Abstract
Wushi sanke (at the quarter before noon) is the time of execution imagined by creators of popular literature to generate plot conflicts and suspense. The literary pseudo-knowledge that “killing must take place at the quarter before noon” shapes the public conceptualization of genre plots and narrative routines and functions epistemologically in the reading of popular fiction. The precision of “at the quarter before noon” on the discourse level provides narrative events of execution and rescue with temporal certainty, and, in turn, these related plot elements imbue “at the quarter before noon” with symbolic meanings of authority and rebellion. Through the fixed connection between time and plot, fiction writers create plot coincidences and characters' tacit understanding, as well as construct a narrative logic around “at the quarter before noon”. The Water Margin pioneered the narrative paradigm of using “at the quarter before noon” as the endpoint and employing a countdown format for the execution scene. This tradition continued and evolved in late Qing dynasty fiction.
Keywords
wushi sanke (at the quarter before noon), death penalty time, epistemological functions, offensive and defensive agreement, countdown
First Page
213
Last Page
223
Recommended Citation
Yue, Ding. 2024. "At the Quarter Before Noon: The Construction and Transformation of Death Penalty Hour in Ming-Qing Popular Fiction." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 44, (5): pp.213-223. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol44/iss5/21
