Le Roman du Pourfendeur de Démons: Traduction annotée et commentaires by DanielleÉliasbergReview by: Wolfram EberhardJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 99, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1979), pp. 489-490Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/602414 .

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Brief Reviews of Books 489

history of the period. In these matters he considers the views advanced by Chinese and Japanese commentators; he takes issue with them and often arrives at different conclusions. He sometimes uses mathematical formulas to represent the various elements contained in a poem and their relations to each other. Near the end of the book, the official biographies of Tu Mu in the Old and New History of Twang are translated in full.

When the study of a poet consists largely of translations and interpretations of individual poems, there is always the danger of losing sight of the poet's work in its totality. Kubin avoids this danger by means of two procedures: first, by bringing together in the theoretical section the various aspects of Tu Mu's poetry which he has observed; and second, in his interpretations, by placing each poem in the context of Tu Mu's total work, and in the larger context of the poetry of the period. Late T'ang poetry, according to Kubin, is characterized by melancholy, a sense of impending doom, and extreme subjectivity, and these are the standards he applies when he classifies many of Tu Mu's poems as being either typical or atypical of Late T'ang Poetry. But this is an oversimplification. While the tendencies noted by Kubin are present, contrasting trends are also in ample supply in ninth century poetry. Thus we may say that Tu Mu is a fine representative of Late Tcang poetry precisely because, as a true son of his age, he offers such a rich variety of poetic moods.

HANS H. FRANKEL

YALE UNIVERSITY

Le Roman du Pourfendeur de demons: Traduction annot~e et commentaires. By DANIELLE ELIASBERG. Pp. 425. Memoires de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, Volume iv. Paris: COLLEGE DE FRANCE, INSTITUT DES

HAUTES ETUDES CHINOISES. 1976. 44FF paper.

Although the Chung K'ui chuan (or Cho-kui chuan, The Story of the Capture of Demons) was regarded by Chinese of the 19th century as one of the ten masterpieces of the Chinese novel, the book has thus far only been translated into German in an edition which had a limited distribution (C. du Bois-Reymond, Dschung-Kuei, Bezwinger der Teufel, G. Kiepenheuer Verlag, Potsdam, 1923; reprint Fischer Verlag, Berlin, 1936). Dr. du Bois-Reymond was a professor at the German-Chinese Medical School (the later T'ung chi University) in Shanghai, who learned Chinese and made the translation with the help of Chinese and German scholars. The work did not claim to be a scholarly work, but when compared with the new translation, it still has its value. Ms. Eliasberg has made use of it several times

for the translation of slang or dialectical expressions which the assistants of du Bois-Reymond could understand. Du Bois-Reymond in his postscript tried to date the novel, but did not succeed in establishing the name of the author. Ms. Eliasberg agrees with him in stating that the novel is earlier than 1720 (the date of the Preface), but later than 1640, probably written in 1702. She was, however, able to establish that Liu Chang, an official who was a magistrate in 1723, was most likely the author of the book. She also could show that the novel must have been written by a man from North China, on the basis of his language and his descriptions of the seasons of the year. The novel is now regarded as a "folk novel," but as with so many other "folk novels," the author was a learned man who not only knew the classics well but was also familiar with the theatre and the lighter literature, such as the Jou-p'u-t'uan and the Seng-ni nieh-hai.

The novel has some similarities with the Hsi-yu-chi. Like it, the novel pretends to be a religious work, and it certainly contains religious concepts and traditions, but the readers of the Hsi-yu-chi seem to have always liked the fights with evil demons more than the religious ideas, and obviously the Chung K'ui chuan fascinates by its descriptions of sins and sinners. In the Hsi-yu-chi, the enemies or demons are usually metamorphoses of animals. In the Chung K'ui chuan they appear as ordinary humans, though endowed with magic powers. For a Western reader, the heroes of both novels are not heroes at all, but rather incompetent persons who finally have success only because of the intelligence of their helpers. Chung K'ui chuan, venerated as a god centuries before the novel was written, is often defeated by the so-called demons, or does not know how to subdue them. His two assistants save him and give him advice. This kind of hero differs from the typical "military" hero of Chinese novels, and also from the "civil" hero, the weak but well educated young man. Some Chinese emperors are depicted similarly in novels, such as the famous T'ai-tsung of the T'ang, who was about to hand over China to the general of the Koreans if he had not been saved and helped by his general Hsueh Jen-kui. We may see here the concept that the highest person, whether deity, emperor, or high monk, should not act but let others act for him. The Chung K'ui chuan shows still another characteristic trait of many novels, a trait which, again, is difficult for a Western reader to understand. When a person who seems to be on the side of the enemy is captured, he is promised pardon if he (she) reveals all the information which is needed to capture the enemy-but once he has done so, he is still executed. Thus, the unfortunate women, who in our novel had been kidnaped or seduced by a debauched monk, were not pardoned but killed (chapter 9) after they had given Chung K'ui the desired information.

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490 Journal of the American Oriental Society 99.3 (1979)

Like the Hsi-yu-chi, our novel can be regarded as a social satire, exposing and criticizing human weaknesses, but it is not a book of social criticism. In conclusion, it is a novel of considerable interest, and Ms. Eliasberg's careful and competent analysis deserves our thanks.

No work is without blemishes. The translator was not in all cases able to identify the many persons to whom the text makes allusions. One such allusion, the song about "Madame Wang" (p. 365 and note 4) seems to refer to a play "The Hundred Birds come to the Phenix" (Pai niao chlaofeng). In some places, the Chinese characters are not inserted, though space for them is left.

WOLFRAM EBERHARD

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY

Early Chinese Art and its Possible Influence in the Pacific Basin. Edited by NOEL BARNARD, in collaboration with DOUGLAS FRASER. Three vols. Pp. Ixlviil + 896 + many illustrations. New York: INTERCULTURAL ARTS

PRESS. 1972. $32.50.

The three volumes under review consist of twenty-seven papers which were presented August 21-25, 1967, at an international symposium arranged by the department of Art History and Archaeology of Columbia University. The first, and most specialized volume, deals with Ch'u and the Silk Manuscript. Especially interesting papers are Noel Barnard's "The Chlu Silk Manuscript and Other Archaeo- logical Documents of Ancient China" and M. Hayashi's "The Twelve Gods of the Chan-Kuo Period Silk Manuscript Excavated at Ch'ang-sha." Other papers in this volume round out our picture of the place of the State of Ch'u in Late Chou China (the prospective reader should keep in mind that the data in this work pre-dates the spectacular discoveries made during and after the Cultural Revolution). The second volume discusses, in a broad fashion, all of Asia; the papers range from "The Thraco- Cimmerian Phase in Central Asia: Evidence for the 'Pontic Migrations' " by Karl Jettmar to "Prehistoric Japan: A Survey of Cultural Development Down to the Late Jomon Stage (approx. 200 B.C.)" by Chester S. Chard. Chard's paper was of particular interest to this reviewer. After offering a good, general survey of the Jomon period, the author makes two points which seem to argue against one of the basic premises of the symposium. First, he points out that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find sources in China for the early cultural phases of Jomon Japan. Second, he discredits the ridiculous 'Jomon- Valdivia theory' (Chard refers to it as the 'Kyushu-Valdivia theory') of Meggers and Evans which holds that the

ceramics of Ecuador during the Valdivia phase were influenced by Jomon wares. While Chard does not make any explicitly anti-diffusionist statement, in fact in both the instances that I have cited he points out the practical difficulties encountered in the utilization of a diffusionist methodology. One wonders if a more general adoption of his point of view might not have a salutary effect on studies concerned with possible relations between Asia and adjacent areas? The third volume is concerned with Oceania and the Americas. Since the topics dealt with in this volume are far from any of my areas of competence, I shall not single out any of the papers for specific mention.

The set has been attractively designed and produced by Intercultural Arts Press. The illustrations, maps, and Chinese characters are all clear, and the text is easy to read. I mention this not so much to congratulate the publishers, but to point out that a pirated, one volume edition produced in Taiwan is very inadequate in these respects.

DONALD F. MCCALLUM

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Los ANGELES

Chinese Seals. By T. C. LAI. Pp. xxiv + 200. Seattle and London: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS. 1976. $10.00.

The formal and structural beauty of the written character has been an enduring aesthetic force in the artistic traditions of China. Calligraphy and the study of shu-fa or "writing method" were long considered important prerequisites not only to painting but also to seal carving. Although far from obscure in its relevance to Chinese culture, seals and seal carving are art forms to which Westerners have had relatively little exposure. The amount of literature on seals in English is limited. The most outstanding efforts calling attention to the art may be found in the standard reference works by Contag and Wang, Seals of Chinese Painters and Collectors of the Ming and Ch ring (1940; revised ed. Hong Kong, 1966). a compendium of representative examples of individuals' seals, and a similar compilation published by the Taiwan National Palace Museum (Signatures and Seals on Painting and Calligraphy, Hong Kong, 1964). There are also several, more introductory books by the Museum's former curator, Mr. Na Chih-liang.

In contrast to these more academic approaches, Mr. T. C. Lai's Chinese Seals is an abbreviated overview of the historical and artistic significance of seals ranging from their political use by emperors in ancient times to their literary and documentary use by literati during the Yuan, Ming, and Ch'ing dynasties. The many different cultural aspects of seals are divided into several, well-illustrated

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