Discussion Why Chinese webnovels end abruptly

I was re-reading a 1973 dissertation by Robert E. Hegel on the Chinese historical romance Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, a vernacular novel of the early Qing dynasty. In his conclusion, Hegel talks about the structure of the novel and the Chinese novel in general as different from that in the West. It made me think of the common complaint about Chinese webnovels' rushed endings. Though he is talking about classic Chinese fiction, and modern Chinese literature has been significantly influenced by Western literature (beginning with the May 4th Movement), still I thought this was interesting and at least a little bit applicable.

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A logical consequence of this approach is that all elements in the novel are equally important; viewed with the goal of harmonious balance in mind, nothing in STYI (Sui-T'ang Yan-i, Romance of the Sui and Tang) is truly superfluous, regardless of how badly it fits into its superficial context. Surely there must be some crucial juncture reached in STYI, some climactic event or realization that far outdistances the rest of the work in significance, one might assume. But in fact there is none, and this is a primary difference between Chinese fiction and that produced in the West. While in Occidental heroic literature one finds the adventures of an individual leading up to a climax, the death of the central figure or his successful completion of a quest, Chinese heroic fiction tends to plod on regularly through scenes of varying emotional intensity, to be sure, but at the end the story simply stops. Chinese novels on the whole tend to conclude rather mechanically: the consolidation of the empire after disunion (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), the reassembly of the souls of all heroes in their original lair (Water Margin), the completion of the allotted number of trials (Journey to the West), the identification of the protagonists with divine spirits (Dream of the Red Chamber), and the like. Most end on an anticlimactic note by Western standards. In terms of STYI, the climactic moment should be the revelations of the immortals at the end, the elucidation of the retribution scheme. Yet it all has been made clear beforehand—in Taizong's journey to Hell, in Xuanzong's prophetic dream, and elsewhere. Furthermore, the scheme significantly involves only two of STYI's myriad characters, many of whom receive as much of the narrator's attention as do the reincarnated pair. This final retribution is hardly worthy of intense interest, since all of the sins originally committed by the Sui emperor Yang have been repeated several times by others later in the text. Why then is STYI so constructed?

It is a sociological platitude that the family was the basic unit in traditional Chinese society, not the individual as in the West. And every beginning student of Asia knows that Chinese society was conservative because Chinese since before Confucius have always looked to the past as a guide for the present. Moreover, Chinese have always been aware of the length and grandeur of their past; their time sense thereby was long in comparison to that of Western peoples. Needless to say, these observations have some validity when applied to Western civilization as well; East is distinguished from West by a matter of degree rather than of two fundamentally contrasting approaches to life. Basic human similarities override specific differences, after all. Amateur sociology though this may be, this difference in perspective is strikingly obvious in Chinese fiction, where the focus of attention is much wider than in Western writing. While the cultural descendants of classical Greece and Rome concentrate on the particular person in a particular situation, a moment in time from which a general human truth may be extrapolated, the novelist imbued with the Chinese world view works in precisely the opposite direction. That is, he states the general truth in conventional terms, then proceeds to particularize it.

Life is vast and encompassing to the Chinese mind. Time is a continuum that stretches far into the past and the future; nothing of real significance lasts only a moment. Hence a work of fiction need not conclude with the death of any individual, no matter how important he is to the story. This is why sequel stories were so common in China, it would appear. Fictional heroes have friends, descendants — everyone does, after all. Therefore the tale continues, sometimes through extended story sequences narrating the adventures of several generations of the same family (e.g., the Xue 薛 family of the Tang). Thus STYI never falters as a character steps from the limelight; a change of scene only allows more diversity in characterization and situation. Furthermore, all human events are inherently interesting to the Confucian humanistic outlook; in this vein Chinese romances catalogue events one after another to an eventual stop, never to a decisive conclusion. It is wholly appropriate that STYI should be organized of heterogeneous elements of similar significance taken in serial order with each subordinated to the greater whole. Thus, too, Chu Renhuo is never concerned exclusively with any one character, theme, moral precept, or even level of existence in STYI.

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This basic structure is present too in Water Margin. Although Song Jiang is the "main character", as Qin Shubao is in Sui-Tang, still each character's story gives way to another's, and many get pretty much equal billing with Song Jiang (he doesn't even show up until I think Ch.20 or somewhere around there. Classic Chinese novels are not a linear cause-effect storyline, but more cyclical.

 

Cool story bro.

 

IDK why, but the "inability or meaninglessness of trying to capture or record a moment in time/reality/experience due to them being in flux" seems like it's in line with Western postmodern thought.

So basically, the family saga chronicling the lives of several generations of a family? Also there in western fiction.

An interesting article, nevertheless.

 

Did you say Hegel?

Spoiler: video

The only mention of Hegel in anime I can remember butt I only found it with English dub

 

Ward first, Will read later when i have mood.

 

I think the reason why CN web novels have abrupt endings is because most of them are super long and made to go on for forever, so it's hard to wrap it all up with a nice little bow like you can do with shorter novels. But that's just an opinion.
While your view of CN classics makes sense, it also has nearly no connection at all with modern CN web novels that are mostly power fantasies with a very clear main character, especially if they're really long. It was a nice analysis, I couldn't write anything that long. I honestly have never read STYI (only 5 or so episodes of a drama adaptation leading up to the ending), so I don't get the references, but cool xD

 

Yeah I don't disagree. And that was an excerpt of the dissertation, not my view, just to be clear. But it made me think of rushed endings in webnovels, which I think are probably just the author wanting to get done with the thing finally, lol.

 

on another side iirc there was article or view about how eastern asia novel culture may differ compared to western culture
on western it opening, act, problem bla bla forget the term while on eastern the structure opening, act, twist then conclusion. the conclusion is not about climatic or anti climatic or closing? it just, thats it story is end! deal with it!

it was written by Japanese author, this cat read it during literature class. consider it on how wn arc process yes maybe rather than western approach wn author use eastern approach. as long as the story have conclusion thats it~

 

Be done with it so they can start over with a carbon copy of it right after. lol

 

I feel like the cultural bias of the target audience doesn't excuse bad writing. It just indulges it.

Anything I have to say specifically on the topic would end up as a 100-page thesis, but basically, ending with a climax is significantly better than ending abruptly without it, or continuing for a while after climax and just giving up without a second one. Anyone who's had sex would know that.

 

I'm not so sure about that, while I would want most stories to have a proper climax for the ending, personally I would still say there is plenty of climactic endings bad enough that I would have been ok with an anticlimactic one instead.

 

That's the Chinese continuity in the modern sense, not the tale of the next generation of the family as the classics. Literature evolution just in the wrong direction.

On a tangent, fart jokes were popular in Roman times too. If paper and ink so cheap back then I am sure the Chinese classics would be flooded with pulp fiction too. Some most likely exist but the cost of books would have made them the cream.