Where is Yu Xiangdou from?

Yu Xiangdou (1after the middle of the 6th century-1637) is a native of Santaishan, also known as Yu Shiteng, Yu, Yu, etc. , originally from Linshu, Jianyang, Fujian (now Fang Shu Township, Jianyang District, Nanping City). Famous booksellers, block printers, popular novelists and critics in Ming Dynasty. One of the representatives of "Jian Ben" or "Min Ben" engraving books.

Yu Xiangdou is both a bookseller and a book editor. He presided over book engraving for decades, which promoted the development of ancient publishing industry in China and left a lot of precious printing materials for future generations. His contribution to novel creation, editing and criticism has had a far-reaching impact on the development of Chinese popular literature, especially Zhang Hui's novels.

Famous novels written by Yu Xiangdou include Travel Notes in the South and Travel Notes in the North.

Chinese name: Phyllanthus emblica

Alias: Yu, Yu Shiteng, etc.

Nationality: China.

Place of birth: Jianyang, Fujian

Date of birth: about 1548- 156 1 year.

Date of death: after 1637.

Occupation: bookseller, novelist

Main achievements: printing and engraving a large number of books, publishing industry in Ming Dynasty.

Comment, revise and create Zhang Hui's novels.

Masterpieces: Biography of Imperial Master, Travels in the South and Travels in the North.

The life of the character

There are hardly any historical materials and biographies of Ming and Qing dynasties in Yu Xiangdou's life experience, and he can only make a rough guess and sort out some words in Jianyang prints and other documents that have been passed down to this day.

Early experience

Around 1548 (about 1560), Yu Xiangdou was born in Jianyang, Fujian Province, where the engraving and printing industry was extremely developed, and became a new member of the Yu family of Jianyang (also known as the Yu family of Jianyang and the Yu family of Jian 'an) since the Northern Song Dynasty. According to the "Reconstruction of Lin Shu's Family Tree" edited in the late Qing Dynasty, Yu Xiangdou is the 34th generation descendant of the Yu family in Jianyang. His father's name is Yu, and he has two peaks. Mother's surname is Liu.

Yu Xiangdou's grandfather's name is Yu Ji 'an (1492- 1562). /kloc-In the first half of the 6th century, he bought a lot of fields in his hometown and accumulated family fortune. He also built the "Qingxiu Temple" to give lectures and print books for future generations, which laid the foundation for the revival of the book engraving industry, which was relatively declining in the early Ming Dynasty.

Two generations, Yu and Yu Xiangdou, grew up in such a scholarly atmosphere.

According to Yu Xiangdou's account, he studied Confucian classics when he was young and devoted himself to fame. He is a Confucian scholar in Shaowu County. At the same time, he was also interested in the study of geomancy since he was a child.

Abandon school to do business.

At the latest, at the end of the 13th year of Wanli (1585), Yu Xiangdou got married, and the eldest son Yu Yingjia was born the following year (1586).

Yu Xiangdou had several seal cutting experiences under the influence of his family before he officially engaged in the seal cutting industry. For example, in the 16th year of Wanli (1588), he published and engraved a book called Sunjiachuan Xuepingdong Micromirror, titled "Three Taiguan". In the same year, under the pseudonym of Yu Shiteng, he co-published and engraved Xiong's novel The Book of the Whole Han Dynasty. These are the first two bibliographies carved by Yu Xiang.

One of the "three passes" has also been used by Yu Xiangdou. As one of the names of his bookstore, he often calls himself "Santaiguan boss" or "Santaishan native". This name was also passed on to Yu's descendants and remained in use until the early Qing Dynasty. In addition, he also used the name "Shuangfengtang", which should be taken from his father's name "Shuangfeng".

In the 19th year of Wanli (159 1), Yu Xiangdu officially gave up his studies and devoted himself to engraving books, and hired a large number of bureaucrats, gentry, literati and scholars to participate in writing and editing. According to available data, in the 19th year of Wanli, Yu Xiangdou published more than a dozen imperial examination books, as well as some "miscellaneous books" such as novels.

Yu Xiangdou also actively established contact with the book engraving industry in other regions. 159 1 year began to engrave some books in Jinling (Nanjing).

Bookstore life

In the 20th year of Wanli (1592), Yu Xiangdou published the Biography of the Three Kingdoms, which is an important version of the masterpiece Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

From the 22nd year of Wanli to the 23rd year of Wanli (1594), Yu Xiangdou published and engraved books, including "Examining Huang Ming as the Second Champion" and "Water Margin". The latter is the earliest and most complete version of Water Margin, the earliest annotated version of Water Margin, and even the earliest of all the existing complete versions of Water Margin. It has very important research value.

In the 26th year of Wanli (1598), Yu Xiangdou compiled and printed a case-solving novel Yu Si Gong An (hereinafter referred to as Yu Si Gong An). This is the earliest record of Yu Xiangdou writing novels himself.

Around the 30th year of Wanli (1602), Yu Xiangdou compiled and printed ghost novels "The Origin of Tian Xuan, the Father of Zhenwu in the North" and "The Legend of King Hua Guang, the Emperor of the Five Spirits" (Southern Biography).

In the thirty-fourth year of Wanli (1606), Yu Xiangdou and his cousin jointly published Notes on Ancient and Modern Rhymes, and also published the Biography of the Country written by Zu Shu Yu. Yu Xiangdou's prequel "Biography of the Twelve Dynasties" written for "Biography of Kings" is the earliest novel prequel known in China.

In the forty-seventh year of Wanli (16 19), Yu Xiangdou published The Journey to the South, The Journey to the North, Wu Yuantai's Journey to the East and Yang's four travel notes of The Journey to the West. However, there are also views that this kind of block printing actually appeared in the Qing Dynasty.

In the fourth year of Chongzhen (163 1 year), Yu Xiangdou traveled to Guangdong, and in the period of 1628- 1635, he compiled a geomantic masterpiece, The Unified Book of Carved Yang Reference Geographical Antiques (which was not published by Yu Xiangdou himself).

In the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637), Yu Xiangdou carved a book called Five Detailed Arguments on Sanyitong Books, which was the latest book carving activity he knew.

In his later years, Yu Xiangdou was highly respected in Jianyang and Shaowu. He was awarded many awards by the government and was awarded the "official seal of Confucianism".

The year of death of Yu Xiangdou is not recorded, but according to the above information, it can be inferred that he died after 1637 and enjoyed a life of about eighty or ninety years old. His career of engraving books and compiling classical novels spanned half a century.

Main work

Yu Xiangdou is not only a professional book engraver and publisher, but also a popular novel writer, editor and critic. When he publishes and engraves literary works, he often has the above status, so the copyright ownership of his works is actually vague (which is also a common situation in early novels). According to the accepted statement, the most important literary works under Yu Xiangdou's name are arranged as follows.

Novels and collections of novels

There are five novels signed by Xiang Dou:

These five novels involve three categories of China's classical novels: case-solving novels, ghost novels and historical romances.

In addition, Yu Xiangdou also compiled novels such as Wan Jin Lin Qing.

Works review

Yu Xiangdou's important novel comments are mainly included in the following versions. According to textual research, he actually made some modifications and edits to these novels:

Other works

Yu Xiangdou also compiled various books and miscellaneous works, including The Encyclopedia of Unified Geography of Ke Yang and Reference to True Stories by Zhi Zi (hereinafter referred to as the Encyclopedia of Unified Geography).

Creative characteristics

Yu Xiangdou is a figure in the early and middle period of the development history of China's classical novels. At that time, although novels were widely welcomed by people from all walks of life, the status of novelists was not very high, including Yu Xiangdou's own opinion that novels and other miscellaneous books could not be compared with the imperial examination bibliography, so he was naturally not very serious about writing novels.

In the Ming Dynasty, the owner of Jianyang Bookstore wrote his own novels, which existed before Yu Xiangdou, such as bears. The main purpose of this kind of novel creation is to make profits, so the consideration of artistry is not placed in an important position. Novels under Yu Xiangdou's name are often of poor literary quality, sloppy editing and poor writing.

The reason for the low level of Yu Xiangdou's works is that the creation for profit will inevitably lead to the mentality and behavior that are not conducive to creation, such as seeking quick success and following the trend. On the other hand, the main audience of these works is readers with low educational level. Sculptors naturally feel that it is not necessary to improve their literary level too carefully, but prefer to attract customers from illustrations and form innovation. In addition, Yu Xiangdou himself is just a scholar. Because of family reasons, he deals with books all the year round. He is a businessman first, but his writing talent may not be high.

Under such circumstances, although Yu Xiangdou's literary creation is inevitably rough, his keen sense of business often makes his works exude an innovative atmosphere that ordinary novelists are not easy to appear. For example, the creation of "continuation books" in the form of "prequel" to the old bibliography, the extensive collection of folk story materials into books, and the creation of "forest review" novels are all outstanding examples.

Personality influence

As a cultural figure with multiple identities, such as bookseller, novel editor and literary critic, Yu Xiangdou had a great influence on the development of literature and art in China.

First of all, as a publisher with a large number of popular novels, Yu Xiangdou provides an important platform for the dissemination and distribution of popular novels, including Water Margin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and other famous works. Although these books have some defects such as rough editing, due to the commercial operation of Phyllanthus emblica, they can spread to a larger audience at a faster speed, which is an indispensable part of the development history of these novels. However, many "Jian Ben" books, represented by Yu Xiangdou's block prints, have been handed down to this day and become important materials for studying ancient novels and even literature, culture and history.

Second, some marketing methods created or developed by Phyllanthus emblica for commercial interests have promoted the development of popular literature and art to some extent. For example, his extensive involvement in various novel themes and extensive collection of folk stories have accumulated material for later literary creation and played a role in connecting the past with the future. For another example, he was one of the first people to criticize Zhang Hui's novels, and also created a model of "commenting on forests". The development of novel criticism in Ming and Qing Dynasties was inspired by Yu Xiangdou. The abundant illustrations in Yu prints are also important prints in ancient China.

Thirdly, as a book engraver rooted in the folk market, Yu Xiangdou deeply embodies the value orientation of the citizen class in the process of publishing, editing, creating and commenting on novels. The spread of Yu Shu promoted the awakening of civilian consciousness and humanistic spirit.

Personality assessment

Xiao Dongfa, a scholar who made a systematic study of Yu Xiangdou earlier, commented on Yu Xiangdou's official career in this way: "Throughout Yu Xiangdou's life, if he made a name for himself in Wanli Xinmao, he would probably be just a mediocre general. However, he finally chose to edit novels and engrave books as his lifelong career. On these two points, he succeeded and left considerable achievements for future generations. His achievements are creative and pioneering, which is commendable. "

Mr. Ma Youyuan, a famous expert in the study of Water Margin, is very interested in Yu Dou and has collected his information for a long time. However, when evaluating Yu Xiangdou's behavior in compiling novels, Ma Youyuan also called him a "bold and brazen writer".

Ma Boyong, a famous writer, commented on the behavior style of Yu Xiangdou as follows: "Keep up with the market trend and stimulate sales by marketing means. It has nothing to do with product quality and ethics-this is a standard marketing genius. "

Anecdotes of characters

Name and font size

Yu Xiangdou used many aliases when carving books, such as Yu, Yu Shiteng, Yu, Yu, Yu and so on. Scholars such as Sun Jiedi judged that these are all pseudonyms of Yu Xiangdou, but there are also several names referring to Yu Xiangdou himself or other members of the Yu family, which is still controversial. In modern times, it is generally believed that "Yangzhi" is Yu Xiangdou's word, "Santaishan people" is his name, and Shuangfengtang and Santaishan Pavilion are his bookstore names, among which "Shuangfengtang" may be inherited from his father Yu.

Illustrated portrait

Yu Xiangdou's books are rich in illustrations, and for the purpose of publicity and advertising, he often engraves his portrait into books, which is called "One Man Map of Santaishan, In Yangzhi". Many of these portraits have been preserved with books so far and become important materials for studying life in the late Ming Dynasty, printmaking art and Xiang Dou. Wang Zhongmin, an ancient philologist, once described and evaluated Yu Xiangdou's portrait like this:

The picture shows a man sitting in Santing, a woman holding an inkstone and a child making tea. According to several papers, the list reads' A red sun is on the horizon, Wan Li Qingyun is on the lookout', and it is the first great man in the world. Over the past 400 years, Yu's short books have been handed down from generation to generation, and he is a savage hero. Looking at this picture today, I can only pretend to be the king.

copyright consciousness

Like other Jianyang booksellers, Yu Xiangdou has a strong sense of copyright. He wrote a famous condemnation of piracy in The Journey to the West:

The self-published biography of "Hua Guang" was all made up by the mind, and it took a lot of effort! Its cost is huge! But most of them are published for profit-seekers, and even spread the wind of our school, practice people's ruts and chase people's dust. Today, there are also self-reliant people in this workshop, some are down-to-earth, some are shameless in pursuit of profits, and some are eager to turn over and become slaves with the tide on the other side. It's shameless to attack and spit on others.

However, Yu Xiangdou himself has a lot of bad records in piracy, "not only reprints other people's works, but even attracts other people's works as Kinosaku". Treat others and yourself with double standards.