Zhenjun Zhang

Education

PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison

MA, Peking University

BA, Zhengzhou University
 

Zhenjun Zhang

Brief Biography

Prof. Zhenjun Zhang’s field of research is pre-modern Chinese literature with a focus on fiction: studies of classical Chinese tales, vernacular short stories and novels, as well as their interaction with history, religion, and culture. He has authored and edited dozens of books in Chinese and English. His recent publications include Routledge Handbook of Traditional Chinese Literature (Jan. 30, 2025), Chinese Culture through Legends and Fiction (Routledge, Dec. 31, 2024), New Stories Told while Trimming the Wick (Oxford University Press, Dec. 3, 2024), Classic Chinese Poems of Mourning and Texts of Lament (Bloomsbury Academic, 2024), Ming Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader (Bloomsbury Academic, 2022), Anthology of Tang and Song Tales: The Tang Song chuanqi ji of Lu Xun (World Scientific, 2020), Hidden and Visible Realms: Early Medieval Chinese Tales of the Supernatural and the Fantastic (Columbia University Press, 2018), Song Dynasty Tales: a Guided Reader (World Scientific, 2017), and Buddhism and Tales of the Supernatural in Early Medieval China (Brill, 2014). Currently he is working on Dreams in Early and Medieval Chinese Tales, etc. Prior to St. Lawrence, he taught at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Grinnell College, and University of Nevada-Las Vegas.

Regularly Taught Courses

  • ASIA/CHIN 101/102 Elementary Chinese
  • ASIA/CHIN 103/104 Intermediate Chinese
  • ASIA-125/HIST 105: Early Asian Civilization
  • ASIA/CHIN 201/202 Advanced Chinese
  • ASIA/HIST/DMF 232: Chinese Culture through Fiction & Film
  • ASIA/CHIN/DMF 234: East Asian Literature & Film          
  • ASIA/DMF/PHIL 235: Buddha & Confucius Go into Film
  • ASIA/CHIN/DMF 3078: Modern China through Fiction & Film
  • ASIA/CHIN SYE 498/490 Independent Studies

Publications

Books in English:

1. Routledge Handbook of Traditional Chinese Literature, co-edit with Victor Mair. Routledge, forthcoming Jan. 30, 2025.

2. Chinese Culture through Legends and Fiction. Routledge, Dec. 31, 2024.

3. New Stories Told while Trimming the Wick, co-trans with Sidney Sondergard & Trever McKay. Oxford University Press, Dec. 3, 2024.

4. Classic Chinese Poems of Mourning and Texts of Lament: an Anthology, co-edit with Victor Mair, Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.

5. Ming Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader, co-edit with Victor Mair. London: Bloomsbury Academic Publishing, 2022.

6. Anthology of Tang and Song Tales: The Tang Song chuanqi ji of Lu Xun, co-edit with Victor Mair. Singapore: World Scientific, 2020.

7. Hidden and Visible Realms: Early Medieval Chinese Tales of the Supernatural and the Fantastic. Trans. with annotations and introduction. New York: Columbia University Press, 2018.

8. Song Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader, co-authored with Jing Wang. Singapore: World Scientific, 2017.

9. Buddhism and Tales of the Supernatural in Early Medieval China: A Study of Liu Yiqing’s Youming lu. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2014.  

In Progress

10. Miscellaneous Records of the Western Capital. Co-edit/trans with Trever McKay. Under review with Oxford University Press.

11. Classical Chinese Tales of Love, co-ed. with Victor Mair. In progress and will be done by the summer of 2024.

12. Dreams in Early and Medieval Chinese Tales, author. In progress.

Books in Chinese

1. Cockfight and Chinese Culture 斗雞與中國文化Co-trans. [from English to Chinese] as lead translator. Beijing: Zhonghua Press, 2005.

2. Traditional Fiction and Chinese Culture 傳統小說與中國文化Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, 1996. This book has been cited by dozens of Ph.D. dissertations and scholarly monographs as well as nearly one hundred MA theses and articles.

3. Taboos of Women 女性的禁忌Co-authored with Zhao Jianwei. Beijing: Popular Arts Press, 1996.

4. Comprehensive Commentaries on the Strange Tales from Liaozhai 聊齋志異評賞大成Guilin: Lijiang Press,1994. Co-authored with Ma Zhenfang and others. This book was nominated to receive the National Book Award of China in 1995.

5, The Ten Great Masters of Humorous Performance 笑林十大巨星Co-authored as the lead author with Wei Xi & Wei Ren. Beijing: International Broadcasting Press, 1991.

6. Confinement and Transcendence: Observations on Chinese Townspeople’s Ideology in the San yan Er pai 禁錮與超越:從三言、二拍看中國市民心態Co-authored as the lead author with Mao Defu. Beijing:  International Cultural  Publishing Company, 1988.

Edited Volumes

7-12. Series of Classical Chinese Detective Novels 中國古典公案小説叢書 1-6. Ed. with an introduction. Beijing: Law Press of China, 1998.

Four Strange Cases of Judge Di Renjie 狄梁公四大奇案 

The Spectacle of a Hundred Judgements 百斷奇觀 

Seven Corpses and Eight Lives 七尸八命

Little Red Robe Strange Cases of Judge Hai 海公小紅袍奇案 

Large Red Robe Strange Cases of Judge Hai 海公大紅袍奇案 

The Cases of Judge Di 狄公案

13. Unofficial Biography of Hu Xueyan 胡雪岩外傳Ed. and Annotated. Beijing: The Capital Publishing House, 1997.

14-19. Series of Unabridged Ming and Qing Classical Novels 足本明清小説系列叢書 1-6. Beijing: Press of Minzu University of China, 1994. Co-ed. with Shan Hua. 

Marvelous Marriage of Immortal Divination 仙卜奇緣

A Much-told Story of Plume and Orchid 梅蘭佳話

Secret Arts of the Boudoir 閨門秘術

Tales of Ascending Immortals 升仙傳

Records of Gold and Face Powder of the Southern Dynasties 南朝金粉錄

Complete Illustrations of Good and Evil 善惡圖全傳

20-25. Series of Romances of the Mandarin Duck & Butterfly School 鴛鴦蝴蝶派艷情系列叢書 1-6. Beijing: Press of Minzu University of China, 1994. Co-ed. with Tian Zhou.

The Simurch and Phoenix Exchanging Nests 換巢鸞鳳

The Soul of Butterflies and the Shadow of Flowers 蝶魂花影

The Trace of Spring Dreams 春夢留痕

Flowers in Mirror and Moon in Water 鏡花水月

The Trace of a Blue Dream 碧夢痕

The Dream of Mandarin Ducks 鴛鴦夢

26. Spring Dreams in the Red Boudoir 紅閨春夢Ed. Beijing: Press of Minzu University of China, 1994.

27-28. Series of Popular Chinese Fiction 中國大衆小説系列 vol. 4-5 (modern period). Taiyuan: Beiyue Literature  and Arts Press, 1994.

29. Comprehensive Book of Taoist Self-cultivation 性命法訣全書Beijing: Beijing Medical and Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Press, 1993. Co-ed. with Wei Xi and Zhong Xia.

30-31. Series of Books for Self-cultivation and Longevity 修真頤生者文叢 1-2. Beijing: Press of Renmin University of China, 1991. Co-ed. with Wei Xi.

Book Chapters

“Observations on the Depictions of Beautiful Women in Classic Chinese Poetry from Three Perspectives”.  In Chen Zhi and Xu Xingwu, ed. Collection of Papers Congratulating the 80th Birthday of Professor Nienhauser 倪豪士教授八十华诞庆贺论文集. Nanjing University Press, 2023, pp. 170-82. 

“Wu Tzu Hsü, Memoir 6.” William H. Nienhauser, ed. The Grand Scribe’s Records v. 7. Indiana University Press &  Nanjing University Press, pp. 91-112, 2021. 

“Consuming Anger: Chinese History, Literary Culture, and the Power of Metaphor,”co-authored with Sid Sondergard, in Sid Sondergard, ed., Food for Thought: Graphic Essays on Anthropophagy  (Madrid, NY: Intelligent Ink,  2018),  pp.109- 24.

“Revisiting the Phenomenon of Imitating Western Works in Modern Chinese Literature”現當代文學中模仿西方作品現象之再思. From Literature to the Arts: Sino- Western Cross-cultural Studies 由文入藝:中西跨文化書寫Ed. by  Sun  Shaoyi 孫紹誼 and Zhou Xuhua 周序樺. Taibei: Hongmayi tushu ouxian gongsi, 2017, pp. 167-82.

Commentaries on “Liansuo 連鎖,” “Liancheng 連城,” “Shang Sanguan 商三官,” “The Thunder God 雷神,” and “Pianpian 翩翩.” In Ma Zhenfang 馬振方, ed. Commentaries on Selected Masterpieces in the Strange Tales  from  Liaozhai 聊齋志異名篇評賞. Beijing: Peking University Press, 2016, pp. 118-42.

“The Tale of Huo Xiaoyu.” Tang Dynasty Tales: A Guided Reader. William H. Nienhauser, Jr. ed. Singapore:  World Scientific Publishing Co., 2010, pp. 33-76.

“The Viscount of Wei and [the Prince of] Sung: Hereditary House 8.” The Grand Scribe’s Records v. 5. 1: 267-95.  William H. Nienhauser, Jr. ed. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 200

Book Reviews

Review of Shuhui Yang and Yunqin Yang, Slapping the Table in Amazement: a Ming Dynasty Story Collection.  Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews 41 (2019): 209-13.

Review of Alexei Kamran Ditter et al., Tales from Tang Dynasty China: Selections from the Taiping guangji.  Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews 40 (2018): 302-04.

Review of Alister Inglis, The Drunken Man’s Talk: Tales from Medieval China. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles,  and Reviews 40 (2018): 304-06.

Review of Robert Ford Campany, A Garden of Marvels: Tales of Wonder from Early Medieval China. Journal of Chinese Religions v. 44, no. 2 (2016): 174-76.

Review of Graham Sanders, Six Records of a Life AdriftChinese Literature: Essays, Articles, and Reviews 37 (2015): 214-17.

Review of Glen Dudbridge, A Portrait of Five Dynasties: From the Memoirs of Wang Fu (880-956).  China Religious  Studies Review v. 40 no. 4 (Dec. 2014): 231-32.

Selected Journal Papers

“Two Modes of Goddess Depictions in Early Medieval Chinese Literature.” Journal of Chinese Humanities v. 3 (2017):117-134.

“Observations on the Reception of Su Shi’s Literary Works in the West through a Comparison of Three English  Anthologies of Chinese Literature” 從三種英文本中國文學選集看蘇軾作品在西方的傳播與接受.  China Su Shi  Studies 中國蘇軾研究 6 (2016): 332-46.

“Observations on the Life and Works of Liu Yiqing.” Early Medieval China 20 (2014): 83-104.

“From Demonic to Karmic Retribution: Changing Concepts of bao in Early Medieval China as Seen in the  Youming Lu,” Acta Orientalia, Volume 66, no.3 (2013), 267– 287.

“Observations on the Characteristics and Values of the ‘Collected Explanations of the Grand Scribe’s Records’ through Pei Yin’s Annotations of “Emperor Gaozu, Basic Annuals 8.” Journal of Literature, History,  and Philosophy 1 (2013):  84-91.

“Buddhist Impact on the Creation of New Fictional Figures and Images in the You ming lu.” Sungkyun Journal of East  Asian Studies (Seoul) vol. 10, no. 2 (Oct. 2010): 145-168.

“A Textual History of Liu Yiqing’s You Ming Lu.” Oriens Extremus 48 (2009): 87-101. “On the Origins of Detached Soul Motif in Chinese Literature.” Sungkyun Journal of East Asian Studies vol. 9, no. 2 (Oct. 2009): 167-184.

“On the Contributions of Taoism to Traditional Chinese Fiction.” Taoist Culture Studies 9 (1996): 332-46.

“Brief Remarks on the Consanguinity between History and Fiction.” Xinhua Digest 3 (1996): 121-24; and Studies of Ancient and Modern Chinese Literature 2 (1996): 77-83.

“On the Perplexity of Chinese Tragedy Study.” Journal of Renmin University of China 4 (1996): 76-84.

“On the Lyric Arts of Tao Qian’s Poetry.” Journal of Yunmeng 3 (1996): 66-69.

“The Artistic Transformation of Religious Stories in the Strange Tales from Liaozhai.Journal of Liaoning Normal University 2 (1996): 20-24; Included in the Annual Bibliography of Oriental Studies for 1996. Institute for Research  in Humanities, Kyoto University, p. 307.

“Deformed Reflections: Sexual Consciousness in Classical Chinese Fiction and Drama.” Journal of Zhengzhou University 2 (1996): 89-95.

“Admonition and Moral Education: On the Impact of Confucianism upon Traditional Chinese Fiction.” Academic Journalof Qi and Lu 4 (1995): 82-85.

“The Concept of Tragedy: Reinterpretation of an Old Topic (Also on Tragic Consciousness in Chinese Literature).”  Yinshan Academic Journal 4 (1995): 14-21.

“Origins and Significance of the Doctrine of ‘Anger Release’ in the Theory of Ancient Fiction.” Journal of Renmin  University of China 3 (1995): 73-78; Studies of Ancient and Modern Chinese Literature 7 (1995): 306-10.

“Brief Remarks on the Image of Zhou Shengxian in Storytellers’ Scripts.” Journal of H ulan Teacher’s College 3 (1995): 24-27.

“Grand Images: Tragic Heroes in Ancient Chinese Myth.” Journal of Renmin University of China 6 (1994): 86-90; Studies of Ancient and Modern Chinese Literature 1(1995): 37-41.

“A Comparative Study of Two Themes in the Literary Works by Li Yu and Shakespeare.” Journal of Renmin  University of China 6 (1992): 63-70.

“Tracing the Origin of the Stories of Love between Men and Supernatural Beings in Ancient Fiction.”  Yinshan  Academic Journal 4 (1992): 9-16; Studies of Ancient and Modern Chinese Literature 3 (1993): 41-47.

“Brief Remarks on the Love Stories between Man and Goddess in Ancient Chinese Fiction.” Journal of  Southwestern Normal University 1 (1991): 94-99; Annual Bibliography of Oriental Studies for 1991. Kyoto University (1994), p. 295.

“On the Creation of Images of Maids and Servants in the Gold Vase Plum.” Journal of Qi and Lu 6 (1991): 107-12.

“The Wonderful Usage of Laugh: Artistic Depictions in Classical Chinese Fiction.” Journal of Tang Capital 2 (1991):  71-4.

“Brief Remarks on the Perspective of Narration in the ‘Pale Anna.’” The Field of Creative Writing 3-4 (1991), 51-52.

“Searching the Root of Modern Reality Recording Fiction.” Zhongzhou Journal 5 (1990): 97-103.

“Fiction and History: a Lasting Public Case.” Journal of Renmin University of China 3(1990): 63-70; Studies of Ancient and 

Modern Chinese Literature 3 (1990): 97- 103; and also be included in the Annual Bibliography of Oriental Studies for 1990. Kyoto University (1993), p.310.

“Admonition and ‘Anger Releas e’: Two Modes in the Writing of Classical Chinese Fiction.” Taihang Journal 1 (1990): 61-64.

“On the Artistic Feature of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and the Approaches of Research.”  Journal of  Zhengzhou University 4 (1989): 71-77; Studies of Ancient and Modern Chinese Literature 2 (1990): 207-13.

“On the Tragic Features of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.Journal of Peking University 5 (1988): 52-61; included in Annual Bibliography of Oriental Studies for 1988. Kyoto University (1991), p. 307.

 

 

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