SOCIAL EXCHANGE AND POWER RELATIONS IN JIN PING MEI: AN ANALYSIS OF A CLASSIC CHINESE NOVEL
Keywords:
theory of social exchange, power relations, patron-client relations, Chinese literature, Ming dynastyAbstract
This paper aims to apply the theory of social exchange in the analysis of power relations in the Classic Chinese novel Jin Ping Mei, better know in English as The Golden Lotus, or in a later translation as The Plum in the Golden Vase. Treating the novel as a satirical commentary on the decaying society of the late Ming period, it sets to identify the main dyadic relations between Ximen Qing, a rich and spoiled merchant, and the state officials on different levels of official hierarchy. The novel is rich with minute descriptions of social exchange, i.e. the exchange of valuable goods and coins, favors, and useful information. The analysis shows that each of the three dyadic relationships is specifically determined by the power relationships imbedded in them.
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