The Unbearable Heaviness of Knowledge：A Study of Novels of Erudition as Encyclopedic Narratives*

LI Feng

JIN Wen East China Normal University

Abstract： Novels of erudition refer to fictional works in China’s mid-Qing era which contain a large amount of technical knowledge beyond what may be warranted by the narrative thread and an obvious intention to display the author’s scholarly talents.They carry some essential features of encyclopedic narratives in Western literature，especially their epic length and the incorporation of a large amount of knowledge.This essay analyzes the main characteristics of novels of erudition，including their shared grand topics，multi-disciplinary scope，intricate language，mythical structures，and intentional allusions to social reality.It also discusses the novel of erudition’s cultural origins and its trajectory through Chinese literary history.The purpose is to shed new light on the genre of erudition novels and to pave the way for exploring the roles of knowledge and argumentation in fictional narratives across Western and Eastern cultures.The paper argues that though it virtually disappeared after the late Qing era，this genre is valuable as a literary experiment to record China’s Zeitgeist in the eighteenth century，test the limits of the novel’s capacity for knowledge and improve the academic and cultural status of the novel as a genre long despised in imperial China.

Keywords： novel of erudition；epic；grand narrative；encyclopedic narrative；genre studies

The epic form has long been held in esteem in Western literary traditions.Narratives characterized as epic are associated with grand historical backgrounds，large casts of characters，and complex structures；meanwhile，they often contain，beyond the narrativeper se，a great deal of knowledge about history，religion，culture and customs，thus embodying a certain degree of “encyclopedic-ness.” In 1976，Edward Mendelson（1946-）published the essay“Gravity’s Encyclopedia” in which he officially put forward the concept of “encyclopedic narrative”1Since all the encyclopedic narratives after the mid-nineteenth century are novels，Mendelson sometimes uses “encyclopedic narrative” and “encyclopedic novel” synonymously.as a literary genre which “attempt（s）to render the full range of knowledge and beliefs of a national culture，while identifying the ideological perspectives from which that culture shapes and interprets its knowledge.”2Edward Mendelson，“Gravity’s Encyclopedia，” in Mindful Pleasures：Essays on Thomas Pynchon，eds.G.Levine and D.Leverenz（Boston：Little，Brown and Company，1976），162.Based on this definition，he lists seven Western classics as cases in point，includingDivine Comedy（1321），Gargantua et Pantagruel（1564），Don Quixote（1615），Faust（1832），MobyDick（1851），Ulysses（1922），andGravity’sRainbow（1973）.Since then，the encyclopedic narrative has become an important concept in literary theories and criticism，serving as a frequently used framework or angle for Western scholars to conduct literary studies，and some even follow the model of Mendelson by proposing their own conceptions of encyclopedic works.3Notable examples include Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children（1981），William Gaddis’s The Recognitions（1982），Richard Powers’ The Gold Bug Variations（1991），David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest（1996），Don DeLillo’s Underworld（1997），William T.Vollmann’s Europe Central（2005），and Thomas Pynchon’s Against the Day（2006），to name only a few.

Many scholars，including in particular Jaroslav Průšek（1906-1980）and Shih-Hsiang Chen陈世骧（1912-1971），believe that Chinese literature places far more emphasis on expressing emotions than narrating long tales，as can be seen in Sima Qian’sRecords of the Grand Historianwhich breaks up historical narratives into smaller，overlapping units dealing with prominent figures and significant events.Such assumptions，reasonable as they are，do not show the accurate picture.The truth is，Chinese literature also has an encyclopedic impulse similar to that in Western literature，and quite a few authors have endeavored to produce narratives of epic length with reference to immense knowledge.Though most of them have not achieved their desired prestige and popularity，these works have unique value in recording China’sZeitgeistin various historical periods，testing the limits of the novel’s capacity for knowledge and improving the academic and cultural status of the novel as a genre long despised in imperial China.

Overall Introduction to the Novel of Erudition

China’s literary narrative has a long tradition of “intellectualization.” As early as the Wei（220-265），Jin（266-420），and Southern and Northern Dynasties（420-589），there already appeared the genre calledbo wu ti xiao shuo博物体小说（small talk of natural science）modeled after entries in the ancient encyclopedia，Shan Hai Jing《山海经》（Classic of Mountains and Seas，third century BCE-c.200 CE），which tells about “the strange customs，manners，and appearance of foreign peoples on the frontiers of ancient China”4Anne Birrell，“Women in Literature，” in The Columbia History of Chinese Literature，ed.Victor H.Mair（New York：Columbia University Press，2001），214.with a topographically based structure.These intellectualized novels，apart from regular plotlines，often contain a large number of digressive passages describing folk customs，natural landscapes，and wildlife.Such works includeBo Wu Zhi《博物志》（A Treatise on Curiosities）by Zhang Hua 张华（232-300），Xuan Zhong Ji《玄中记》（Tales of the Abstruse）by Guo Pu 郭璞（276-324），Shu Yi Ji《述异记》（Tales of the Strange）by Ren Fang 任昉（460-508），etc.Though undergoing some decline in the following dynasties，the encyclopedic features of these books are still visible in some later novels.For example，Tang chuan qi唐传奇（romances in the Tang Dynasty）“usually embody talents in history，style in poetry，and literary commentaries.”5赵彦卫：《云麓漫钞》，北京：中华书局，1996年，第135 页。［ZHAO Yanwei，Yunlu manchao（Essays on Knowledge），Beijing：Zhonghua Book Company，1996，135.］

During the mid-Qing era，6The mid-Qing era covers the eighteenth and the early nineteenth century，roughly corresponding to the Neo-classical and Romantic period in European literature.this tradition showed a remarkable revival and many novelists took pains to display，in one way or another，rich knowledge，exquisite diction，and precise citations，many of which are from Confucian classics—in ancient China，the novel has long been despised as an inferior genre，which is considered anecdotal，miscellaneous，and even vulgar；7This can be seen from the name of the genre— “xiao shuo”（i.e.novel in Chinese）literally means “small talks.”as a half measure，some novelists deliberately include in their works learnings from Confucian classics in a bid to elevate their status and make them better accepted by mainstream intelligentsia.These works，however，did not get an official name as a separate category until the modern period—in 1923，Lu Xun 鲁迅（1881-1936），the leading figure of modern Chinese literature，publishedA Brief History of Chinese Fiction，a seminal work in the study of the genre in China.He devotes a whole section of the book to discussing four Chinese novels which “show off their erudition through novelistic writing in the Qing era”8鲁迅：《中国小说史略》，上海：上海古籍出版社，1998年，第173~183 页。［LU Xun，Zhongguo xiaoshuo shilue（A Brief History of Chinese Fiction），Shanghai：Shanghai Classics Publishing House，1998，173-83.］（see the table below）：

Novels Ye Sou Pu Yan《野叟曝言》（Humble Words of a Rustic Elder，1779？）Yin Shi 《蟫史》（History of a Bristletail）Yan Shan Wai Shi 《燕山外史》（Unofficial History of Mount Yanshan，1810？）Jing Hua Yuan 《镜花缘》（Flowers in the Mirror，1828）Authors Xia Jingqu夏敬渠（1705-1787）Tu Shen 屠绅（1744-1801）Chen Qiu 陈球（years of birth and death unknown）Li Ruzhen李汝珍（1763-1830）Plot Summary and Historical Settings Wen Suchen’s political and military achievements during the Ming Dynasty Sang Zhusheng’s suppression of Miao rebellion in the Qing Dynasty Dou Shengzu’s romantic adventures during the Ming Dynasty Tang Ao’s overseas adventures and the flower spirits’ participation in overthrowing Empress Wu Zetian and restoring the Tang Dynasty Formal Features large quantity of knowledge and a deliberate exhibition of compositional skills written entirely in classical Chinese，with purple passages and ornate language using the archaic “four-six style，” with sentences of rigid parallelism and antithesis large quantity of knowledge covering many areas and disciplines

Later Chinese scholars，based on Lu Xun’s ideas，put forward the category ofcai xue xiao shuo才学小说（novels of erudition）to refer to these mid-Qing fictional works which contain a large amount of technical knowledge beyond the narrative thread and an obvious intention to display the author’s scholarly talents，sometimes even at the expense of plot design and characterization.C.T.Hsia 夏志清（1921-2013），in hisOn Chinese Literature，gives a similar definition—he focuses on the role of authors（instead of the texts）by calling them “scholarnovelists” who “utilized the form of a long narrative not merely to tell a story but to satisfy their needs for all other kinds of intellectual and literary self-expression.”9C.T.Hsia，On Chinese Literature（New York：Columbia University Press，2004），190.Such a stance of“knowledge for knowledge’s sake” is different from classical novels like Cao Xueqin’s 曹雪芹（1715-1763）Hong Lou Meng《红楼梦》（Dream of the Red Chamber）and Wu Jingzi’s 吴敬梓（1701-1754）Ru Lin Wai Shi《儒林外史》（The Scholars）whose encyclopedic knowledge is usually artistically necessary，serving either thematic or narrative purposes.

Though academically controversial as a literary genre，10Many Chinese scholars，like Wen Qingxin，Miao Huaiming，Dong Guoyan，and Fu Chengzhou，have shown reservations about viewing “novels of erudition” as a separate genre because it lacks the necessary logical basis and scientific argumentation.Wen Qingxin，for example，argues that Lu Xun’s statement of some works“showing off their erudition through novelistic writing” makes sense only in describing the history of fiction，but not in genre judgment（Wen 146）；Miao Huaiming holds that these novels are too heterogeneous in subject matter，writing technique and artistic style to make a genre（Miao 133）.novels of erudition indeed show some common tendencies in fiction writing，namely，their authors’ encyclopedic impulse，which is similar，in M.H.Abram’s expressive theories，to “the impulse within the poet of feelings and desires seeking expression，or the compulsion of the ‘creative’ imagination.”11A.H.Abrams，The Mirror and the Lamp：Romantic Theory and the Critical Tradition（London，Oxford，New York：Oxford University Press，1953），22.Therefore，this category（if not genre）is “worthy of attention and inquiry as a peculiar phenomenon of literary creation in the history of imperial Chinese novels’ evolution.”12温庆新：《“以小说见才学者”辨正及其小说史叙述意义：兼及“才学小说”的概念使用》，《南京大学学报（社会科学版）》2014年第4 期，第147 页。［WEN Qingxin，“‘Yi xiaoshuo jian caixue zhe’ bianzheng jiqi xiaoshuoshi xushu yiyi：Jianji‘caixue xiaoshuo’ de gainian shiyong”（A Critical Study of “Works Showing Erudition Through Fiction Writing” and Its Narrative Significance in the History of Fictions：With a View on How to Apply the Concept of Novels of Erudition），Nanjing daxue xuebao shehui kexue ban（Journal of Nanjing University ［Social Sciences Edition］）4（2014）：147.］At least the notion can offer us an additional perspective to examine the aesthetic qualities and cultural values of these seemingly diverse novels with striking commonalities，thus contributing to genre studies.

Obviously，novels of erudition carry some features of encyclopedic narratives，especially their epic length13Humble Words of a Rustic Elder，with a total of 154 chapters and approximately 1，360，000 characters，is widely considered the longest novel in imperial China.Unofficial History of Mount Yanshan has only 30，000 characters，but considering the language of the novel（i.e.the highly condensed classical Chinese）and its huge amount of unspoken messages（owing to the author’s extensive use of allusions），the book is in fact very rich in content.and their exceptionally large amount of knowledge in narration，which often embodies a nation’s history and culture.A systematic study of erudition novels within the theoretical framework of encyclopedic narratives will shed some new light on this category，help explore the roles of knowledge and argumentation in artistic creation，and above all，demonstrate that the former is the Chinese equivalent of the latter.

The Novel of Erudition and the Chinese Intellectual “Renaissance”

First of all，it is beneficial to trace this genre back to its social and cultural origins.Similar to encyclopedic narratives in the West that are largely derived from the Renaissance，the novel of erudition appeared in the wake of changes in the intellectual landscape in eighteenth century China（but not cultural prosperity，owing to the Qing government’s harsh literary censorship and inquisition）.

Externally speaking，the genre resulted from the Qing Dynasty’s intellectual climate.Hu Shih 胡适（1891-1962），inThe Chinese Renaissance（1934），lists four major Renaissances in Chinese history that happened before the May Fourth Movement（1919）and the concurrent New Culture Movement.According to Hu，the third Renaissance is “the rise of the dramas in the 13th century，and the rise of the great novels in a later period，”14Hu Shih，The Chinese Renaissance（Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，2001），80.which stretched into the Ming and Qing dynasties，and the fourth one is “the revolt in the 17th century against the rational philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties，and the development of a new technique in classical scholarship in the last 300 years，”15Ibid.which is a philological and historical approach with emphasis on documentary evidence and strict logic.

These two currents，one of novel writing and the other of scholarly research，overlapped in the mid-Qing era.At that timeQian Jia xue pai乾嘉学派（Qianlong-Jiaqing Sinology）was in its climax，which called for a revival of interest in Han Confucianism.This era witnessed not only the popularity of textual criticism and the exegesis of Confucian classics，but also tremendous emphasis on academic summarization and integration.Just as Benjamin A.Elman argues，the seventeenth and eighteen centuries witnessed a shift of intellectualization in Confucian discourse.Scholars employed the approach of textual criticism in attempts to reconstruct the incomparable purity of classical culture and the accuracy of its theories and its way of expression.16（美）本杰明·艾尔曼：《从理学到朴学：中华帝国晚期思想与社会变化面面观》，赵刚译，南京：江苏人民出版社，1995年，第177 页。［Benjamin A.Elman，Cong Lixue dao Puxue：Zhonghua diguo wanqi sixiang yu shehui bianhua mianmianguan（From Philosophy to Philology：Intellectual and Social Aspects of Change in Late Imperial China），trans.ZHAO Gang，Nanjing：Jiangsu People’s Publishing Ltd.，1995，177.］Influenced by such an academic climate，“the aesthetic taste underwent substantial change，with a universal pursuit of the beauty of grandeur and elegance.”17张蕊青：《才学小说炫学方式及其文化根源》，《苏州大学学报（哲学社会科学版）》2002年第4 期，第68 页。［ZHANG Ruiqing，“Caixue xiaoshuo xuanxue fangshi jiqi wenhua genyuan”（The Way Novels of Erudition Show off Talents and Their Cultural Roots），Suzhou daxue xuebao zhexue shehui kexue ban（Journal of Suzhou University ［Philosophy and Social Science Edition］）4（2002）：68.］

Parallel to this intellectualization of academic discourse was the gradual maturation of novels and Qing scholars’ increasing involvement in this genre，which was no longer purely a means of entertainment for townspeople but instead became an effective way to preserve their academic views and express their outlook on life.Accordingly，there appeared，in novel writing，a natural tendency to carry a large body of specialized knowledge and gorgeous diction，and novels of erudition are a fine specimen of this phenomenon.

Jing Hua Yuan《镜花缘》（Flowers in the Mirror）tops the list in terms of the quantity of knowledge.Some Western readers might feel a bit uncomfortable with the detailed descriptions of whaling inMoby Dick，including a history of the whaling industry，whaling methods and tools，categories of whales，their living habits and physiological make-up，the way they are butchered，and whale oil extractions.But this cataloguing of tangential knowledge would be dwarfed，in comparison，by the lengthy description of the one hundred flower spirits’ gathering inFlowers in the Mirror—in the second half of the book，Empress Wu Ze-tian 武则天（624-705）holds imperial examinations for young girls（which，in actual history，was open only to males）.“The human incarnations of the flower spirits all pass，and much space is devoted to their erudite gatherings where they compose poems，tell stories，paint，play thech’in琴（zither），and deliver learned disquisitions on chess，lantern riddles，drinking games，divination，phonology，mathematics，and a host of other subjects.”18Li Wai-yee，“Full-Length Vernacular Fiction，” The Columbia History of Chinese Literature，ed.Victor H.Mair（New York：Columbia University Press，2001），655-56.Incredibly，this party takes up over thirty chapters of the book，of which the drinking games about disyllabic rhymes alone occupy eleven chapters.This is quite remarkable because there has never been a novel that “assigned so much space to so much talk that is totally inconsequential in terms of the plot.”19C.T.Hsia，On Chinese Literature，208.It is no wonder some critics complained about that and asked “Why didn’t he straightway compile alei-shu20Lei-shu（类书）are reference books in imperial China with material taken from various sources and arranged according to subject.rather than write a novel？”21C.T.Hsia，On Chinese Literature，208.

Xia Jingqu’s motivation for intellectualization is even stronger—inYe Sou Pu Yan《野叟曝言》（Humble Words of a Rustic Elder）he quotes heavily，often paragraph by paragraph，from his own monographs and treatises.In fact，he spares no opportunity to demonstrate knowledge，and an extreme case is Wen Suchen’s lengthy lecture on trigonometry and the Pythagorean Theorem to his bride on their wedding night，which is really an ironic scene to the modern reader.

The emergence of erudition novels also has an “internal” motivation.They derive much of their factual excess from novelists’ personal experiences.Chinese intellectuals in imperial times desired accomplishments in both domestic life and statecraft，as embodied in the Confucian ideal of practicing self-cultivation，bringing family to unison，governing the state，and achieving peace on earth.Out of this ideal，they attached great importance to scholarly honor and official rank as the necessary means to realize such an ideal.Unfortunately，virtually all the authors of erudition novels were scholars with unrecognized talents，who failed repeatedly in imperial examinations，which are normally the only access to civil service（Tu Shen is the only one who got to the rank ofjin shi进士in the exam and was appointed the governor of Dian Prefecture）.Some of them never gave up their desire to serve the country—it is recorded that Xia Jingqu，in his old age，went twice to meet Emperor Qianlong during the latter’s southern tours（1780 and 1784 respectively）to submit his elaborately written book，Gang Mu Ju Zheng《纲目举正》（Compendium for Social Corrections），but never got his wish.Besides，these authors all led a life of poverty，could hardly make ends meet，and writing was their only way to kill time and dispel mental agony.

Faced with a harsh social reality and enormous personal frustrations，these scholars were totally unable to realize Chinese intellectuals’ ideal of “three immortalities”（i.e.establishing moral examples，political feats and enlightening words）through entering the officialdom.Naturally，they resorted to the fictional world（as an alternative to poetry and essays）to voice their unfulfilled ambitions and demonstrate their unappreciated talents.For that reason，this type of novel is，paradoxically，both implicitly autobiographical and larger than life—the author is actually putting himself into the story in the guise of a character（often the protagonist）who is a brilliant man of broad learning（and sometimes even of military skills as well）；through this character as a mouthpiece，the author offers extensive literary quotations and achieves political success in a bureaucratic career.Sometimes this motivation for self-reference and self-amusement is so strong that the author may put his mouthpiece aside and directly obtrude into the story，suspending the narrative and wandering into a detailed discussion of something else，even totally irrelevant to the plotline.

Humble Words of a Rustic Elderis the most representative novel in this aspect：a close examination of many details（particularly the characters’ names and experience）could reveal Xia Jingqu’s identification with the protagonist.22For example，in Chinese the name of Wen Suchen，also known as Wen Bai（文白），is actually derived from separating Xia（夏），the author’s family name，into two characters；Wen’s mother Madam Shui（水，literally meaning water）echoes Xia’s mother whose family name is Tang（汤，literally meaning hot water or soup）.In fact，the author turns the entire book into a fantasy of his own wish-fulfillment in which Wen Suchen，claimed by the author to be “the top hero in the world throughout human history，” is a perfect model for imperial China’s intellectuals—he “parades his accomplishments and adventures as scholar，knight-errant，moralist，lover，minister，and military commander in interminable discourses on miscellaneous subjects.”23Li Wai-yee，“Full-Length Vernacular Fiction，” 656.Though this is indeed an effective way for the author to make up for his pity in real life and find mental solace，it is so improbable in reality that some scholars refer to the book as “the naive selfaggrandizement and apotheosis of certain wonted moral precepts（sometimes fulfilled through perverse，puerile means）.”24Ibid.

To put it briefly，a combination of the external intellectual climate and personal experiences drives these writers to use fictional worlds to display their talents and voice their aspirations at once.As a natural outcome，they show a large amount of knowledge and a high degree of implied autobiography which are two core features that distinguish novels of erudition from other types of grand narrative（like epics and even encyclopedic novels）.

In addition to these two features，the genre，due to its inherent impulse to display talents and voice aspirations，also tends to be grand in topic，wide in range，attentive to language，mythical in structure，and allusive to reality.A survey of these five features can offer a complete picture of erudition novels.

（1）Grand in TopicEncyclopedic narratives，according to Mendelson，depict “the ordinary present-day world around them”25Edward Mendelson，“Encyclopedic Narrative：from Dante to Pynchon，” Modern Language Notes 91（December 1976）：1268.and occasionally “attend to the complexities of statecraft”；26Ibid.，1271.in this way they manage to integrate“pettiness” and“grandness，” two apparently conflicting attributes.Novels of erudition，in comparison，lay far more stress on the latter—despite petty details of knowledge in the story，they favor subjects of statecraft and grand scenes，e.g.Wen Suchen’s removal of corrupt court officials and suppression of domestic rebellion and foreign invasion inHumble Words of a Rustic Elder，Sang Zhusheng’s suppression of Miao rebellion inYin Shi《蟫史》（History of a Bristletail），Dou Shengzu’s assiduity in government affairs inYan Shan Wai Shi《燕山外史》（Unofficial History of Mount Yanshan），and the incarnated flowerspirits’ attempts to overthrow Empress Wu’s rule and restore the Tang emperor to the throne.The reason is that only such subjects and scenarios could provide authors with the opportunity to voice their political ambitions in the guise of fictional characters.

Yet novels of erudition do not totally ignore daily life，especially the morality and propriety therein，because in traditional Chinese culture，daily life is the epitome of political life，and the family/clan is the nation in miniature（consider the ancient Chinese identification of filial piety to parents with loyalty to the emperor）.Morality is a normal link that combines domestic life with statecraft，which，in a traditional Chinese view，often involves ethical orders as a kind ofTian Dao天道（literally heavenly way，or natural law）.Therefore，in novels of erudition，intellectualization and moralization often go hand in hand—there are a lot of moral teachings（especially those about one’s duty to his parents and to the emperor）in the exhibition of knowledge and vice versa.Sometimes a character’s moral level depends simply on his/her talents and learning.Typical of this are Wen Suchen’s several lengthy debates with monks about the harm of Buddhism to social morality，which foreshadows Emperor Hongzhi’s later acceptance of Wen’s anti-Buddhist and anti-Taoist memorials.

It must be added that the purpose of such an emphasis on morality is not merely to educate the reader and improve social ethics，but also to meet the author’s own psychological need as a man of noble character.It is also believed that “‘erudition’ itself，as a narrative object，has the same moral and narrative properties as other narrative objects in traditional novels，such as chaste wife and affectionate husband，wise monarch and virtuous ministers；it contributes to allowing knowledge into the novel’s narrative space.”27张小芳：《“才学小说”〈镜花缘〉的小说学意义》，《南京师大学报（社会科学版）》2010年第6 期，第145 页。［ZHANG Xiaofang，“‘Caixue xiaoshuo’ ‘Jing Hua Yuan’ de xiaoshuoxue yiyi”（Significance of Flowers in the Mirroras a Novel of Erudition）.Nanjing shida xuebao shehui kexue ban（Journal of Nanjing Normal University ［Social Sciences Edition］）6（2010）：145.］

（2）Wide in RangeKnowledge in the novels of erudition is not just copious in amount，but also broad in range.Encyclopedic narratives in Western literature are actually not as allencompassing as the term suggests.More often than not，the works are relatively concentrated in areas of knowledge，showing the macro picture of a national culture through limited micro angles—since the works are “the products of an epoch in which the world’s knowledge is larger than any one person can encompass，”28Edward Mendelson，“Gravity’s Encyclopedia，” 162.it is impossible for the author to include all sectors of physical science；as a result，he can only settle for the second best option by using examples from one or two branches of science to represent the whole scientific sector of knowledge（e.g.Dante’s command of astronomy，Cervantes’ mastery of pharmacopeia，Melville’s familiarity with whaling industry，and Pynchon’s knowledge of information technology）.For this reason，Mendelson holds that this genre has an inherent property of synecdoche，and the knowledge therein has to be “representative” enough so that readers，by exploring this specific area，can associate it with the larger body of knowledge and national culture looming behind it.

Novels of erudition venture into a far broader variety of scholarly areas and disciplines—they usually cover the entire body of Confucian classics，history，philosophy and literature，plus astronomy，geography，agriculture，military strategy，medical science，and arithmetic，actually all kinds of social and natural sciences.29张蕊青：《才学小说炫学方式及其文化根源》，第69 页。［ZHANG Ruiqing，“Caixue xiaoshuo xuanxue fangshi jiqi wenhua genyuan”（The Way Novels of Erudition Show off Talents and Their Cultural Roots），69.］These novels are so inclusive of heterogeneous knowledge that they are literally closer to “encyclopedic narratives” than their Western counterparts bearing this name.For that reason，Cao Mu Chun Qiu Yan Yi《草木春秋演义》（Romance of Grass and Plants），an anonymous novel specialized in herbal medicine，is not a novel of erudition in a strict sense owing to its exclusive treatment of one field of knowledge.

Flowers in the Mirror，by contrast，contains knowledge in many disciplines.Lu Xun straightforwardly states in his monograph that this novel “borders on an encyclopedia likeWan Bao Quan Shu30Wan Bao Quan Shu is a famous encyclopedia about daily life in the Qing era，edited by Yanshui Shanren and revised by Mao Huanwen.《万宝全书》 by virtue of its confluence of sciences and its listing of arts.”31鲁迅：《中国小说史略》，第182页。［LU Xun，Zhongguo xiaoshuo shilue（A Brief History of Chinese Fiction），182.］It is noteworthy，however，that the novel，though miscellaneous，still has to focus on a few areas for greater elaboration，with the first half of the book（i.e.Tang Ao’s overseas adventures）primarily on geography and folk customs and the second half（i.e.one hundred flower fairies’ gatherings）chiefly on Chinese literature and philology.Similarly，Confucian scholarship（especially the Confucian school of idealism in the Song and Ming dynasties）plays the dominant role inHumble Words of a Rustic Elder，whereas the “four major domains”（i.e.mathematics，medicine，warcraft，and poetry）are only of secondary importance.

（3）Attentive to LanguageNovels of erudition are “erudite” not only in the amount and area of knowledge，but also in their diverse forms of expression，especially the language.Encyclopedic narratives often blend a variety of language styles into an organic whole so that each work in this category is “an encyclopedia of literary styles，ranging from the most primitive and anonymous levels to the most esoteric of high styles.”32Edward Mendelson，“Gravity’s Encyclopedia，” 164.On the surface their language is not quite distinct from other types of narrative except some technical terms necessary in describing a specialized area.Yet due to the proximity of various European nations in language and culture，as well as the genre’s own innate features（such as inclusiveness in contents，and frequent quotations from and parodies of the classics），it is inevitable that an encyclopedic novel often contains several languages/dialects or language styles.33No work is more evident than Ulysses in this aspect — it is known that Joyce’s prose language is actually very concise and simple，but in this novel，he employs more than thirty languages；the purpose here is not to flaunt linguistic talents，but instead，to convey subtle thematic messages in correspondence with specific contexts.Mendelson even declares that “All encyclopedias are polyglot books，and all provide a history of language.”34Edward Mendelson，“Gravity’s Encyclopedia，” 166.This statement manifests the genre’s diversity in linguistic forms.

By the same token，erudition novels’ authors give utmost attention to diction，syntax，rhythm and rhyme，allusions and quotations，and textual research.Take for instanceHistory of a BristletailandUnofficial History of Mount Yanshan.To display their literary talents（and to elevate the status of the novel，long despised by intellectual orthodoxy），the authors of the two books write throughout their works in classical Chinese loaded with highly rhetorical and allusive expressions.

History of a Bristletail，China’s only full-length novel written in classical Chinese，is an agglomeration of all traditional Chinese literary types and styles，including poetry，lyrics，descriptive prose 赋（fu），memorials to the throne，imperial edict，antithetical couplets，riddles，nursery rhymes，folk songs，Zenist gatha，prophecy，etc.Its sheer diversity of forms is unrivaled in literary history，even exceedingDream of the Red Chamber.35赵春辉、孙立权：《才学小说的内涵及其美学特征》，《吉林大学社会科学学报》2011年第5 期，第65 页。［ZHAO Chunhui and SUN Liquan，“Caixue xiaoshuo de neihan jiqi meixue tezheng”（Connotations and Aesthetic Features of Novels of Erudition），Jilin daxue shehui kexue xuebao （Jilin University Journal ［Social Sciences Edition］）5（2011）：65.］Unofficial History of Mount Yanshangoes even further by usingpian ti骈体（four-six style），an archaic prose style marked by delicate parallelism and rigid rhythm patterns，and many of its dictions could be traced back to verses of the previous dynasties.It is reflective of the then revival ofpian tistyle in Chinese literature and its competition with prose style.The author Chen Qiu once boasted that “there has never been a novel in four-six style in history，and I will establish it once and for all.”36陈球：《燕山外史》，《韩国藏中国稀见珍本小说第二卷》，北京：中国大百科全书出版社，2003年，第369 页。［CHEN Qiu，Yanshan waishi（Unofficial History of Mount Yanshan），in Hanguo cang zhongguo xijian zhenben xiaoshuo（Rare Editions of Chinese Novels Collected in the Republic of Korea）vol.2，Beijing：Encyclopedia of China Publishing House，2003，369.］

The novels represent two rare specimens in the history of Chinese fiction since the emergence ofhua-ben话本（i.e.scripts for story-telling as the predecessor of novels）in the Song and Yuan dynasties in whichpai-hua白话（the vernacular Chinese as the folk language）has always played a dominant role.This is another sign of the writer’s efforts to combine the highbrow（i.e.classical language）with the vulgar（i.e.popular form）；one of the purposes is to justify his act of fiction writing as a worthy pursuit.

（4）Mythical in StructureAs a special kind of grand narrative，encyclopedic narrative usually has a certain mythical element in that it “strains outwards from the brief moments of personal love towards the wider expanses of national and mythical history.”37Edward Mendelson，“Gravity’s Encyclopedia，” 167.The “myth” here is somewhat different from mythologies and folktales；it refers to myth in the historical，political and cultural sense，“through which a given culture ratifies its social customs or accounts for the origins of human and natural phenomena.”38Chris Baldick，Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms，（Oxford and New York：Oxford University Press，1990），143.Such myths represent the course of national evolution，and their function is to inspire national identity and spread common values；the word“strain” reveals the inherent “elasticity” and “synecdoche” of encyclopedic narratives，that is，an extension from the trifles of everyday life to grand statecraft and profound life philosophy.

The novels of erudition invariably employ a mythical structure，in both its literal and extended sense.Most of them are sprawling and loosely organized，and “precisely because their structure is highly episodic，their authors felt the need to use an allegoric or religious framework to bind the episodes together.”39C.T.Hsia，On Chinese Literature，208.Moreover，as mentioned above，authors of such novels intend to vent their unfulfilled ambitions in the fictional world；quite naturally they tend to highlight and exaggerate relevant characters’ intellectual faculties or physical power so that they may achieve impressive success.Since few people in reality could be so unusually intelligent and extraordinarily powerful，the authors therefore have to draw support from supernatural elements for justification in their fiction writing.

For these reasons，it is little wonder that all novels of erudition are rich in mythical elements，like witchcraft，divination and astrology inHumble Words of a Rustic Elder，spirits and ghosts inHistory of a Bristletail，an ordinary person（Dou Shengzu）becoming immortal inUnofficial History of Mount Yanshan，and the flower fairies’ reincarnation inFlowers in the Mirror.The last one is considered “the most famous example of the literary use of mythic material，and certainly the most artistically consistent，”40Anne Birrell，“Myth，” in The Columbia History of Chinese Literature，ed.Victor H.Mair（New York：Columbia University Press，2001），69.second perhaps only toXi You Ji《西游记》（Journey to the West）as a Chinese novel of mythology.The book，likeGulliver’s Travels（which，in Mendelson’s eyes，is a work of “mock-encyclopedia”），“brilliantly subverted the mythic attributes and motifs of theClassic of Mountains and Seasin his allegorical story of a voyage around strange lands and peoples.”41Ibid.

（5）Allusive to RealityMendelson gives particular attention to the “gap” between the era portrayed in the novel and the time in which the novel is written.It is based on this gap that he points out one of the major differences between encyclopedic narratives and epics—epics are set in a remote past，whereas an encyclopedic narrative is usually set near the immediate present，with a distance of approximately twenty years from the time of its writing，so as to ensure its relevance to reality，thus showing an inherent “mimetic” property and even achieving “the double function of prophecy and satire.”42Edward Mendelson，“Encyclopedic Narrative：from Dante to Pynchon，” 1270.Mendelson later admits that this twenty-year time signature“was an arbitrary number，”43Li Feng，“Time，Narrative and Literary Imagination：An Interview with Professor Edward Mendelson，” Foreign Literature Studies 40，no.1（2018）：3.but books written within this time frame can indeed capture something essential about the way an individual experiences their age.

Superficially，novels of erudition do not have such an immediacy—with the exception ofHistory of a Bristletail，which depicts the almost concurrent Miao uprisings in Qing Dynasty’s Guizhou Province—the “gaps” in time are all quite wide，with an interval of at least several centuries.44Both Humble Words of a Rustic Elder and Unofficial History of Mount Yanshan are set in the Ming Dynasty，approximately 300-400 years before their commitment to paper，and the reign of Empress Wu Zetian is over 1000 years before Li Ruzhen wrote Flowers in the Mirror.Yet these novels are mimetic to no less a degree because the stories in the book，though happening in the remote past，invariably allude to the then Chinese society，articulating the author’s“wide-ranging concern with the state of the society and culture they lived in.”45C.T.Hsia，On Chinese Literature，190.Sometimes this concern is so strong that there are even direct authorial digressions on contemporary issues.

A case in point isFlowers in the Mirrorin which the author voices “a satirical critique of his own country and his Chinese contemporaries”46Anne Birrell，“Myth，” 69.—very interestingly，during the sea voyage of Tang Ao and his companions，“the voyagers pause longer in those ［countries］ whose manners and customs offer a pointed contrast with those of China or else confirm them by way of satiric exaggeration，”47C.T.Hsia，On Chinese Literature，212.whereas countries with no such contrasts or allusions are often passed over.Tang Ao talks about social problems with the Wu brothers，the Prime Ministers of the “Land of Gentlemen，” all of which were actual problems in contemporary Qing society；in the “Kingdom of Women，” a country of female supremacy where the males have to suffer the agony of footbinding，the author is obviously satirizing the corrupt customs in feudal China，which reached their extreme in the Qing Dynasty.In fact，the word “mirror” in the novel’s title suggests such a state of mimesis—that is，the world portrayed in the book is the very “mirror image” of real society，though sometimes illusory and insubstantial as the Chinese idiom “jing hua shui yue” 镜花水月（flowers in the mirror and moon in the water）implies.

In terms of trajectory，encyclopedic narratives tend to follow a somewhat“bell-shaped curve.” These works often start with marginal figures and trivial matters，with an ideologically centrifugal force that aims to challenge authority and subvert hierarchy；the specialized knowledge is just incidentally included in the book，not to be intentionally flaunted.Ironically，centuries later many of them successfully supplanted their original targets of criticism and entered the cultural mainstream as literary icons.In particular，Mendelson’s initial list of seven works are all universally acknowledged in the Western canon.SinceUlysses，the genre has been losing its distinctive national character and gradually converging with epic.Gravity’s Rainbow，for example，is already an international encyclopedia，or an epic of international culture.More noteworthy is the fact that though there have been later scholars’ additions to the category from time to time based on their own understandings，these works are incomparable in literary status to Mendelson’s initial list of canonical texts.The genre at large has shown a sign of decline，without new work which is both monumental and original.Hillary A.Clark once argued that twentiethcentury encyclopedic authors are in fact collecting，recycling，and restating past narratives by“returning to the role of medieval scribe，endlessly…reading and copying the already-known，the popular as well as the esoteric.”48Hillary A.Clark，“Encyclopedic Discourse，” Sub-stance 21，no.1（1992）：105.In that sense，the inherent structure of encyclopedic narratives is somewhat“circular” and even “anti-creative.” For that reason，the genre might have some continuity，but its heyday is long gone.

In the Chinese context，novels of erudition never enjoyed such a rise to celebrity，but instead showed a downward trajectory.The authors of such novels often started with great expectations of their work（usually their only full-length novel in a lifetime）.49Xia Jingqu，for example，claimed that his Humble Words of a Rustic Elder was “the Number One Remarkable Book in the world in combining Confucian classics and history.”They would exhaust all their experience and knowledge in it，in hopes of realizing in the textual world their political ambitions（to serve the country with personal talents）and moral duties（to punish the wicked and help the needy），and even achieve immortality through their work.However，things didn’t happen as they wished—novels of erudition were well received by neither literary critics nor ordinary readers because both academia and the market found the enormous knowledge embedded therein superfluous and undesirable.In a few decades，most of these novels fell into oblivion（Flowers in the Mirroris the only one that achieved a certain degree of prestige）.

Due to this neglect，the genre as a whole has a limited lifespan.As mentioned above，all novels of erudition were written in the mid-Qing era，especially during the reigns of Emperor Qianlong 乾隆帝（1736-1795）and Emperor Jiaqing 嘉庆帝（1796-1820），and they show some common features in formal techniques，which means they are all products of a particular historical period.Since the late Qing era，there have appeared some other fictional works which are“erudite” to some degree，with either encyclopedic impulses or symbols，but strictly speaking，they can hardly be categorized as novels of erudition owing to their limited scopes of knowledge and historical status.C.T.Hsia attributes this to the outbreak of the Opium War（1840-1842）because “After that war，the Chinese scholar could no longer have the necessary composure and self-assurance to celebrate the multifarious aspects of his culture.”50C.T.Hsia，On Chinese Literature，212.

As a result，this genre has never gone beyond the four novels mentioned by Lu Xun，though there have been plenty of contemporaneous and later novels approximating their form.For example，Late-Qing novelist and surgeon Lu Shi-e 陆士谔（1878-1944）wroteXin Ye Sou Pu Yan《新野叟曝言》（New Humble Words of a Rustic Elder，1909）as a sequel to Xia Jingqu’s novel.In this book，Wen Qi，Wen Suchen’s great-grandson，is engaged in industrial innovation，agricultural upgrading，and space exploration，involving knowledge of economics，demography，astronautics，etc.Yet the book is hardly known to the general public，and it is rarely mentioned in the research on erudition novels.

To date，with the increasing popularization of literary language and fragmentation of people’s reading habits，as well as the profound impact of market demand on literary production，it is unlikely we will see a new novel of erudition in China，certainly not one which is so inclusive of knowledge and so flowery in diction as those exemplified by Lu Xun，still less one that can be commercially successful and critically acclaimed，though some authors may，for one reason or another，include in their novels a more than necessary amount of specialized knowledge in a certain area.As a matter of fact，this genre could be declared “dead” owing to its lack of stability and sustainability；it now exists only in literary history as a critical term.Perhaps this is not peculiar to novels of erudition，but a general trend—with an increasingly fast pace of life and fragmented way of reading in modern society，traditional literary composition and reading are facing tremendous challenges，and this is especially true for grand narratives and novels of erudition，which have extremely great lengths and immense knowledge.

A Short-lived but Valuable Genre

Through the analysis above，we can see the origins，trajectory，and essential features of erudition novels as a special variety of encyclopedic narrative and a peculiar phenomenon in China’s literary history.The genre aims to display its author’s great learning and voice his unfulfilled ambition；for that purpose，these books contain a large amount of knowledge and a high degree of implied autobiography；in addition，they are usually characterized by grand topics，multiple disciplines，intricate language，mythical structure，and intentional allusions to real society.

Owing to its inherent features，its historical limitations，and the enormous change in aesthetic taste over time，novels of erudition show an obvious lack of stability and sustainability，and it can be said that the genre declined and perished during the late Qing era in the nineteenth century.In terms of literary criticism，the genre’s reception in modern China is generally neutral to negative owing to its over-emphasis on specialized knowledge and moral teachings which，in most critics’ eyes，is at the expense of the work’s thematic profundity and aesthetic values.As mentioned before，Flowers in the Mirroris the only one that has achieved classical status，but the credit is chiefly given to its advocacy for gender equality（and even feminism），sharp social satire，imaginative fantasy stories and humorous writing style，rather than its encyclopedic knowledge.

However，it is arbitrary to dismiss novels of erudition altogether as a failed endeavor.Traditional Chinese novels centered around plot（and sometimes characters），but novels of erudition break this usual practice by shifting their focus to learnings and language—at least they，as a literary experimentation，could test the limit of the novel’s capacity for knowledge，which provides a valuable lesson to writers of later generations who have the same tendency to intellectualize their fictions.Also，the genre has its historical value—objectively speaking it helped improve the academic and cultural status of the novel and change people’s prejudice to novels in the vernacular as something obscene and heretical.51苗怀明：《清代才学小说三论》，《南京师大学报（社会科学版）》2010年第6 期，第137 页。［MIAO Huaiming，“Qingdai caixue xiaoshuo sanlun”（Three Aspects of Novels of Erudition in Qing Dynasty），Nanjing shida xuebao shehui kexue ban（Journal of Nanjing Normal University ［Social Sciences Edition］）6（2010）：137.］This turns out to be vital in paving the way for the booming of China’s new novels in the late nineteenth and twentieth century.Besides，the works faithfully record China’sZeitgeistin the eighteenth century，including social manners and intellectual climate.More importantly，its essential spirit，especially the author’s great reverence for classical learning and scientific knowledge，his deep concern for the nation and the people，and his moral impulse for a better society，have been incorporated，in one way or another，into later writers’ fiction writing.This spirit makes China’s erudition novels distinct from the grand narratives and encyclopedic novels of other cultures.