Dr WU, Tsz Wing Giovanna

Beginning Research in Literature and Cultural Studies: A Companion to Honours Projects

Project Start Year: 2023

Chief Investigator(s): Dr. AU, Chung To (Dr WU, Tsz Wing Giovanna as Co-Investigator)

On Variation and Dispersion of Its Readership: The Eight-legged Essay and Jin Shengtan’s Xixiang Commentary 讀者群的變異與游離──制藝與金聖歎的《第六才子書西廂記》

The project aims to study Jin Shengtan’s (金聖歎, 1608-1661) comments on the zaju (雜劇) opera Xixiang Ji (or Romance of the Western Chamber). The structure of zaju operas are often based on the principle of four acts in one part. Wang Shifu (王實甫, 1260-1336), a playwright of the late Yuan dynasty, broke this restriction and completed his Xixiang Ji in twenty-one acts in five parts, which complicated the plots and greatly expanded the length of the play. Jin Shengtan’s Xixiang Commentary is one of the most widely circulated versions of Xixiang Ji since the early Qing dynasty. In this project, the PI considers the theory on the structure of the eight-legged essay as a lens for re-reading Jin Shengtan’s Xixiang Commentary. She will also combine opera aesthetics, stylistics, and commercial publishing of the Qing dynasty, to re-analyse the relationship between the structural theory of the eight-legged essay and the Xixiang Commentary and re-investigate how Jin Shengtan integrated literary theory on the structure of the eight-legged essay, which is cultural assets of the literati, into opera and popular literature.

Project Start Year: 2023

Chief Investigator(s): WU, Tsz Wing Giovanna

A Study of the Relationship between Tang Xianzu’s Eight-legged Essays and His Chuanqi Drama

湯顯祖（1550-1616）被現代學者公認為明代最具代表性的戲曲家；而在明清文壇中，他同時被譽為「舉業八大家」之一。他的制義作品甚至被編修入清代的《欽定四書文》。由此可知，他的八股文不但備受明清文人推崇，而且得到官方認同。可是，八股文在「五四」以來一直備受批評和壓抑，影響所及，湯顯祖的制義作品亦未得到應有的關注。過往有關湯顯祖作品的研究，大都注意到他的戲曲、詩詞和散文作品，而對於他的制義作品則鮮有論述。職是之故，本研究選取湯顯祖研究者鮮有觸及的制義為研究對象，以填補目前湯顯祖研究的空白領域；並透過他的制義作品，重新審視湯顯祖戲曲作品中的思想和文學傾向。

Project Start Year: 2018

Chief Investigator(s): WU, Tsz Wing Giovanna

Reconsidering “Peony Fever”: The Peony Pavilion and the Changes on Ideology during the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties 《牡丹》熱的重新審視：《牡丹亭》與明末清初意識形態的轉變

自《牡丹亭》於萬曆二十六年（1598）脫稿至明代覆亡（1644）的短短四十多年間，該劇已有數十種刻本、改本、仿作面世。及至清代，《牡丹亭》的影響不斷拓大，並持續超過兩個世紀，成為中國歷史上鮮有的文化現象。本研究嘗試從消費文化角度，勘察「《牡丹》熱」與明清兩代商業出版及劇場的關係，並重新審視明清時期社會意識形態的嬗變過程。

Project Start Year: 2016

Chief Investigator(s): WU, Tsz Wing Giovanna

From Xuetang Meng to Lu Nanzi: The Self-Reflection of Zeng Pu and the Autobiographical Writings of the Late Qing and Early Republication China 從《雪曇夢》到《魯男子》──論曾樸的自我觀照與清末民初自傳文學

1924年，魯迅在《中國小說史略》中把《孽海花》列為「晚清四大譴責小說」，自始其作者曾樸一直被論者標籤為晚清「新小說家」。然而，曾樸的文學創作生涯實跨越了清末和民初兩個時期。他的文學生涯，正是清末民初文學發展史的最佳寫照，此亦突顯了曾樸研究的特殊價值與地位。本研究將以曾樸文學生涯的起點和終點──《雪曇夢》和《魯男子》──作比較研究。透過這兩部自傳性質濃厚的文學作品，勾勒出清末民初作家意識形態的過度及轉變過程。

Project Start Year: 2016

Chief Investigator(s): WU, Tsz Wing Giovanna

A Dialogue between Opera and History: Peony Pavilion and the Spread of School of Mind during the Late Ming China 戲曲與歷史的對話──《牡丹亭》與晚明心學之流變播

This research aims to re-interpret the cultural and historical background of the late Ming dynasty before and after the published of Peony Pavilion. By re-reading the opera, this research tries to re-elaborate the relationship between Peony Pavilion and the spread of School of Mind during the late Ming China, in order to have a better understanding of the Ming society.

Project Start Year: 2015

Chief Investigator(s): WU, Tsz Wing Giovanna