The Bird and the Sea Stone

符霖Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJul 2024

3.3

Word count: 42K words
Chapters: 12

Summary

禽海石 (Qinhai Shi) runs to ten chapters and was published by Qunxue Society in the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty (1906). Its author, Fu Lin, has an unknown biography. When the book was published it was labeled a "novel of sorrowful sentiment." The author's main purpose was to write about love and to criticize the traditional "parents' command and matchmaker's words" for the tragedy they bring to young men and women in love.

The author attributes the tragedy to the shackles of the feudal marriage system and denounces its evils with the pain of personal experience. This had a certain positive significance at the time. Because the author did not understand the Boxer movement, the book inevitably contains slanderous remarks, which was also a common limitation of ordinary men of letters of the time. The basic plot of the novel does not go beyond the pattern of joys and sorrows, partings and reunions of traditional scholar-and-beauty novels; its new elements lie in its tragic and critical character, and in its profound and moving revelation of the bitter disasters that the chaotic society of the time brought to ordinary people. In terms of technique, the whole book is narrated in the first person, making one feel that the author is writing about a painful experience of his own that he cannot bear to recall; the tone is plaintive and gentle, creating a tragic atmosphere that pervades the whole book and is rather moving.

Although the book explicitly says that the novel Qinhai Shi was written by Qin Ruhua based on his own experience, this too is the talk of a novelist and cannot be fully believed; one cannot put an equals sign between the fictional character Qin Ruhua and the author Fu Lin.

Editor's review

Qinhai Shi (The Bird-Sea Stone) runs to ten chapters and was published by Qunxue Society in the 32nd year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing dynasty, under the label "novel of sorrowful sentiment." Its author, Fu Lin, has an unknown biography. Narrated in the first person, the novel uses Qin Ruhua's account of his love affair to depict the tragedy of young lovers under the marriage system of "parents' command and matchmaker's words," denouncing the shackles of feudal marriage in a plaintive, gentle tone with a tragic atmosphere pervading the whole book. Its value lies not in a novel plot but in its linking of personal emotional tragedy with a critique of social institutions through the pain of lived experience; it combines the sentimentality of the novel of sorrowful sentiment with the critical awareness of the late-Qing new novel. The book contains slanderous remarks about the Boxer movement, a limitation of ordinary men of letters of the time, and should be read with historical context in mind. The book does not basically escape the pattern of joys and sorrows, partings and reunions of the scholar-and-beauty novel, but its tragic character and the immersive quality of its first-person narration distinguish it from the old convention of the happy ending. This edition, printed by Shanghai Jinzhang Book Company, allows readers to see this late-Qing novel of sorrowful sentiment anew.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary specialists studying late-Qing fiction and the genre of the novel of sorrowful sentiment
Readers interested in modern marriage ideas and the situation of women
Readers interested in the early use of first-person narration in Chinese fiction

Not a good fit for

Casual readers expecting a light, happy love story
Readers impatient with the late-Qing social background and the mixture of classical and vernacular expression

Reading tips

First learn the background of the late-Qing "novel of sorrowful sentiment," then read the text, to grasp its critical thrust more easily.
Note the immersive effect of the first-person narration; excerpt passages of Qin Ruhua's account to analyze its plaintive tone.
The book's slanderous remarks about the Boxer movement should be examined against historical sources and not taken directly as fact.
Read the book alongside scholar-and-beauty novels of the same period to observe the difference in tragic endings and critical awareness.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

版权信息
序
第一回恨海难填病中寻往迹
第二回情天再补客里遇前缘
第三回会龙华雪泥留旧爪
第四回印鸥盟风月证同心
第五回几许欢娱中宵顷绿酒
第六回无端思剧何处觅黄衫
第七回舐犊情深许谐秦晋
第八回冥鸿见远忽去幽燕
第九回烽火惊回前游成一梦
第十回彩云散后遗恨结千秋

FAQ

Is Qin Ruhua in Qinhai Shi the author Fu Lin?

They cannot be equated. Although the book says Qin Ruhua wrote the novel based on his own experience, this is the talk of a novelist and cannot be fully believed. The materials explicitly remind us that the fictional character Qin Ruhua should not be equated with the author Fu Lin, and that the narrator and the author should be kept distinct in reading.

Why is this novel called a "novel of sorrowful sentiment"?

The book was labeled a "novel of sorrowful sentiment" when published. It depicts young lovers whose love ends in tragedy because of the marriage system of "parents' command and matchmaker's words"; the whole book is a plaintive first-person account with a dense tragic atmosphere, and so it belongs to the late-Qing category of the novel of sorrowful sentiment.

Are the book's depictions of the Boxer movement credible?

They should not be taken directly as fact. The author did not understand the Boxer movement, and the book contains slanderous remarks, a common limitation of ordinary men of letters of the time. It should be read in the late-Qing historical context and examined against reliable historical sources.

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About the author

符霖 Author

Fu Lin is a Chinese author of classical literature. Public information about this author is limited: his or her life, nationality, and dates of birth and death cannot be verified, and only one work by Fu Lin is currently held in the collection, namely Qin Hai Shi (The Bird of the Sea). Judging from the available material, Fu Lin's writing belongs to the tradition of classical literature, and Qin Hai Shi is likewise classified in this category. Because there are no direct records about the author, details of identity, period of activity, and personal connections remain uncertain, and researchers can only infer the author's literary interests from the work itself. The title Qin Hai Shi carries vivid imagery, suggesting that the work may employ traditional narrative techniques and follow classical models in subject matter and language. On the evidence currently available, Fu Lin's surviving output is very small, and the author's literary profile is known mainly through Qin Hai Shi; a fuller assessment of its later influence awaits further documentary research and discussion.