Prof. PAN Lu, Department of Chinese History and Culture

The Depiction of Yue Fei in Ming and Qing Dynasty Dramas and Novels. Chengming Seminar on Humanities. New Asia Institute of Advanced Chinese Studies, Hong Kong, 19 October 2024.

Abstract
In the eleventh year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song dynasty (1142), Yue Fei was tragically executed. Under the deliberate actions of Emperor Gaozong and Qin Hui, much of the documentation related to him was either lost or altered. It was not until Emperor Xiaozong posthumously rehabilitated Yue Fei that his son and grandson began compiling and publishing his records, culminating in the publication of the Jintuo Zubian However, during the sixty intervening years, many of Yue Fei’s original records had already been lost, and the biographical accounts compiled by his descendants contained exaggerations and inaccuracies. Among the general populace, Yue Fei was widely sympathized with, and during the Ming and Qing dynasties, dramas and novels enthusiastically dramatized his legendary deeds. This lecture will focus on Ming and Qing dramas and novels, offering an overview of the evolution of Yue Fei’s image from the Southern Song to the Ming and Qing periods.