The early xia tradition, historicity and topos

grantor: University of TorontoThis thesis examines the early xia tradition from pre-Qin times to that of Wei-Jin Northern-Southern Dynasties (220-581). It begins with the xia in history and then goes to their reflection in literature. Chapter One discusses the world in which the xia were to emerge, and the groups from whom the xia originated. Chapter Two discusses the emergence of the xia and the earliest writings about them. In Chapter Three, I try to show the development of the xia by reference to other pre-Qin social groups, to which the xia bore similarities and with whom they were sometimes confused. Chapter Four discusses the brief prominence of the xia in the the Western Han dynasty (206 B.C.-24 D.C.) and their decline under the suppression. The xia in its classical form virtually disappeared as a historic entity during the Han, but also during the same period the xia myth, a spiritual quest of heroism, brotherhood and social justice, began to gradually take shape in the form of folklore, pseudo-history and even historical writing. Sima Qian's Shi Ji was the most important source in transporting the xia from history to literature. Chapter Five discusses Sima Qian's role in building the xia image. Chapter Six discusses the romanticization of the xia theme in works usually considered historical, such as the Yue Jue Shu and Wu Yue Chunqiu, and the beginnings of xia literature, represented by the novella Yan Dan Zi and youxia ballads. In works like these produced in the Wei-Jin period, the transformation of xia from a historical entity to a literary convention was completed. Through this study I try to demonstrate that the xia from the pre-Qin to Wei-Jin were a mixture of reality and myth, and history and literature. I also try to show that when these often conflicting factors were reconciled, the xia tradition became a point of intersection between elite and folk culture. The tradition has been modified and re-modified ever since.Ph.D