Retiracy and Craziness: An Alternative Pursuit of Losers in the Imperial Examination in the Novels of Early Qing Dynasty

In early period of Qing Dynasty, there appeared an amount of novels in vernacular Chinese which talked about the literati's imperial examinations. In addition, they shaped a group of protagonist literati who failed in such examinations, and described their alternative pursuit in their lives after the failure. The protagonist TANG Ao in Luck Brought by Flowers in a Mirror has realized his life value through cultivating himself to be an immortal. This is completely a kind of retiracy. LENG Yu-bing in Fairy Trails in Green Land has brought into reality his dream to do great things for the world. This is a kind of saving cultivation. In contrast, WEN Su-chen in Words Poured out by an Old Man cannot see through wealth and fame after he fails in the imperial examination. In stead, in an almost imagined unreal world, he has realized his dream to serve the emperor and do good deeds for people and to leave a good reputation in history. Such phenomena are closely related with the system of the imperial examination in early Qing Dynasty. But what is more important is that they represent the hope of the authors themselves. When they poured out their depressed lives, they expressed their strong desire to get a peaceful world.