The Forming of Ethical Evaluation of Shuihu Zhuan in the Context of Guanxi Culture

• Main Author: Han, Ruihui
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: bao; cult of qing; ethical criticism; guanxi narrative; knight errant fiction; Shuihu Zhuan; qing
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss42/5; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/2066/viewcontent/KK_2042_2C_202023_205_20Regular_20section_20__20Han.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Shuihu Zhuan, a work of fiction with a perverse narrative of atrocities, has been criticized as a novel with serious ethical demerits. Yet, this novel remains widely appreciated within Chinese society, with many holding its morals in high esteem. This presents an apparent paradox when juxtaposed against the ethical criticisms directed at the novel. Understanding the forming of the ethical evaluation is pivotal, especially given the significant role of ethical references in literary commentary—a backdrop further intensified by traditional Chinese literary theory, which is deeply influenced by Confucian moral teachings. Since interpretations of Shuihu Zhuan should consider its context, this article analyzes the forming of ethical evaluation about the work from the perspective of guanxi culture and its emphasis on bao and qing principles.In this light, the characters can be viewed as moral exemplars. Although the novel’s many protagonists seem cruel, in the guanxi-oriented Chinese society, readers’ attention is caught by their bao and qing rather than their crimes. Since Shuihu Zhuan is a knight errant fiction in the first cult of the qing movement in Chinese literary history, bao and qing principles are basic criteria for the ethical evaluation of this work. The specific cultural and historical context generates a paradoxical impression of the work: a novel with both a highly ethical evaluation and a perverse narrative about atrocities.