The East Asian Four-Part Plot Structure

Daniel Baird

Introduction

In East Asia there is a pervasive story structure that is quite different from the three-part structure that is common in the West. Understanding how this structure works and differs from what is common in the West will increase your enjoyment of literature and media from China, Japan, and Korea.

Western Three-Part Structure

As a reminder, the basic Western plot structure looks like this:

  1. set-up – introduces the setting, characters, etc.
  2. confrontation – presents the critical conflict of the story
  3. resolution – shows the results of the conflict, ending of story

First with the set-up we are introduced to the important characters — the hero, the villain, the setting for the story, etc. The story proceeds building up to a critical conflict, whether a confrontation between the hero and the villain or perhaps an inner conflict where the main character must overcome a character flaw. The resolution of the conflict usually provides closure for the audience, or an opening for the story to continue. In other words, in this structure the most important part of the story occurs when the confrontation takes place, often called the climax of the story.

 

East Asian Four-Part Structure

In contrast to the Western 3-part structure, many East Asian stories have a four-part structure. East Asian storytelling can be thought of as having the following parts:

  1. introduction – establishes theme, setting, characters, etc.
  2. development – expands the theme, situation, plot, etc.
  3. twist – usually introduces unrelated content or presents a different viewpoint
  4. conclusion – ties together part three with the previous content

The important feature here is that part three often seems unconnected to what came before. Then the conclusion will bring everything together, showing how the twist gives greater meaning to the story.

In East Asian stories conflict is not a required part of the plot structure. There can be conflict in an Asian story, but it is handled differently and therefore is not considered part of the structure of the plot. In comparison, the Western model demands conflict because confrontation is built in — you need to have the climax or critical conflict. 

 

Examples

Look at this famous Japanese poem1 by Sanyō Rai (1780–1832) for better understanding of the four-part structure:

The daughters of Itoya in Honmachi of Osaka,
The eldest daughter is sixteen and the younger one is fourteen.
Historically in Japan, warriors have killed their enemy with bows and arrows.
However, the daughters of Itoya kill only with their eyes.

The first line is the introduction, the second develops the first line, then the third has a twist — that is, it gives unrelated content. You are probably thinking, “Why are we suddenly talking about warriors?” It is the fourth line that brings the first three lines together in a delightful way by tying the two ideas, the daughters and warriors, together with the phrase “kill with their eyes.”

Here is a more complex example from a poem2 by the samurai-poet Kagawa Kageki (1768–1843):

As if moonlight
were cascading down on me
that is how I feel
As I travel through the night,
how snow piles onto my sleeves!

Here we have five lines, so a little reorganization is necessary to see the four parts:

  1. As if moonlight (introduction)
  2. were cascading down on me (development)
  3. that is how I feel as I travel through the night (twist)
    Something new. How does it relate to earlier lines? Why does the writer feel this way? Seriously, what kind of feeling does the moonlight give this traveler?
  4. how snow piles onto my sleeves (conclusion)
    Ah, we understand now, the moonlight shining on the nighttime traveler’s sleeves resembles snow—that is how everything ties together.

Part of what makes the poem and by extension the four-part structure so interesting is this way it can open new meanings to what has already been presented. (Did you think of snow when you read the first two lines?)

 

Conclusion

This is not the only structure in East Asian stories, but once you start looking for this four-part structure you begin to realize how pervasive it is.

 

Further Reading

 

 

Works Cited

  1. Maynard, S. K. Japanese communication: Language and Thought in Context. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai’i Press, 1997, pp. 159–160. https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=39366&site=eds-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_159
  2. Carter, Steven D. How to Read a Japanese Poem. Columbia University Press. Ebook, p. 218. https://libprox1.slcc.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2087949&site=eds-live&scope=site&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_218

About the author

name: Daniel Baird

institution: Salt Lake Community College

Dr. Daniel Baird earned his PhD in Comparative literature from the University of Oregon where he specialized Chinese, Japanese, and British literature. His teaching interests include world literature, creative writing, children’s literature and cinema, popular culture, and literary theory and criticism. Dr. Baird also teaches technical writing with a community-engaged learning component. Outside the classroom you can find Dr. Baird VR gaming and playing cello, double bass, and viola da gamba in various community orchestras. He also enjoys being in and writing about nature. 

License

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Literary Studies @ SLCC Copyright © 2023 by Daniel Baird is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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