A Comparative Study on the Image of Gifted scholar in the “The Story of the West Chamber” of China and Japan

The word “Gifted scholar” riginated from Chinese literature During the exchange of Chinese culture with East Asian countries, “Gifted scholar” was absorbed by Japan, which was influenced by Chinese culture, and became a synonym for the hero in Japanese romance novels. As an imitative work of the Chinese Yuan drama “The Romance of the West Chamber”, the Japanese Chinese-character novels “The Romance of Happy Couple ” has both similarities and differences with the Image of Gifted scholar in the Story of “The Romance of the West Chamber”. Based on text analysis, this paper will sort out the content about the image of the gifted scholar in the Chinese and Japanese “The Story of the West Chamber”, highlight the different aspects of the image of the gifted scholar in the two works, and focus on exploring the reasons for this difference. The Japanese writer Miki Aika was influenced by Chinese Confucian culture. The male protagonist in “The Romance of Happy Couple” inherited the image of talented scholar who combines talent, amorous feeling and appearance from “The Romance of the West Chamber”. On the other hand, due to the cultural characteristics of the Japanese nation and the development of the Meiji Restoration, the image of the gifted scholar in Japan's “The Story of the West Chamber” has changed again. By examining and comparing the image of the gifted scholar in Chinese and Japanese “The Story of the West Chamber”, this paper explains that although the external image of the hero in the is similar to that of the Chinese gifted scholar, his inner core characteristics still contain Japan’s national character and contemporaneity.