An Examination on the Application of Historical facts to Historical Novels – A Study of Eryuehe’s “Yongzheng Emperor”

• Main Authors: Lin-Hui Yu, 林慧瑜
• Other Authors: Wang-Chen Main
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/6wzybt

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 歷史研究所在職專班 === 106 === Historical Novels of the Imperial Court of the Qing dynasty still enjoy a great popularity among Chinese population in the twenty-first century. One of Eryuehe’s well-known works “Trilogy of Clouds at Sunset” is a series of the Qing Emperors, reflecting the political dynamics during the Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong reign. This trilogy not only meets the entertaining, interesting, and legendary nature of the popular literature but also enriches storylines by the inner court stories and by added episodes. Many critiques about the Yongzheng Emperor have added diversity in his image especially with a strong negative impression of harshness and cruelty. In Eryuehe’s “Yongzheng Emperor”, he presents a new picture of the Yongzheng court, describing Yongzheng as a diligent and caring emperor. Eryuehe boldly overturns the image of Yongzheng, portraying him as an astute and attentive emperor with the practices of abolishing corruption, evolving the chieftain system, confiscating meltage fees, and prohibiting competition between political parties. This study is aiming to compare the details in “Yongzheng Emperor” with historical facts. Historical events are not necessarily dramatic and history has been composed of historical facts. Eryuehe considers his trilogy as a “historical novel” based on historical materials. However, in order to enhance the dramatic effects, the novel is overly polished by many fictions and facts are confused and twisted. This makes a huge controversy on whether the book is truly a historical novel.