Shen Fus Six Records of a Floating Life presents the state of the Chinese society during the eighteenth century. Besides family set up and marriage relationships, it also examines life within the wider setting of society. But most importantly- and perhaps what makes the text unique, it departs from the dominant trends of scholarly writings of the 18th century. Traditionally, Chinese classical writings focused on the factual side of reality. Attention was given to those issues of relevance to the larger society instead of personal interests and needs. Accordingly, little was considered in regard to individual passions, pleasures and fantasies. It is on this score that Shen Fus Six Records of a Floating Life deviates from what was the norm.
In four episodes that span through his personal life, he explores his ups and downs in relation to his marriage to Chen Yun, his failed academic pursuit, the unachieved dream of making it to the top of the learned elite, his lowly job as a magistrates assistant, financial lows in his ambition to live a magistrates life on a clerks salary, social pressures to exude the appropriate image of a scholar, family conflicts and eventually, the banishment that took him floating afar in chase of his elusive dream. So then, Six Records of a Floating Life is, properly speaking, an autobiography of Fus life in a society that gave little recognition to individual needs, more especially within the intellectual and literary circles. By making close reference to Fus personal experiences and the dominant elements in society that shaped social and personal life in Ming China, the paper aims to show that Six Records of a Floating Life is an account of rebellion against the intellectual, social and political forces that governed society in 18th century China.
Accordingly, responding to the question in question draws attention to the socio-political forces that influenced society in eighteenth century China. Similarly, it is necessary to make reference to the dominant social trends during the later Ming and early Qing dynasties in China, and examine how political-intelligentsia ideologies of the time reflected themselves on peoples daily lives. And finally, it calls us to examine how the life of Shen Fu and his marriagefamily relationships either conformed to or deviated from these elements.
During the 18th century and Ming Dynasty in China, it was the norm for parents to make marriage arrangements for their children. Brides were identified at any early age, at which point they were earmarked by giving engagement rings. The Shen Fu- Chen Yun affair, however, significantly departs from this societal tradition. Usually, marriages were for convenience purposes, and therefore parents chose wives for their sons from approved families. But during a relatives wedding, Fu made it clear to his mother that he will not marry any other girl other than Chen, whom he had apparently fallen in love with. On the surface, this might seem a naughty boys rebellion against parental authority- which it actually it is, given that his statement implies future defiance if things are not done according to his wish.
But then, it also reflects rebellion against what was a common practice in society in relation to courtship. Marriage partners respected their parents choices, and other aspects of a marriage union such as love, if ever there was any, fitted themselves into the marriage long after they had lived as husband and wife. But in the case of Fu and Yun, it is love that came first prior to their marriage. Contrary to what ought to have been the case Shen accepting whoever his parents chose for him, it was the parents who respected the whims of his heart. He had said to his mother If you are going to choose a wife for me, I will marry no other than Yun (Shen, 26).
Similarly, the girl was expected to be passive and covert in her feelings about her supposed groom. Chen, however, was very expressive of her physical attraction to Shen. During a wedding party, Chen let her feelings out when she hid rice porridge for Shen, and then lying to one of her other cousins that it had been finished. She also invited him to her room where, as a lover would do, she presented him with the hidden gift.
During the Ming Dynasty, rarely did a woman advise her husband what to do. Patriarchy was common, and men were supposedly the breadwinners. This is demonstrated by the economical challenges that faced Chens family following her fathers death. However, we see her striving to make ends meet, before and during her marriage to Shen. And when he left to study, she constantly wrote to him, telling him how he ought to work hard on his studies.
There experiences together could also be said to have been too romantic than the norm in 18th century China. After their wedding, they exhibited a kind of body language that reflected the bond of attraction and feelings of love between them. Shen writes that when he touched her, our souls became mist and smoke (Shen, 30). They also talked about subjects that portrayed a sense of romance, like discussing about the moon and flowers. Finally, Chens attempts to get him a concubine deviate from the expected gender norms. The fact that she was secretive about her mission demonstrates how she was conscious of the novelty of her actions.
Nevertheless, their relationship also conformed to the gender norms present in Ming China. Shen struggled really hard to provide for the family as was expected of a husband. To some extent, Chen showed the passivity of a maiden when she became shy in the presence of Shen, after the embarrassing experience of getting discovered by her cousin that she had hidden porridge for her lover. Similarly, she refrained herself from getting drunk with wine, even when coerced by her husband to drink. The Ming dynasty gave little consideration to the education of girls. Consequently, most of them were significantly illiterate. As demonstrated by the poems that Chen attempted to write, this intellectual depravity suppressed their capacity to express their feelings through literary means such as poetry. In the Vignettes from the Late Ming, Yang Ye highlights how the Ming political class censored writings that portrayed the personal pleasures and passions (Yang 11). The means of expression were therefore limited to verbal communication, which was not very effective. In the chapter The Joys of the wedding chamber, Shen recounts how Yun stared at him, felt the currents of attraction and yet couldnt say a word.
In 18th century China, scholars constituted the elite class of the society, which led a much elevated life than the common peasants. Education was therefore the determinant factor in deciding ones social and economic status. Shen Fu aspired to live an upper class life, more so after acquiring an education. However, his grades were not sufficient to permit him entry into the governments official civil system. Consequently, he ended up working as a personal secretary of a magistrate. Thus, the level of education played a big role in allowing or shutting one from achieving social and economic mobility. His failure academically to make it to the top, and his expectations to live the life that society bestowed to a scholar conflicted, leading to cracks in their relationships. Since he could not make it through intellectual corridors, he left his family to try his hand on trade. The importance attached to education in socio-economic progress placed a lot of pressure on him, which eventually got his marriage by his failure to provide for his family. On a secretarys salary, he could not live the high status life of a magistrate. His wonderings afar, eventually, reflect his defiance to the status that society accorded him on account of his academic level. He desired to achieve his dreams by means other than those dictated by society.
The organization of the family unit during the Ming Dynasty was based on the extended family, where families lived together in a single homestead. In Shens autobiography, the disintegration of this extended unit is reflected by his banishment from the family home after domestic conflicts. This was a rare happenstance in the social set up of the 18th century. This incidence is reflective of the family trends that set in during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The extended family unit disintegrated into nuclear families, as sons started to separate from their parents homes. The industrial and agrarian revolution that followed the Qing dynasty also saw people move to new farming fields and commercial centers, thereby disrupting the traditional set up of family life.
In conclusion, the Six Records of a Floating Life portray a changing trend from the status quo of the Ming era. Shen represents an emerging generation that pursued individual goals, very different from what society expected of them. It also reflects his defiance to be content with what society had to offer him as a failed scholar. His love relationship with Chen indicated that people were becoming more aware of their individual needs and pursuing them, rather than bowing to societys norms. Though he eventually died a poor man, Shen had removed himself from the confines of socio-political and intellectual forces of his time.
In four episodes that span through his personal life, he explores his ups and downs in relation to his marriage to Chen Yun, his failed academic pursuit, the unachieved dream of making it to the top of the learned elite, his lowly job as a magistrates assistant, financial lows in his ambition to live a magistrates life on a clerks salary, social pressures to exude the appropriate image of a scholar, family conflicts and eventually, the banishment that took him floating afar in chase of his elusive dream. So then, Six Records of a Floating Life is, properly speaking, an autobiography of Fus life in a society that gave little recognition to individual needs, more especially within the intellectual and literary circles. By making close reference to Fus personal experiences and the dominant elements in society that shaped social and personal life in Ming China, the paper aims to show that Six Records of a Floating Life is an account of rebellion against the intellectual, social and political forces that governed society in 18th century China.
Accordingly, responding to the question in question draws attention to the socio-political forces that influenced society in eighteenth century China. Similarly, it is necessary to make reference to the dominant social trends during the later Ming and early Qing dynasties in China, and examine how political-intelligentsia ideologies of the time reflected themselves on peoples daily lives. And finally, it calls us to examine how the life of Shen Fu and his marriagefamily relationships either conformed to or deviated from these elements.
During the 18th century and Ming Dynasty in China, it was the norm for parents to make marriage arrangements for their children. Brides were identified at any early age, at which point they were earmarked by giving engagement rings. The Shen Fu- Chen Yun affair, however, significantly departs from this societal tradition. Usually, marriages were for convenience purposes, and therefore parents chose wives for their sons from approved families. But during a relatives wedding, Fu made it clear to his mother that he will not marry any other girl other than Chen, whom he had apparently fallen in love with. On the surface, this might seem a naughty boys rebellion against parental authority- which it actually it is, given that his statement implies future defiance if things are not done according to his wish.
But then, it also reflects rebellion against what was a common practice in society in relation to courtship. Marriage partners respected their parents choices, and other aspects of a marriage union such as love, if ever there was any, fitted themselves into the marriage long after they had lived as husband and wife. But in the case of Fu and Yun, it is love that came first prior to their marriage. Contrary to what ought to have been the case Shen accepting whoever his parents chose for him, it was the parents who respected the whims of his heart. He had said to his mother If you are going to choose a wife for me, I will marry no other than Yun (Shen, 26).
Similarly, the girl was expected to be passive and covert in her feelings about her supposed groom. Chen, however, was very expressive of her physical attraction to Shen. During a wedding party, Chen let her feelings out when she hid rice porridge for Shen, and then lying to one of her other cousins that it had been finished. She also invited him to her room where, as a lover would do, she presented him with the hidden gift.
During the Ming Dynasty, rarely did a woman advise her husband what to do. Patriarchy was common, and men were supposedly the breadwinners. This is demonstrated by the economical challenges that faced Chens family following her fathers death. However, we see her striving to make ends meet, before and during her marriage to Shen. And when he left to study, she constantly wrote to him, telling him how he ought to work hard on his studies.
There experiences together could also be said to have been too romantic than the norm in 18th century China. After their wedding, they exhibited a kind of body language that reflected the bond of attraction and feelings of love between them. Shen writes that when he touched her, our souls became mist and smoke (Shen, 30). They also talked about subjects that portrayed a sense of romance, like discussing about the moon and flowers. Finally, Chens attempts to get him a concubine deviate from the expected gender norms. The fact that she was secretive about her mission demonstrates how she was conscious of the novelty of her actions.
Nevertheless, their relationship also conformed to the gender norms present in Ming China. Shen struggled really hard to provide for the family as was expected of a husband. To some extent, Chen showed the passivity of a maiden when she became shy in the presence of Shen, after the embarrassing experience of getting discovered by her cousin that she had hidden porridge for her lover. Similarly, she refrained herself from getting drunk with wine, even when coerced by her husband to drink. The Ming dynasty gave little consideration to the education of girls. Consequently, most of them were significantly illiterate. As demonstrated by the poems that Chen attempted to write, this intellectual depravity suppressed their capacity to express their feelings through literary means such as poetry. In the Vignettes from the Late Ming, Yang Ye highlights how the Ming political class censored writings that portrayed the personal pleasures and passions (Yang 11). The means of expression were therefore limited to verbal communication, which was not very effective. In the chapter The Joys of the wedding chamber, Shen recounts how Yun stared at him, felt the currents of attraction and yet couldnt say a word.
In 18th century China, scholars constituted the elite class of the society, which led a much elevated life than the common peasants. Education was therefore the determinant factor in deciding ones social and economic status. Shen Fu aspired to live an upper class life, more so after acquiring an education. However, his grades were not sufficient to permit him entry into the governments official civil system. Consequently, he ended up working as a personal secretary of a magistrate. Thus, the level of education played a big role in allowing or shutting one from achieving social and economic mobility. His failure academically to make it to the top, and his expectations to live the life that society bestowed to a scholar conflicted, leading to cracks in their relationships. Since he could not make it through intellectual corridors, he left his family to try his hand on trade. The importance attached to education in socio-economic progress placed a lot of pressure on him, which eventually got his marriage by his failure to provide for his family. On a secretarys salary, he could not live the high status life of a magistrate. His wonderings afar, eventually, reflect his defiance to the status that society accorded him on account of his academic level. He desired to achieve his dreams by means other than those dictated by society.
The organization of the family unit during the Ming Dynasty was based on the extended family, where families lived together in a single homestead. In Shens autobiography, the disintegration of this extended unit is reflected by his banishment from the family home after domestic conflicts. This was a rare happenstance in the social set up of the 18th century. This incidence is reflective of the family trends that set in during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. The extended family unit disintegrated into nuclear families, as sons started to separate from their parents homes. The industrial and agrarian revolution that followed the Qing dynasty also saw people move to new farming fields and commercial centers, thereby disrupting the traditional set up of family life.
In conclusion, the Six Records of a Floating Life portray a changing trend from the status quo of the Ming era. Shen represents an emerging generation that pursued individual goals, very different from what society expected of them. It also reflects his defiance to be content with what society had to offer him as a failed scholar. His love relationship with Chen indicated that people were becoming more aware of their individual needs and pursuing them, rather than bowing to societys norms. Though he eventually died a poor man, Shen had removed himself from the confines of socio-political and intellectual forces of his time.
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