英文摘要
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The very style of humorous fables in the late Ming dynasty takes a cynical attitude towards life. Those fable writers were good at reflecting the ways of the world with simple and exaggerated plots. Their works have put a new face on Chinese fables. Previous studies on humorous fables focused mainly on historical background, linguistic features, artistic achievement, and social significance; yet, they did not discuss the intellectuals' writing theory of "bantering with a good intention." Therefore, this article examines the writing theory of "bantering with a good intention" in terms of social observation and text analysis. This article also explores the intellectuals' mindset of "fun" and clarifies the late-Ming fables' style evolution from seriousness to facetiousness. Finally, this article concludes by expounding the late-Ming fable writers' writing theory of "bantering with a good intention" and specifying its connotation- that is, the aesthetic standards of creation- which include "short," "plain," "witty" and "allegorical."
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