NARRATIVE CONVEYANCE OF STORY THEMES IN TEMPLES

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1 Original papers Received January 12, 2015; Accepted September 15, 2015 NARRATIVE CONVEYANCE OF STORY THEMES IN TEMPLES Hsiang-Lien LEE* **, Chi-Hsiung TSENG* and Chun-Hung LIU* *** *Graduate School of Design, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin, Taiwan 64002, R. O. C. ** Graduate Institute of Animation and Multimedia Design, National University of Tainan, Tainan, Taiwan 70005, R. O. C. ***Department of Visual Communication Design, Southern Taiwan University, Tainan, Taiwan 71005, R. O. C. Abstract: This study explored the story themes conveyed in temples built in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties ( AD). In total, 19 temples and 628 story themes were investigated. analysis was adopted to compare and contrast the narrative structure of novels and that of the images decorating the temples; in addition, sample analysis was performed using the narrative structure, story element, main patron deity, and story theme. The results are as follows: 1) Temple creators primarily selected Romance of the Three Kingdoms for the story theme. 2) Temple creators selected chapters from Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Apotheosis of Heroes and predominantly adopted the midpoint in Act II that resembling the three-act structure in Western tradition. 3) The background of the main patron deity and the story theme selection for a temple were correlated. Keywords: theme, Narrative structure, Three-act structure 1. Introduction and Motivation According to 2013 statistical data released by the Ministry of Interior, 12,083 Taiwanese temples have been constructed since the early period of immigration to Taiwan. Because of the social, cultural, historical, and spatiotemporal backgrounds during the early days, various story themes were used to ornament the primary architectures of the temples. The story themes included narrative, symbolic, and thematic meanings that embodied the teachings and sentiments of the ancestors and Chinese moral values. The quantity and quality of the narrative images altered according to factors such as the construction period of the temple, the construction scale, the amount of capital used for construction, and the artisans skills. After the amendment of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act ( ), historic monuments are divided into 13 categories, among which one is temple. Temple images are narrative, guiding viewers through the illustrated stories. The story themes in temples exemplified the histories, cultures, and crafts of the construction period and were primarily selected from historical novels and novels of gods and spirits. This study focused on exploring how temple creators selected scenes and images from the stories and used such images to interpret the essence of the selected chapters. Temples constructed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties ( AD) are historically and artistically significant, featuring various ornamental styles such as colored drawings, Koji ceramics, fragmented ceramics, stone carving, and wood carving, adopted to present the storylines of historical novels. The various styles ornamenting the temples and the illustrated stories afforded educational attributes and psychological comfort for the viewers. However, temple creators typically originate from diverse backgrounds, and their skills are generally inherited from teachers or self-developed. Current literature in Taiwan has seldom explored how creators selected the story themes and novel chapters for temples in which the main patron deities differed. We focused on Taiwanese temples constructed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, investigating the narrative images. A review of literature, historical novels, and narrative structures was conducted to understand the historical backgrounds and to elucidate the correlation between the story theme and the narration. Copyright 2012 日本デザイン学会 All Rights Reserved. THE SCIENCE OF DESIGN B U L L E T I N O F JSSD Vol. 62 No

2 2. Literature Review and Theoretical Framework We referred to literature on story themes in temples and on narrative structures to determine the narrative structure of story themes in Taiwanese temples. 2.1 Themes in Temples From the works of skilled artisans who immigrated from Tangshan in China to the creations of local artisans, the historical architecture that they created has historical preservation value, and thus, has received considerable attention in previous studies. However, further investigations and discussions are required to determine how the creators selected the stories and designed the images for various temples. Four primary factors are involved in determining the themes and the styles for temple architectural ornaments: 1) Taoism: themes of gods and spirits provided artisans with infinite inspiration for creating ornamentation; 2) Honoring Heaven: every aspect of nature (from the sun and moon to plants, mountains, and rivers) can be a theme because the Chinese people believe in the concept of an orbicular sky and rectangular earth, observing and learning from nature; 3) Yin Yang and the five elements: the yin and yang theory evolved from the Book of Changes, which afforded concepts for ornaments and structures concerning yin yang, the cardinal directions, and sequential order; and 4) Buddhism: saṃsāra and stories from Buddhist tradition were used for story themes [1]. We selected the ornament themes in temples constructed in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties; in total, 19 temples and 628 story themes were obtained. The backgrounds and characteristics of the main patron deities required exploring to determine the correlation between the main patron deity and the story theme. Derived from the research samples, the categories of the main patron deities can be obtained and include Tianshang Shengmu (Heavenly Holy Mother; four temples), Guanyin (three temples), and Sanshan Guowang (the Lords of the Three Mountains; two temples). In addition, there was one temple for each of the following categories: Chenghuang Ye (City God), Wangye (Royal Lord), Gautama Buddha, Shuei Shian Tzuen Wang (Water Deity, the Honorable King), Baosheng Emperor, (Miracle Immortal Doctor), Xuantian Shangdi (Mysterious Heavenly Upper Emperor), Kai Zhang Sheng Wang (Sacred King), Ancient Dingguang Buddha, Guan Sheng Di Jun (Lord Guan), and the Jade Emperor. In addition, according Taiwanese folk tales, the category of the main patron deity can be divided into deities pertaining to nature worship (four temples), worshiping the souls of the dead (14 temples), and ancestor worship (one temple). According to the domains the patron deities preside over and the deities backgrounds, the category can be divided into protecting on waters and seas (six temples), ensuring safety and protection (five temples), practicing Buddhism (four temples), curing epidemics and providing medical treatments (two temples), and eradicating violence and preserving good, assessing good and evil, and solving disputes (two temples) [2]. We used the aforementioned data obtained from a field study to analyze the narrative structure of the story themes and understand the creators material selection methods. 2.2 Narrative Structures On the basis of the aforementioned study, we inferred that the temple creators selected various story themes according to the main patron deities, and further determine the placement of the story elements and the images to be created. A story creator must possess the skills of story writing and storytelling. Because a story generally develops linearly, further information processing is required to transform a written story into a visually presented story; such is the function of a black-box. tellers convey a story to the audience through story design, an approach similar to the process of transmitting information; consequently, the story itself is a coding process. During creation, the temple creators used the storytelling method to transform classical historical long texts (e.g., Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Apotheosis of Heroes) into images. The creators selected certain chapters and assigned meanings to its contexts intuitively, a process called recontextualization. The complex factors behind the creators perceptions include school of apprentices, self-developed skills, and communication between the proprietor and the creator. The dramatic structure in Western tradition first developed from the three-act play proposed by Aristotle ( BC). The three acts, setup, confrontation, and resolution, influenced the subsequent development of traditional linear narrative structures (e.g., the Hegelian conflicts and Freytag s pyramid). The plot structure of contemporary drama and recorded media mostly contain the three-act structure. Wright [3], Field [4], Rabiger [5], and Block [6] explained that the three-act structure consists of a beginning (Act I), midpoint (Act II), and ending (Act III). The beginning (Act I) includes the setup and the exposition of the story; the midpoint (Act II) involves the rising action or conflicts, the stimulation, and the complication; and the 78 B U L L E T I N O F JSSD Vol. 62 No THE SCIENCE OF DESIGN

3 ending (Act III) provides the solutions to the problems. Field (2005) indicated that two turning points in the plot occur between the acts. Rabiger [5] further explained that the three acts are used for diverse purposes and can determine the duration of the story: Acts I, II, and III accounts for 25%, 50%, and 25% of the story. Therefore, the basic structure of the three acts is constant and can be extensively applied to narrative text designs. 2.3 Element Designs Chatman [7] divided the traditional narrative structure into story and discourse. The story indicates the content of the narration and the discourse is the expression of narration; specifically, a story contains content (the author s narration of the cultural codes) and form (core events, characters, and scenes). Similarly, story themes should simultaneously contain a content and form. In addition, Mckee [8], Rabiger [5], Readman [9], and Rumelhart [10] have indicated that a story element should contain a few basic elements. Although the scholars differ in their opinions of the elements, they are consistent regarding the two primary elements: background (characters, places, and times) and plot (conflicts, attempts, and results). Consequently, an interesting story can be enhanced with effective element designs. The following four elements were generalized from the story elements proposed by the scholars: 1) character: the main character, supporting characters, and characteristics of the characters; 2) background: the time, place, and situation; 3) initial event: an event or objective that begins the story; 4) development: the planning, attempted resolution, and outcome; 5) ending: responses to whether the main character solved the problem. On the basis of the aforementioned discussion, the narrative structure and story elements can be applied as the standard with which to explore story themes and element designs in temples. 3. Research Methodology We adopted the story themes in temples constructed during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties as the research samples. Narrative structure and element design were used to analyze story themes, and the correlation between various main patron deities and temple themes was determined. In addition to skills inherited from teachers or self-developed, whether temple creators selected themes by rule required investigation through in-depth interviews. Based on the story themes obtained from field studies, the interrelations among various temples, main patron deities, and story themes were observed, and story themes with long narrative characteristics were selected for analysis and discussions. Among the ornament themes observed in the sample temples, Buddhist and Taoist ornament themes adorned 19 temples [2]. The collection scope included the antetemple, the san-chuan-dian (the central area of the antetemple), the bai-dian (the worship hall), and bai-dian (the main hall of the temple); among them, only those that possessed classical allusions and inscriptions were used, excluding the ones that were difficult to film and research or indistinguishable because of damage. In total, 628 story themes were observed (Table 1). Table 1. Categories of story themes in temples Main patron deity Mazu Shuei Shian Tzuen Wang Xuantian Shangdi Baosheng Emperor Temple name Theme quantity Tainan Grand Matsu Temple 46 Chaotian Temple 45 Penghu Tianhou Temple 30 Kaiji Matsu Temple 12 Ben Gang Monastery Temple 23 Tainan North Pole Temple 21 Dalongdong Baoan Temple 88 Wangye Nankushen Temple 142 Chenghuang Ye Cheng-Huan Temple of Taiwan 36 Guan Sheng Di Jun Sanshan Guowang Sacrificial Rites Martial Temple 9 Taipei Kong Hock Keng Temple 0 Tainan Three-Mountain-Kings Temple Jade Emperor Changhua Yuan Ching Kuan 4 Ancient Dingguang Tamsui Yinshan Temple 32 Buddha Kai Zhang Sheng Wang Changhua Shenwang Temple 14 Mengjia Longshan Temple 40 Guanyin Gautama Buddha 16 Lukang Longshan Temple 14 Fengshan Longshan Temple 26 Tainan Kaiyuan Temple themes in total THE SCIENCE OF DESIGN B U L L E T I N O F JSSD Vol. 62 No

4 3.1 The Step of Research Process The theme content can be divided into narrative images (e.g., stories from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms) and nonnarrative images (e.g., auspicious patterns and apotropaic objects). This study was conducted in four stages. In the first stage, as the research sample, 22 story themes derived from seven Chinese classic novels were selected (Table 2). Table 2. Statistics of story themes derived from long novels In the third stage, we examined story themes most frequently used in temples. themes were determined. The fourth stage involved discussing the correlation between the main patron deity and the story theme. In addition, other story themes derived from novels with no chapters, ba ai (the eight types of love), szu ping (the four stories of hiring talented people), szu pu tsou (the four deficiencies to be avoided), or auspicious patterns were not analyzed in the narrative structure. Table 3. The study sample (Code A.) Code A B C Themes Source Romance of the Three Kingdoms ( 三國演義 ) Apotheosis of Heroes ( 封神演義 ) Records of the Grand Historian ( 史記 ) A1 Three humble visits to a thatched cottage Liu Bei paid 3-visit to Zhu Ge Liang and asked for his support. quantity plot Chapters Chapters None Code D E F Source Heroes in Sui and Tang Dynasties ( 隋唐演義 ) The of Yue Fei ( 說岳全傳 ) Romance of the Western Han ( 西漢演義 ) quantity A2 The Chang Ban slope A3 Three heroes combating Lu Bu A4 Sweet dew temple The loyalty of Zhao Yun to his throne. The collaboration among Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fe forced Lu Bu to quit. A clever idea from Kong Ming helped Liu Bei take his wife back. plot Chapters Chapters Chapters A5 Brotherhood forged in the peach garden Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fe were sworn brothers and worked together. Code G - - Source Collected Biographies of Immortals ( 列仙傳 ) - - quantity plot None themes in total The second stage involved narrative structure analysis. The novels with chapters and the quantity of the story themes selected from such novels were used as the selection standard and were coded as A(A1~A9) and B(B1~B5); in total, 14 story themes were derived (Table 3,4.). A6 Wuhou petition A7 Guan Yu floods seven armies A8 Zhang Fei gorge Yan Yanbiao A9 The great battle between Ma Chao and Hsu Tu Kong Ming submitted the remonstrance to his throne to present his loyalty and advice. Guan Yu gave instructions to weir the outfall so that the water would fall and the enemies be drowned and victory acquired. Zhang Fei was touched by the loyalty of Yan Yan, the enemy, and released him. The fights of the chief commanders. 9 themes in total 80 B U L L E T I N O F JSSD Vol. 62 No THE SCIENCE OF DESIGN

5 Table 4. The study sample (Code B.) Themes B1 Wei appointed virtuous B2 King Wen got a son B3 Collect the rocky B4 Kong Suan blocked Jin Ji Ling with army B5 Tai Ji Diagram Table 5. The study sample (Code C.) Themes C1 Confucius consulted Lao Tze C2 Return the borrowed thing to the rightful owner King Wen of Zhou paid a visit to Jiang Zi Ya and asked him to be his chancellor. King Wen of Zhou spat meat and which transformed to a magic substance. A magic weapon decorated with nine-dragon used by Tai Yi Zhen Ren burnt Shi Ji Niang Niang to a stone. Kong Suan had super strong power and no one could take him down in Jin Ji Ling. The villains were subdued into the Tai Ji Diagram. 5 themes in total The Confucius inquired for Lao Tze. The Cin Emperor planned to grab the He Shi Bi from Zhao Hui Wang but Lin Xiang Ru brought it back to the Cin safely. 4. Results and Discussion 4.1. Stage 1: Sample Analysis of Themes in Temples According to Table 7, the story themes in temples originated from seven Chinese classic novels(a-g) and 22 story themes(a1-a9.b1-b5.c1-c3.d1-d2.e1.f1g1.) were derived from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (nine), Apotheosis of Heroes (five), Records of the Grand Historian (three), Heroes in Sui and Tang Dynasties (two), The of Yue Fei (one), Romance of the Western Han (one), and Collected Biographies of Immortals (one). The story themes developed from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Apotheosis of Heroes, Records of the Grand Historian, Heroes in Sui and Tang Dynasties, and other novels accounted for 41%, 23%, 14%, 9%, and 4% of the themes. According to statistics regarding the same story themes applied in different temples, six temples featured B1 and E1, five temples featured A1 and A2, four temples featured A3, A4, and C1, three temples featured B2 B4, D1, D2, F1, and G1, and two temples featured A5 A9, B5, C2, and C3. Thus, the story themes in temples were primarily selected from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, followed by Apotheosis of Heroes. In addition, although only one story theme from The of Yue Fei was obtained, six temples featured such theme; therefore, we inferred that this story theme may be familiar to the public. C3 The emperor and the assassin The assassination of the Cin Emperor failed and Jing Ke was named a brave. 3 themes in total Table 7. Statistics of story themes in temples Code Themes quantity Themes quantity Table6. The study sample (Code D.E.F.G.) Themes D1 Tang Minghuang tour month temple Emperor Xuanzong of Tang is superstitious about the celestial and wanted to travel to the Moon. A A1 5 A6 2 A2 5 A7 2 A3 4 A8 2 A4 4 A9 2 A D2 Hua Mulan joins the army E1 The patriots F1 The four scholars G1 East auspicious signs Hua Mulan dressed as a man and went to the army for her father. The mother of Yue Fei tattooed Jing Zhong Bao Guo on his back and anticipated that he could contribute his life to the country. Four wise scholars isolated themselves from the society and stayed in Shang Shan. A fortunate sign. B1 6 B4 3 B B2 3 B5 2 B C C1 4 C3 2 C D D1 3 D2 3 E E F F G G THE SCIENCE OF DESIGN B U L L E T I N O F JSSD Vol. 62 No

6 4.2. Stage 2: Narrative Structure of Themes in Temples According to Table 8, the 14 story themes in temples were selected from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (nine) and Apotheosis of Heroes (five). The proportion of the same story theme applied in different temples is shown in Figure 1. The structure of the graph is similar to the story structure theory proposed by Block [6] and Rabiger [5], displaying a triangular-shaped plot line; in other words, the crisis climax appears in Act II. Six stories from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms appeared in the middle of Act II, accounting for 66.6% of the nine story themes. Four stories from the Apotheosis of Heroes appeared in the beginning of Act II, accounting for 80% of the five themes. Consequently, we confirmed that the temple creators selected story themes is similar with the Western drama structure. Table 7 indicates that the story themes E1and B1were selected and used by the most temples (each story theme featured in six temples), followed by the A1 and A2 (each featured in five temples), and A3 A4 and C1 (each featured in four temples). Table 9 shows the story themes with the highest selection rate and suggests that the temple creators primarily selected story chapters from Act II; however, this inference was obtained from the sample analysis. Further interviews are required to determine the creators motivations. Table 9. Paragraph analysis of the story themes Code E1 B1 A1 A2 TC / CS 80/22 100/24 120/ /41 42 Table 8. Correspondence of the story themes and the three-act structure Three-act structure Act II Act II Act II Act II Code Act I Act II Act III Code A3 A4 C1 - A A3, A5 A1, A2, A4, A7, A8, A9 A6 TC / CS 120/5 120/54 N/N - B B3 B1, B2, B4, B5 - Three-act structure Act I Act II N/N - TC=Total chapters ; CS=Chapters selected Figure 1. Usage rate of stories in temples 4.3. Stage 3: Discussions of Elements in Temples According to the literature review, story elements can be divided into the main character, initial event, development, and ending. Table 10 depicts an image of Wei appointed virtuous as an example. Among the six pieces of illustrated images, two main characters appear in each image, whereas the numbers of supporting characters differ. In addition, the images primarily conveyed the content of the story theme. Further research is required to determine the correlation among the story elements and the visual designs, the selection of the main and supporting characters, paragraph divisions, style designs, colors and modeling, and compositions. 82 B U L L E T I N O F JSSD Vol. 62 No THE SCIENCE OF DESIGN

7 Table 10. Element analysis of the story Wei appointed virtuous Elements Code Main characters 2 background Initial incident Development Ending B1 To appoint the virtuous, King Wen of Zhou went to Wei Shui to invite Jiang Ziya to return to Zhou with him. King Wen of Zhou state wished to appoint the virtuous Jiang Ziya. appointing failed appointing attempting successful Successfully appointed Jiang Ziya Stage 4: Correlation between the Main Patron Deities and the Themes in Temples We expanded upon our previous field study results and determined that when temple creators began creating a story, various story themes were developed for different main patron deities. Table 1 shows the findings obtained from the research samples: 1) In the temples that adopted the Romance of the Three Kingdoms for story themes, the main patron deities were categorized as deities pertaining to worshipping souls of the dead, including Mazu, Shuei Shian Tzuen Wang, Xuantian Shangdi, Baosheng Emperor, and Wangye. Among these, Mazu, Shuei Shian Tzuen Wang, Xuantian Shangdi are in charge of protection on water and the sea, and Baosheng Emperor and Wangye are responsible for curing epidemics and providing medical treatments. 2) Through distribution of the domains the main patron deitie presided over, the evident cluster properties were curing epidemics and providing medical treatments (story themes from Romance of the Three Kingdoms), ensuring safety and protection (auspicious patterns), and practicing Buddhism (Buddhist stories). According to the aforementioned discussions, we inferred that when temple creators designed temples, the main patron deity and the theme selection were evidently correlated. For example, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms focuses on the wars in the East Han dynasty and pertains to the theme of chastity and righteousness, a Chinese moral concept that correlates with the backgrounds of the main patron deities. Similarly, temples in which the main patron deities, including local deities and the highest divinities, were responsible for ensuring safety and protection (e.g., Sanshan Guowang, Jade Emperor, and Kai Zhang Sheng Wang) primarily used auspicious patterns to invoke safety and fortune. Temples in which the main patron deities that presided over practicing Buddhism featured Buddhist stories to convey the Buddhist ideal of spiritual enlightenment. 5. Conclusion We focused on story themes in Taiwanese temples to explore the temple creators selection of story themes by using narrative structure analysis. Through the research samples obtained from results of our previous field study, we compared and analyzed the story themes, narrative structures, and main patron deities. The results are as follows. The temple story themes were derived from various classic historical records and auspicious patterns. By excluding nonnarrative image research samples, we identified seven classic Chinese novels and 22 stories in the first stage; most of the story themes were from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. We inferred that Taiwanese temples are mostly Taoist temples and that the main patron deities and the story images ornamenting the main architectures are correlated. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms focuses on military stories, and the study results indicated that the backgrounds and origins of the main patron deities were related to military topics, eradicating violence, and safeguarding(e.g.,mazu). We analyzed the novels with chapters by adopting the three-act structure theory, determining that when creators selected paragraphs from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Apotheosis of Heroes, the paragraphs were mostly from the middle of Act II, resembling with the three-act structure in the Western tradition. However, the creators of these temple stories in Taiwan learned no western narrative theory and their viewpoints of examination might not be objective; hence, the conclusion of this study aims to prove that popular stories possessing similarity of narrative structure. It is hoped that more oriental narrative theories can be constructed.in this study, our conclusions were based on the results obtained from the collected samples. The next research stage requires in-depth interviews with temple creators to further confirm the results, and story elements, style designs, and story compositions could be analyzed in future studies. THE SCIENCE OF DESIGN B U L L E T I N O F JSSD Vol. 62 No

8 6. References 1. Qian-Lang Lee, The Temple of Taiwan, Taiwan Provincial Government Information Services: Taiwan,1986; Hsiang-Lien Lee, Research of Relations between Portrait and Meanings Example taken through 1 st and 2 nd Class Ancient Temple Relics in Taiwan, YunTech: Taiwan, MA, 1999; Wright,J. A. Animation Writing and Development:From Script Development to Pitch, Focal Press:Burlington, MA, 2005; Field,S. Screenplay[electronic book]:the foundations of screenwriting. Delta Trade Paperbacks: New York, 2005; Rabiger, M. Developing story ideas. 2 nd ed, Focal Press:Burlington, MA, 2006; Block, B. The Visual : Creating the Visual Structure of Film, TV and Digital Media. 2 nd, Focal Press:MA, 2007; Chatman, and discourse:narrative structure in f iction and film, Ithaca,N.Y.: Cornell University Press,1978 ; Mckee, R. : substance, structure, style and the principles of screenwriting. 1 edition, Harper-Collins Publishers: New York, 1997; Readman, M, Teaching Scriptwriting, Screenplys and boards for Film and TV Production. British Film Insitute: London, 2008; Rumelhart,D.E, Note on a schema for stories. In D.G.Bobrow & A. Collins(Eds), Academic press :New York, 1975; B U L L E T I N O F JSSD Vol. 62 No THE SCIENCE OF DESIGN