History of Chinese Literature Yuan Xingpei Introduction to Qin and Han Literature

Mondo Culture Updated on 2024-01-19

Section 1: The Formation of the Han Dynasty Writers

1. Interpret the fashion of resignation.

Second, the Han Dynasty adopted the method of combining recommendation and examination to recruit talents, the Western Han Dynasty court edict to promote virtuous and square, the state and county to promote filial piety and honesty, and the Eastern Han Dynasty added Dun Pu, Dao, virtuous, outspoken, independent, high moderation, quality and straightforwardness, innocence and other subjects. The two Han Dynasty promoted talents to emphasize academic conduct, and did not exclude the recruitment of those with literary creative talents.

3. The princes and kings incurred scribes;The emperor loves words and gives words to the wind;Relatives recruited writers as staff.

Fourth, the establishment of certain cultural institutions, such as Yuefu (whose function is to collect songs and music from all over the world, and also to organize literati to compose poetry);Eastern Han Dynasty Luoyang Dongguan (the main work is to school the scriptures);Hongdu Gate School was a royal school established in Luoyang in the first year of Emperor Guanghe of Lingdi (178), specializing in Xi Cifu calligraphy and painting (this kind of school specializing in cultivating literary and artistic talents, the first of its kind in history).

Fifth, the atmosphere of wandering eunuchs. In the early days of the Western Han Dynasty, the eunuch activities were mainly carried out among the princes and kings;From the Wudi Dynasty to the beginning of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the wandering eunuch style declined slightly;In the middle and late Eastern Han Dynasty, it became fashionable again.

Section 2: The Basic Situation of Han Dynasty Literature

The development trend of literary pluralism in the Han Dynasty.

1. The artistic pursuit of including the universe, overseeing heaven and man, and connecting the ancient and modern. The work pursues vast capacity, magnificent momentum and magnificent beauty.

2. The literati of the Han Dynasty generally had a vigorous and enterprising spirit, with the desire to make meritorious contributions, pursued the immortality of life, valued more than famous deeds, and did not hesitate to sacrifice their lives in order to realize the ideal of life.

3. Take the combination of the holy lord and the virtuous minister as his own ideal, such as Wang Bao's "Ode to the Holy Lord and the Virtuous Minister".

Fourth, the fate of scholars is also closely related to the times and the situation, the literature of the Han Dynasty has made a vivid display and incisive discussion of the relationship between historical opportunities and personal destiny, and the "Historical Records" and many lyrical fu have greater depth in expressing the relationship between the inevitability of historical development and the contingency of personal destiny. During the prosperity of the Western Han Dynasty, frustrated literati lamented that they were born at an untimely time, such as Dong Zhongshu's "Shi Does Not Meet Fu" and Sima Qian's "Tragic Man Does Not Meet Fu", all with the theme of "encounter" and "not encounter";Since the late Western Han Dynasty, the literati lamented that they focused more on fate and turned to their own fateDuring the decline of the Eastern Han Dynasty, he lamented the shortness of life because of his fame, such as "Nineteen Ancient Poems".

5. The change of criticism and praise. Criticizing the Qin Dynasty and reflecting on history is an important part of the literature of the early Han Dynasty, such as Jia Yi's political commentary, Sima Xiangru's "Mourning II Fu", and Sima Qian's "Historical Records";At the beginning of Emperor Wu, he turned to the construction of the theoretical system of the dynasty, and literature also turned to pay attention to realityThe Eastern Han Dynasty began to criticize again, such as the political theories of Wang Chong, Wang Fu and others, and the poems of Li Yan, Zhao Yi, Cai Yong, You Heng and others, and the objects of criticism included theological teleology, fatalism, superstition of ghosts and gods, social darkness, and traditional values and outlook on life. The critique of reality in the later period has more depth, breadth and intensity.

6. The status of the Han literati has also gone through a process from independence to dependence and then to independence. In the early Han Dynasty, he and Zou Yang had independent personalities, and had the character of a literati and a longitudinal and horizontal familyAt the beginning of Emperor Wu, he advocated for literati, and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, foreign relatives were not free to recruit staff, and most of them were literati and scholarsSince the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the spirit of independent personality has sprouted again, and Yang Xiong, Ban Gu, Zhang Heng and others have worked hard to create according to their own idealsIn the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Zhao Yi, You Heng and others were willful. After experiencing subservience and dependence, the people of the Han Dynasty returned to their individuality and reached a higher level.

7. Strong romantic color. During the Western Han Dynasty, on the one hand, the literati affirmed the real world, and on the other hand, they fantasized about communicating with the world of godsAfter the Eastern Han Dynasty, the romantic color weakened, and the rational spirit increased.

8. Folk creation and literati creation flourish and promote each other. Five-word ballads were adopted into Yuefu and became Yuefu songs, and the inscription was intentionally imitated, and the literati's five-word poems appeared, and the folk five-word poems matured under the influence of the literati's five-word poemsHistorical literature has also left traces of the integration of folk creation and literati creation, such as "Historical Records" and "Wu Yue Spring and Autumn".

Section 3: The Two-Way Interaction between Han Dynasty Literature and Classics

1. Extravagant style and cumbersome interpretive Xi. School education in the Western Han Dynasty was developed by Gongsun Hong, the imperial court placed doctoral officials, established Taixue, and the county and state placed the history of the Five Classics, with the purpose of cultivating scholars and officials at all levels.

2. The romantic style of writing and the illusory nature of scriptures.

3. The literature of the Han Dynasty was heavily imitated and lacked creativity, and the Han Dynasty emphasized the inheritance of scriptures, the former Han Dynasty emphasized the teacher's method, and the later Han Dynasty emphasized the family law.

Fourth, the literature of the Han Dynasty experienced a process of development from complex to simplified, and the trend of deleting the complex and simplifying in the academic circles of the early Eastern Han Dynasty arose.

5. The influence of classics on literary trends, which are to a large extent the extension and concretization of classics. The basic ideas expounded in the Preface to Mao's Poems became the soul and main tone of the literary trend of the Han Dynasty. "Preface to Mao's Poems" advocates that poetry should be "affectionate and stop at etiquette", and use Confucian ethics and morality to regulate the expression of emotions. It emphasizes the role of poetry in satirical education, and its function is attributed to "through the husband and wife, to become filial piety, to be kind, to beautify and educate, and to change customs", with the color of "instrumental theory". The literary criticism of the Han Dynasty mainly used this as a yardstick to judge literary phenomenaThe evaluation of Qu Yuan, his works and Han Fu is based on the basis of scriptures, using scriptures to discuss Qu Sao and Han Fu to scriptures.

6. Sima Qian's theory of "writing books with anger" put forward by Qu Yuan's "anger through lyricism" regarded literary creation as a way to express depression.

Section 4: The Transformation and Periodization of Literary Styles in the Han Dynasty

1. Style. a) Fu.

1. The most representative, between poetry and prose, rhyme and prose, is the prose culture of poetry and the poetization of prose.

2. Draw on the form of questions and answers between the subject and the guest of Chu Ci and the Warring States Period, the extravagant and unbridled style, and absorb the narrative techniques of pre-Qin historical literature, and often integrate poetry, with four, five and seven words.

3. There are many literary styles, and it is a comprehensive literary style. The main writer of the late Western Han Dynasty Fu is Yang Xiong, Ban Gu's "Liangdu Fu" and Zhang Heng's "Erjing Fu" are the masterpieces of the Eastern Han Dynasty Fu, and Zhang Heng's "Returning to the Field" creates a precedent for lyrical small fu.

2) There is no new development in Chu Ci style works. Many Chu Ci works rely on Qu Yuan, forming a generally clear division of labor with the new style Fu: the new style Fu is mainly used for positive praise and satire, while Chu Ci works focus on the lyricism of Yongwu (more depressed feelings), and the style is similar to that of "Lisao". After that, it gradually merged with the new style fu, which is generally called Ci Fu, and Chu Ci works are called Sao Ti Fu, and sometimes they are also named after Fu, Jia Yi's "Hanging Qu Yuan Fu" is an example.

3) The narrative prose style has developed greatly. The "Records of the Historians" reflects history with characters as the center, and created the Ji Biography style, which was perfected by the "Book of Han";"Wu Yue Chunqiu" strengthens the literary nature of historical works, and it is an indiscriminate use of historical romanceThe inscription is a new style that matures under the atmosphere of the core characters;Ma Dibo's "Feng Zen Rituals" is the earliest and more complete travelogue in existence.

4) A new style of poetry – five-character poems. During the Western Han Dynasty, it was mostly seen in ballads and Yuefu poems, and literati five-character poems appeared in large numbers in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the five-character poems of the Eastern Han Dynasty had matured.

5) Seven-character sentences appeared in a large number of mirror inscriptions, literacy textbooks and other carriers in the Western Han Dynasty, some of which were already standard seven-character poems, and the dictionaries were often mixed with seven-character verses or seven-word paragraphs, and some could be regarded as complete seven-character poems. The seven-character poems attached to the Han Fu are usually rhymed with sentences.

2. Staging. 1) Start-up period: Gaozu to Emperor Jing.

1. A variety of literary styles basically follow the remnants of Warring States literature, and at the same time, new factors have emerged, such as "Seven Hairs";The political discourse of the early Han Dynasty was influenced by the rhetoric and rhetoric of the Warring States period, and it was more majestic and emotionalChu Sheng's poems were used in court sacrifices and became the song of the temple.

2. On behalf of the writers Jia Yi and Mei Cheng, the achievements of resignation and political theory are relatively high.

2) Heyday: Emperor Wu to Emperor Xuan. The new style is finalized, and the writers of the resignation led by Sima Xiangru appear;The development of historical literature reached its peak, and the writing of the "Historical Records" was completedDeposed the hundred schools, respected Confucianism alone, unified thoughts, and political essays also changed from the high talk of the Yue world to the righteousness of the scriptures, and developed in style to deep, broad, rich, mellow and solemnYuefu was strengthened, a large number of folk songs were collected and recorded, and court literati wrote Yuefu poems.

3) Zhongxing period: Emperor Yuan to Emperor He of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The second climax of the creation of resignation has appeared, and writers such as Yang Xiong and Ban Gu have appearedThe Book of Han has become another important work of biographical literature after the Records of the HistoriansThe scriptures are deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the simulation is serious;"On Balance" advocates the critical spirit of "illness and delusion".

4) From prosperity to decline and transition: Emperor An to Emperor Ling. Starting from Zhang Heng, the lyrical short fu appeared, and the Kyoto great fu developed to its peak;Zhao Yi, Cai Yong, You Heng and others are close to reality and have a strong critical spiritThe five-character ancient poems have entered a mature stage, and "Nineteen Ancient Poems" represents the highest achievement of the literati's five-character poems, rediscovering, thinking and pursuing life, destiny and value, and rectifying the beauty.

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