This report discusses the design and development of Wu, a 2D action game intended to serve as a means for exporting Chinese popular culture to Western players. Developed with the Unity engine, the game features a dynamic difficulty system that monitors player behavior and automatically modifies the content to better match the observed level of skill. Feedback from playtesting confirmed that the dynamic difficulty adjustment significantly increased the probability of completing the game, and that most players acquired a better understanding of the Wuxia genre on which the game is based.

Zugl.: Köln, Universiẗat, Diss., 2009.

<p>Denna uppsats fokuserar på King Hus actionestetik och den montagekonstruerade rörelsen, enligt en konkret syftesformulering som lyder: Att öka förståelsen för King Hus estetiska val genom att belysa vissa rytmiska rörelsetendenser, såsom en konstruktion av filmens montage, och dess relation till två vitt skilda konstyttringar, med dessa avses Pekingoperan och cinéma pur. Ledande tes genom uppsatsen är att Hus visuella stil visserligen är starkt präglad av ett personligt intresse och en djup förståelse för estetiska normer i Pekingoperan, men att han samtidigt genom ett skickligt utnyttjande av cinematiska tekniker skapar en alldeles unik version av kinesisk estetik, som måste förstås som specifik för filmmediet. Sammantaget är förhoppningen att resultatet skall bidra till avmarginaliseringen av Hu som förvaltare till en förment essens av traditionell kinesisk kultur. Metoden består i en jämförande analys av rörligt bildmaterial i två steg, som illustrativ modell och teoretisk ingång till rörelsebegreppet tillämpas Heinrich von Kleists marionett och i dess förlängning även Sergei Eisensteins biomekaniska rakurs.</p><p>Min analys leder mig till slutsatsen att den rytmiska rörelsen i Hus actionscener har starka likheter med såväl Pekingoperan som cinéma pur, och jag vill på grundval av detta föreslå att Hu snarare bör förstås som en nyskapare av kinesisk estetik, då han positionerar sig någonstans mellan traditionalism och modernism genom att skapa en estetisk jämvikt mellan teater och film där ingenderas legat går förlorad.</p>

Denna uppsats fokuserar på King Hus actionestetik och den montagekonstruerade rörelsen, enligt en konkret syftesformulering som lyder: Att öka förståelsen för King Hus estetiska val genom att belysa vissa rytmiska rörelsetendenser, såsom en konstruktion av filmens montage, och dess relation till två vitt skilda konstyttringar, med dessa avses Pekingoperan och cinéma pur. Ledande tes genom uppsatsen är att Hus visuella stil visserligen är starkt präglad av ett personligt intresse och en djup förståelse för estetiska normer i Pekingoperan, men att han samtidigt genom ett skickligt utnyttjande av cinematiska tekniker skapar en alldeles unik version av kinesisk estetik, som måste förstås som specifik för filmmediet. Sammantaget är förhoppningen att resultatet skall bidra till avmarginaliseringen av Hu som förvaltare till en förment essens av traditionell kinesisk kultur. Metoden består i en jämförande analys av rörligt bildmaterial i två steg, som illustrativ modell och teoretisk ingång till rörelsebegreppet tillämpas Heinrich von Kleists marionett och i dess förlängning även Sergei Eisensteins biomekaniska rakurs. Min analys leder mig till slutsatsen att den rytmiska rörelsen i Hus actionscener har starka likheter med såväl Pekingoperan som cinéma pur, och jag vill på grundval av detta föreslå att Hu snarare bör förstås som en nyskapare av kinesisk estetik, då han positionerar sig någonstans mellan traditionalism och modernism genom att skapa en estetisk jämvikt mellan teater och film där ingenderas legat går förlorad.

This thesis aims to shed new light on the Chinese character xia 侠 and the literature and history of the Republican Era (1912-1949) that revolves around it. Xia refers to either a concept (identifiable with kindness, altruism, righteousness, etc.) or to a person who practices this concept. Ever since its arrival in Chinese texts in the sixth century BC, it has created controversy for some and sympathy for others. In Modern China, xia became the central aspect of a literary genre that reached its zenith in production and consumption in the Republican Era, i.e. wuxia fiction 武侠小说, which can be translated as “using martial arts (wu 武) to obtain xia”. The concept of xia was an integral part of presumably the most widespread literary genre of the time, but why were Republican-era readers so interested in it? Why did they relate to xia and what do the themes of these novels say about the chaotic Republican Era? To answer these questions, this thesis presents a case study of a wuxia pentalogy written by Wang Dulu at the end of the Republican Era and attempts to identify the topics and aspects most reflective of that historical period, showing that, despite the heavy criticism of intellectuals of that time, these “easy” popular novels contain innovative and modern aspects and can become today of great historical importance. The thesis starts with two literature reviews. The first determines that the term xia has not received enough scholarly attention, calling for a reassessment. The second literature review focuses on Republican Era wuxia fiction, showing how there is a gap in scholarship on this period. This is followed by a discussion of the methodology used for the analysis of the case study on Wang Dulu’s Crane-Iron Series written in Qingdao (1938-1944), presented in the final three chapters of the thesis. Chapter one analyses the origins of the term xia in texts from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) and Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), presenting new interpretations for a more comprehensive understanding of the term. Chapter two gives a historical overview of xia¬-related literature and addresses the historical reasons for the changes that xia underwent throughout Chinese history. Chapter three includes a historiography of the Republican Era in combination with the life of the author Wang Dulu and identifies the aspects of the author’s life that will become important in the textual analysis in the chapters to follow. Chapter four focuses on xia in the Crane-Iron Series. After having collected the terms and identified the semantic spheres that include the Chinese character xia, the chapter demonstrates how the story of one of the series’ protagonist can be seen as an personification of Republican-era China, proving the historical dimension and value of these novels. Chapter five analyses yi 义 (righteousness) and represents the virtuous aspect of xia, concluding that, according to Wang Dulu, for the concept of xia, virtue is more important than being trained in martial arts (wu). Chapter six focuses on the literary figure of the baobiao 保镖 (protector) and is seen as the commercialisation of martial arts not necessarily linked to xia, showing how entrepreneurship and violence were characteristics of the time.

This thesis examines three aspects of the commentary edition of the Chinese vernacular novel Shuihu Zhuan written by Ming Dynasty literatus Jin Shengtan (ca. 1610-1661), analyzing three of the most innovative features that the commentary brings to our understanding of the novel, and what Jin Shengtan desired for the reader of his commentary to understand. The first chapter looks at a series of techniques that Jin outlines in the preliminary "How to Read" section of the commentary (dufa), where the techniques are shown to be very similar in focus and style to the literary theory of narratology as written about by Gerard Genette through a sample comparison of five of the techniques with varying characteristics of narratology. The second chapter looks at how Jin Shengtan constructs the image of the author, Shi Nai'an, through both his interlineal commentary (jiapi) and his preliminary chapter commentary (zongpi). We see through this analysis that Jin Shengtan has gone against the tradition of shu er bu zuo -- a Confucian tradition that relegates the position of the author to the background of his work -- and has brought the author into a position of prominence through his construction of the image of an unparalleled genius. The third and final chapter looks at the idea of "heroism" (xia) and how Jin's commentary reworks the way many of the primary characters of the novel and their heroic actions are seen and interpreted, focusing especially on the characters of Wu Song, Lu Zhishen, Song Jiang and Li Kui, where we see that Jin's commentary focuses on parallels between the heroes such as Wu Song and Lu Zhishen in the first portion of the novel, while switching to a more juxtapositional perspective in the latter half of the novel through Song Jiang and Li Kui. / Graduate / 0305 / 0332 / mblsm00@gmail.com