古典小说红楼梦外文文献翻译中英文文档格式.docx

古典小说红楼梦外文文献翻译中英文文档格式.docx

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Keywords

Accountinghistory

Accountingandmanagementcontrol

Culturalandsocialperspectiveofcontrol

ThisstudyinvestigatesChineseaccountingandmanagementcontrolsamongbigfamilyhouseholdsoftheearlyQingDynasty.Ourapproachistoanalyzedescriptionsofthecontrolsystemsoftwoeminentfamiliesin 

ADreamoftheRedMansions.Intheremainderofthissectionweprovidehistoricaldetailsthatwillfacilitateanunderstandingofthisunusualapproach.Thenwewillelaborateonourresearchobjectivesandtheirsignificance.Finally,biographicalinformationonthenovel'

sauthorispresentedin 

AppendixA.

ADreamoftheRedMansions 

（HungLouMeng 

inChinese）wasauthoredbyTsaoHsueh-chin 

（Tsao,1792）,1 

andisacclaimedasoneofthefourgreatestclassicalChinesenovels:

theotherthreebeing 

JourneytotheWest, 

RomanceoftheThreeKingdoms,and 

OutlawsoftheMarsh.Usingthecriteriaofmassandacademicappeal,ithasbeenwidelyacknowledgedasoneoftheworld'

smasterpieces 

Levy,1999, 

Lin,1935.Thenovelconsistsof120episodes,thefirst80ofwhichareacceptedastheauthenticwritingofTsao,whereasthelast40episodesareallegedtobethecontributionofKaoNgo 

（Lin,1966）.AlthoughKao'

snamehasneverappearedinanypublishedChineseversion,well-informedreadershavebeenawareofthiscoauthorship.2 

TheinclusionofKaoasacoauthorintranslatededitionsmerelyservestoinformreadersoutsideChinaofhiscontribution.

Whatevertheprovenanceofthelast40episodes,itisclearthatTsaointendedthenoveltofaithfullyrepresenttheriseandfalloftworelatedeminentfamilies,theJungandtheNingHouses,duringtheearlyQingDynasty.Thecluetotheeminenceofthesefamiliesstemsfromtheuseof 

redmansions 

inthenovel'

stitle.InimperialChina,mansionswith 

red-plastered 

outerwallsweresymbolicofwealth,grandeur,andpower.Hence,allpalaces,temples,andcourthouseshadredwalls,whereashabitationsofcommonersweremostlygray.Tsaourgedhisreaderstoponderthisdistinction,andconsidertheliveslivedbehindredwallsaspartofa 

dream.Tsaohimselfhadbeenraisedinafabulouslyluxurioushomebeforehislifewasblastedintonothingness.Inmiddleage,asabankruptscholarwholivedinadecrepithut,onlyhisimaginationcouldhelphimrelivethatdream-likepast.

Moreover,TsaousedthedreammotifbecausethetalethathenarratedwaspoliticallysensitiveintherepressiveenvironmentoftheearlyQingDynasty.Hewroteoffamilymisfortunesextendingover20years,piledonreflectionsofancestralglory,andsetamidstadesperateawarenessofthegradualerosionofsocialstatus.Mostpointedly,hedescribedtheconfiscationoffamilypropertiesthroughanimperialdecree.Tofurtherdistancehisownexperiencefromthosenarrated,Tsaodevotedsubstantialpassagestoexplainhowhesupposedlyobtainedthemanuscript.ReadersweretoldthataTaoistmonkfoundthestoryinscribedonahugerockwhichisnestledinsomefar-offmountains.ThemythicalqualityofthisconceitwasstrengthenedbyTsao'

sabsurdreferencestotherockmeasuring120feethigh,and240feetwide.Unbelievably,theTaoistmonkwassaidtohavecopiedthestoryfromtherockinscriptionsanddeliveredthemanuscriptintoTsao'

scare.

OnlyafterhavingestablishedthisalibididTsaoadmitthathethenworkedonthemanuscriptfor10years,revisingitfivetimes,anddividingitintoepisodes.Finally,hewrotethefollowingversetocommemoratetheeffort 

（Lin,1935,p.270）:

Thesepagestellofbabblingnonsense,

Astringofsadtearstheyconceal.

Theyalllaughattheauthor'

sfolly;

Butwhocouldknowitsappeal?

Tsao'

srhetoricalsoliloquydemandednoanswer,buthistale'

srichhumanityandtouchingsenseofpersonaltragedyhaslongbeenatalkingpoint.Episodesfromthenovelhavebeenthebasisforinnumerabletales,operas,andmovies.Toappreciatethenovel'

spositioninChinesesociety,wemustimagineaworkwiththescopeandpopularappealofMargaretMitchell'

s 

GonewiththeWind 

（Levy,1999）.Scholars,however,lookbeyondthenovel'

sliterarymeritsalone,andtowardsTsao'

senigmaticrelationtotheeventsaboutwhichhewrote.Theyareinclinedtorejecthisclaimofwriting 

babblingnonsense,andconsiderthenovelasathinlydisguisedbiographicalaccountofhistorical,social,andeconomicevents.Overthelastcentury,thesearchforhistoricalevidencetosupportthishypothesishasledtothedevelopmentofasciencecommonlyknownas 

redology 

inChineseliterarycircles 

Alexander,1976, 

Chao&

Chen,1975, 

Cooper&

Zhang,1993, 

Edwards,1994, 

Hu,1993, 

Huetal.,1961, 

Knoerle,1972, 

Lin,1966, 

Lu,1992, 

Minford,1980, 

Tsai,1930, 

Yu,1957, 

Yu,1978, 

Zhou,1989.SuchscholasticpursuitsbothinsideandoutsideChinaarecomparableindignityandvolumetocommentariesontheworksofShakespeareorGoethe 

Lin,1935, 

Yang&

Yang,1994.

Wearenotinterestedindeterminingwhether 

ispurefictionorthinlydisguisedbiography.WhatismoreimportantisthatTsaocreatedaliterarypieceembeddedwithconcretetracesofhistoricalevidence.ThenovelwaswrittenduringthereignofEmperorChienLung（1736–1795）,aperiodthathasoftenbeenheraldedbyChinesehistoriansasa“GoldenAge.”Tsao'

swritingcoveredmostwalksoflife,withextensiveandin-depthpersonalattestationtotheprevailingculture,politics,economics,socialstructure,andmanagementpracticesofthetime（Li&

Li,1995）.Therefore,wetakethepositionthatthenovelhashistoricalsignificance,andisrelevanttothestudyofaccountingandmanagementcontrolsin18thcenturyChina,especiallyasalternativedocumentaryevidenceisnonexistent.

Basedonthispremise,weundertooktodrawgeneralizedconclusionsonaccountingandmanagementcontrolpracticesoftheearlyQingDynastybyreferringtovariousepisodesofthenovel.Sinceaccountingandmanagementcontrolprinciplesinductivelyderivedmighthavebeenconceptuallyfalsifiable,eitherthroughtheimaginationoftheauthororbyourownselectionbias,analysesweremadetoensurethatgeneralizationsdrawnfromthenovelwereconsistentwiththesocialandeconomicenvironmentoftheearlyQingDynasty.Itwasexpectedthatpairingtheobservedsystemofaccountingandmanagementcontrolswithbothtimeandenvironmentwouldeventuallyleadtoreasonableexplanations,notonlyfortheuniquecharacteristicsofthesystem,butalsoitsdeficienciesfromahistoricalperspective.

Theresultsofthisstudyaddtotheliterature,whichlacksareasonablepartofthepictureonaccountingandmanagementcontroloffamilyinstitutionsinimperialChina.Traditionally,researchstudiesontheaccountinghistoryofChinahavefocusedonthedevelopmentsofbookkeepingandaccountinginancientdynasties,withthefirstsingle-entrybookkeepingsystemdatingbacktotheZhouDynasty（1100–771 

bc） 

Aiken&

Lu,1993a, 

Lu,1993b, 

Lu,1998, 

Fu,1971, 

Lin,1992.Inthelasttwodecades,mostresearchonChineseaccountinghasbeenoccupiedwithdevelopmentssincetheeconomicreformof1979 

Abdel-khaliketal.,1999, 

Chenetal.,1997, 

Chowetal.,1995, 

Davidsonetal.,1996, 

Graham&

Li,1997, 

Lefebvre&

Lin,1990, 

Skousen&

Yang,1988, 

Winkleetal.,1994, 

Xiang,1998, 

Zhou,1988.Thesestudieshaverevealed,toanimportantextent,thatChinawasthenonthevergeofrapidlyadoptingor“importing”Westernaccountingandcontrolmeasures,becausepre-reformaccountingandmanagementmethodswereincapableofcopingwiththechangedpost-reformenvironment.OurexaminationoftheaccountingandcontrolsystemsemployedundertheQingDynasty,basedon 

ADreamoftheRedMansions,showedasimilaratrophy.However,Chinesefamily-ownedinstitutionsofthe19thand20thcenturiesmanagedtomaintainsometraditionalmethodswhileadoptingWesternmanagementcontrolmeasures.BlendingtraditionalcontrolmeasureswithWesternmanagementcontrols