Author ｜
Hsueh-ling Wang
Abstract ｜
By reexamining the historical books and records in the early Qing period, and the poetic memorials to the king of Zhang Jinyan, this text focuses on his experiences and achievements after Jia-Shen defection and his exile from Beijing, and compares the differences between the writings of his own and the others. Through analyzing the authentic and the unreal parts in historical narrative, it probes into the efficacy of Zhang’s self-defense, and goes to a step further illuminating the implications of the differences between the two kinds of narrative. First, Zhang and others, as rebellious retainers, always tried to recompile, made up and devised their unsuccessful suicide experience in the past, in order to get rid of their regrets, re-construct their self-images and verify the value of their existence. Second, By writing their life stories with their own words, Zhang and others provided different identities and self-images than “rebellious retainer” and presents interpretations distinct from the others which is anticipated to be passed down to the next descendants. By doing so, the implications and significances of the self-apology writings of the rebellious retainers are accordingly revealed. In conclusion, it is important for the researchers to be punctilious and scrupulous about the contradictions and differences between the historical accounts by others and the writings of self-defenses by Zhang. By taking the historical circumstances and personal development into consideration, it is able to unveil the intentions, implications and transformation in Zhang’s selfdescription.
keywords ｜
historical narrative, self-interpretation, Zhang Jinyan, remorse and guilty writings, revenge discourse