the 21st century should take Wang Shizhen's research as a new breakthrough and starting point."

3. Tu Long’s theory

Huang Lin initiated it. He believes that "Tu Long traveled from Ningbo to the capital, and traveled all over the world throughout his life. He knew the inside story of business and the customs of the market. He also became a beggar from a capital official. He had a thorough understanding of life and people's hearts, so he could write such a novel."

Huang Lin and Wei Ziyun also pointed out that the fifty-sixth chapter of "Jin Ping Mei", "Poems for Sad Headbands" and "Turban Sacrifice Essays" come from "Opening a Smile". The Tu family first moved from Changzhou to Ningbo, where it is now. Changzhou was also known as Lanling at that time. In "Open Book and a Smile", we learned that Tu Long was named Mr. Xiaoxiao, so Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng was Tu Long. Zheng Run also agreed with this statement and verified that Xinxinzi who wrote the preface was Tu Benjiu, the grandson of the Tulong clan.

4. Li Kaixian said

A footnote from the 1962 edition of "History of Chinese Literature" by the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is not entirely certain. This footnote may have been added by Wu Xiaoling, who is also a supporter of Li Kaixian's theory. Xu Shuofang also maintained that Li Kaixian was the final author of "Jin Ping Mei". Japanese sinologist Sui Kusaka supports this theory and puts forward four new insights. Bu Jian discovered the "Genealogy of the Li Family" in Nanjing and wrote the book "A Study of Li Kaixian, the Author of Jin Ping Mei", which is a masterpiece.

5. Wang Mingden’s theory

Lu Ge and Ma Zheng proposed this statement for the first time and presented twelve pieces of evidence.

6. Xu Wei said

Yuan Zhongdao of the Ming Dynasty first proposed it in "You Ju Shi Lu", and the British translator Arthur Willy mentioned it in the introduction to the English translation of "Jin Ping Mei", Pan Chengyu made a more comprehensive demonstration on this.

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Extended information:

Character experience

The "No. 1 Wonderful Book" "Jin Ping Mei" was written around the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. Known as a "forbidden book" and a "wonderful book", "Jin Ping Mei" has unique literary value and artistic achievement. In 1932, the Peking Library acquired a Ming-dynasty edition of "Jin Ping Mei Ci Hua" from Jiexiu, Shanxi (therefore, academic circles also referred to it as the Jiexiu version of "Jin Ping Mei", and it is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei).

This version was published in 1617 AD. It is the earliest engraving found so far. The content is closer to the original work. There is also a preface signed by "Xin Xinzi" in front of the engraving. The first sentence says " It is rumored that Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng wrote "Jin Ping Mei Zhuan", indicating that the author of the book is "Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng". "Lanling" is the county commander, and "Xiaoxiaosheng" is the author.

So the last sentence of the preface is "I said: Xiaoxiaosheng is the one who wrote this biography. There is a reason." This provides a new clue for people to research the author of "Jin Ping Mei". Lanling Town, Lanling County, Shandong Province, and Wujin County, Jiangsu Province were both named "Lanling" in ancient times. However, judging from the extensive use of Shandong dialect in the book, the author should be from Shandong, not Wujin County, Jiangsu Province.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng