DOCSLIB.ORG

HAN YU and HIS KU^SHIH POETRY by Jerry D. Schmidt B.A., University

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
HAN YU and HIS KU^SHIH POETRY by Jerry D. Schmidt B.A., University HAN YU AND HIS KU^SHIH POETRY by Jerry D. Schmidt B.A., University of California Berkeley, 1967 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department .of Asian Studies We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard. THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA November 1969 In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree tha permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by his representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Asian Sfairiipa The University of British Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada February 1, 1970 i ABSTRACT Although Han Y_ is already famous as a great prose writer in Chinese literature, few Western scholars seem to be aware of the depth and originality of his poetry. This thesis is an attempt to shed some light on Han Ytf's immense contributions to Chinese verse in order to correct this one• sided view of Han Y_ which most scholars have. By way of introduction, a short biography of Han Y„ has been prepared from the traditional historical sources and modern Chinese and Japanese materials. Also included is a short review of Han Y_'s thought with particular reference to his attitudes toward Buddhism to correct the misconception that he was completely hostile to the Indian religion. Even though the thesis is mainly concerned with Han's poetry, his prose style cannot be ignored because of its importance to his poetry and Chinese literature in general. Han Y_fs poetry is distinguished by the strangeness of its language and the consistent breaking of old rules of prosody. The fu device is found to be particularly prominent, and the writer's penchant for the composing of narrative verse is quite unique in China. The source of much of the weird subject material of Han Ytf's verse is the mythology of the Chinese peasant, and Han's poetry is quite atypical in the predominance of an absurd humor never observed before in the Chinese tradition. Han's absurd humor is the key to his philosophy of life: a good-humored resignation to an inavoidable fate. The origin of the weirder aspects of Han Ytf's poetry is hard to account for, and after an examination of possible sources in literati verse it is concluded that Han owes much to the non-literatus and folk tradition in Chinese literature. Han ii Ytt was the center of one of the most important poetic movements in mid-T'ang times, and a school consisting of Li Ho, Meng Chiao, Lu T'ung, Ma Yi, Liu Ch'a, and others gathered about him and were all influenced by him to varying degrees. Although his contributions to Chinese poetry were nearly forgotten in late T'ang times, Ou-yang Hsiu and others renewed interest in his works, and as a result, he was one of the major sources of inspiration for the tremendous creativity of northern Sung poetry. Because of his boldness in writing verse, Han Ytt was not always popular with Chinese critics, and he was frequently attacked for the prose-like quality of his poetry and the strangeness of its subject matter. However, many critics approved of his innovations, and we find that most of the adverse criticism comes' from highly conservative authors. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Han Ytt and his Ku-Shih Poetry II. List of Titles III. Footnotes IV. Translations V. Bibliography 1 Han Yu, whose .courtesy name' was T*ui-chih, was born in the year 768 at the western capital Ch*ang-an. Han*s father is described in the Old T*ang History as being without fame or position, but he was once Magistrate of Wu-ch*ang and was highly praised by the famed poet Li Po in a tablet com• posed by Li in commemoration of his able administration.1 Han*s uncle Han Yun-ch*ing'once held the post Attendant Gentleman of the Board of Rites, so it seems that the family belonged to the lower landlord class and was at least fairly well off.2 However, Han*s claim to be related to the illus• trious. Han family , of Ch*ang-li is completely unfounded, since Han*s ancestors came from Nanyang County of modern Honan and seem to have no blood ties with the more famous clan of the same (Surname.3 . Han was the fourth son of his family,, and since his father, Han Chung~ch*ing, passed away in 770., the responsi• bility of raising Han passed to his elder brother Han Hui. When the prime minister Yuan Ts'ai lost his power., Hui was demoted .to a post in Shao-chou,'and the family accompanied him to his new place of work.^ Hah Y1i was only fourteen years old when Hui followed his father to the grave at the early age of forty-two. Hui*s wife, Lady Cheng, led the children back to Loyang after a number of difficulties arising from a rebellion in the army, and for the remainder of Han*s youth, she was responsible for rearing him. Han*s biographies tell us that he commenced his • 2 education at the age of seven and due to his great applica• tion soon mastered the Confucian classics and the various non-Confucian philosophical literatures. While still young he was attracted to the scholars Tu-ku Chi and Liang Su, who Were advocates of a return to ancient ideals and unr- doubtedly influenced his later accomplishments in the field of ancient prose writing,5 During this stay in the capital, Han Ytl also met people who were to influence his style of poetry,,, the most significant of whom was Meng Chiao, who was the closest friend of Han Ytl during his entire life.6 The ambition of all young men of the gentry class was an official career, and so in 792 Han Ytl took and passed tne chln-shlh examination. This initial success was of little use to him,, however, for although he was highly lauded by Cheng Ytl-ch*lng and addressed three letters to the prime minister,? he was unable to obtain any office in the central government. Embittered by this defeat, Han left the capital to seek his fortune and eventually oecupied a post as military advisor to Tung Chin, the first job he had ever held, although he was already twenty-nine years old. He worked in,an extremely repressive atmosphere in Ta Liang, for the military governors were virtual dictators over their regions, levying taxes and conscripting soldiers at will. In 799 Tung Chin died and Han Ytl was on the road sending his coffin back to Loyang when the army revolted and murdered the temporary commander Lu Ch*ang-ytlan, a personal friend of Han. Concerned for the safety of his wife and children, Han 3 • first returned to the camp to escort them to safety and then continued his trip back to the capital.8 ..' Shortly afterwards, Han left the capital to occupy a similar position as military advisor in Ning-Wu, but in 801 he quit this post when he was appointed to his first job in the central government., Broad Scholar of the Four Gates, Two years later he was promoted to Imperial Secre• tary of Investigation and acquired a reputation for outspoken• ness and honesty. However, honesty is rarely appreciated in politics, and upon angering the emperor Te Tsung, he was de• moted to Magistrate of Yang-shan County, far off in the wilds of Kuangtung province.9 ' . ..• ' Upon the death.of Te Tsung and the accession ofi Shun Tsungin 805, Han was forgiven for his crimes and allowed to, return to Ch*ang-an to assume the position of Kuo-tzu Broad Scholar. Before Shun Tsung had come to the throne, an official named Wang Shu-wen had befriended the young prince and now that Wang received the imperial favor, a coterie of progressive scholars such as Wei Chih-yih, L14 Wen, Liu Tsung-yuan, and Liu Ytl-hsi gathered about him. Han Yu was opposed to their policies, and when the eunuchs took advantage of Wang Shu-wen*s retirement due to his mother*s funeral, Han was on the winning side of a conflict which left many prominent officials- dead or exiled.10 After the stormy events of the year 805, Han was transferred from Ch*ang-an to Loyang, occupying the same post he had before. However, his slow rise to power soon began, and by the year 810 he had been given the highly desirable post of Magistrate of Honan County. During his stay in the east, Han Ytt got to know a number of people on whom he exerted a tremendous influence such as the poets Lu'T'ung and Li Ho.H His stay in Loyang soon came to an end, for he was promoted to a higher job in the central government at Ch*ang-an. Nevertheless, Han's return to the capital was not completely auspicious, for a year later he was the victim of slander and was demoted to his former post of Kuo-tzu Broad Scholar. His defence of himself in the "Explanation of the Advancement of Study"12 made certain powers in the government take note of his plight, for he was soon advanced , to work in the Academy of History.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Medicine Buddha Sutra
    Medicine Buddha Sutra 藥師琉璃光如來本願功德經 Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center b c © 2002, 2005 Buddha’s Light Publishing © 2015 Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center Table of Contents Published by the Fo Guang Shan International Translation Center 3456 Glenmark Drive Hacienda Heights, CA 91745 U.S.A. Tel: (626) 330-8361 / (626) 330-8362 Incense Praise 3 Fax: (626) 330-8363 www.fgsitc.org Sutra Opening Verse 5 Protected by copyright under the terms of the International Copyright Medicine Buddha Sutra 7 Union; all rights reserved. Except for fair use in book reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced for any reason by any means, including any method of photographic reproduction, without permission of the publisher. Triple Refuge 137 Printed in Taiwan. Dedication of Merit 139 A Paryer to Medicine Buddha 141 2 3 Lu Xiang Zan 爐 香 讚 Incense Praise Lu Xiang Zha Ruo Incense burning in the censer, 爐 香 乍 爇 Fa Jie Meng Xun All space permeated with fragrance. 法 界 蒙 熏 Zhu Fo Hai Hui Xi Yao Wen The Buddhas perceive it from every direction, 諸 佛 海 會 悉 遙 聞 Sui Chu Jie Xiang Yun Auspicious clouds gather everywhere. 隨 處 結 祥 雲 With our sincerity, Cheng Yi Fang Yin 誠 意 方 殷 The Buddhas manifest themselves in their entirety. Zhu Fo Xian Quan Shen 諸 佛 現 全 身 Nan Mo Xiang Yun Gai Pu Sa 南 無 香 雲 蓋 菩 薩 Mo He Sa We take refuge in the Bodhisattvas-Mahasattvas. 摩 訶 薩 4 5 Kai Jing Ji 開 經 偈 Sutra Opening Verse Wu Shang Shen Shen Wei Miao Fa 無 上 甚 深 微 妙 法 The unexcelled, most profound, and exquisitely Bai Qian Wan Jie Nan Zao Yu wondrous Dharma, 百 千 萬 劫 難 遭 遇 Is difficult to encounter throughout hundreds of Wo Jin Jian Wen De Shou Chi thousands of millions of kalpas.
    [Show full text]
  • The Web That Has No Weaver
    THE WEB THAT HAS NO WEAVER Understanding Chinese Medicine “The Web That Has No Weaver opens the great door of understanding to the profoundness of Chinese medicine.” —People’s Daily, Beijing, China “The Web That Has No Weaver with its manifold merits … is a successful introduction to Chinese medicine. We recommend it to our colleagues in China.” —Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China “Ted Kaptchuk’s book [has] something for practically everyone . Kaptchuk, himself an extraordinary combination of elements, is a thinker whose writing is more accessible than that of Joseph Needham or Manfred Porkert with no less scholarship. There is more here to think about, chew over, ponder or reflect upon than you are liable to find elsewhere. This may sound like a rave review: it is.” —Journal of Traditional Acupuncture “The Web That Has No Weaver is an encyclopedia of how to tell from the Eastern perspective ‘what is wrong.’” —Larry Dossey, author of Space, Time, and Medicine “Valuable as a compendium of traditional Chinese medical doctrine.” —Joseph Needham, author of Science and Civilization in China “The only approximation for authenticity is The Barefoot Doctor’s Manual, and this will take readers much further.” —The Kirkus Reviews “Kaptchuk has become a lyricist for the art of healing. And the more he tells us about traditional Chinese medicine, the more clearly we see the link between philosophy, art, and the physician’s craft.” —Houston Chronicle “Ted Kaptchuk’s book was inspirational in the development of my acupuncture practice and gave me a deep understanding of traditional Chinese medicine.
    [Show full text]
  • Mirror, Moon, and Memory in Eighth-Century China: from Dragon Pond to Lunar Palace
    EUGENE Y. WANG Mirror, Moon, and Memory in Eighth-Century China: From Dragon Pond to Lunar Palace Why the Flight-to-the-Moon The Bard’s one-time felicitous phrasing of a shrewd observation has by now fossilized into a commonplace: that one may “hold, as ’twere, the mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.”1 Likewise deeply rooted in Chinese discourse, the same analogy has endured since antiquity.2 As a commonplace, it is true and does not merit renewed attention. When presented with a physical mirror from the past that does register its time, however, we realize that the mirroring or showing promised by such a wisdom is not something we can take for granted. The mirror does not show its time, at least not in a straightforward way. It in fact veils, disfi gures, and ultimately sublimates the historical reality it purports to refl ect. A case in point is the scene on an eighth-century Chinese mirror (fi g. 1). It shows, at the bottom, a dragon strutting or prancing over a pond. A pair of birds, each holding a knot of ribbon in its beak, fl ies toward a small sphere at the top. Inside the circle is a tree fl anked by a hare on the left and a toad on the right. So, what is the design all about? A quick iconographic exposition seems to be in order. To begin, the small sphere refers to the moon.
    [Show full text]
  • The Selected Poems of Yosa Buson, a Translation Allan Persinger University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
    University of Wisconsin Milwaukee UWM Digital Commons Theses and Dissertations May 2013 Foxfire: the Selected Poems of Yosa Buson, a Translation Allan Persinger University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.uwm.edu/etd Part of the American Literature Commons, and the Asian Studies Commons Recommended Citation Persinger, Allan, "Foxfire: the Selected Poems of Yosa Buson, a Translation" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 748. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/748 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by UWM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UWM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FOXFIRE: THE SELECTED POEMS OF YOSA BUSON A TRANSLATION By Allan Persinger A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee May 2013 ABSTRACT FOXFIRE: THE SELECTED POEMS OF YOSA BUSON A TRANSLATION By Allan Persinger The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2013 Under the Supervision of Professor Kimberly M. Blaeser My dissertation is a creative translation from Japanese into English of the poetry of Yosa Buson, an 18th century (1716 – 1783) poet. Buson is considered to be one of the most important of the Edo Era poets and is still influential in modern Japanese literature. By taking account of Japanese culture, identity and aesthetics the dissertation project bridges the gap between American and Japanese poetics, while at the same time revealing the complexity of thought in Buson's poetry and bringing the target audience closer to the text of a powerful and mov- ing writer.
    [Show full text]
  • Of Mice and Maidens: Ideologies of Interspecies Romance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2014 Of Mice and Maidens: Ideologies of Interspecies Romance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan Laura Nuffer University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Asian Studies Commons, and the Medieval Studies Commons Recommended Citation Nuffer, Laura, "Of Mice and Maidens: Ideologies of Interspecies Romance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan" (2014). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1389. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1389 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1389 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Of Mice and Maidens: Ideologies of Interspecies Romance in Late Medieval and Early Modern Japan Abstract Interspecies marriage (irui kon'in) has long been a central theme in Japanese literature and folklore. Frequently dismissed as fairytales, stories of interspecies marriage illuminate contemporaneous conceptions of the animal-human boundary and the anxieties surrounding it. This dissertation contributes to the emerging field of animal studies yb examining otogizoshi (Muromachi/early Edo illustrated narrative fiction) concerning elationshipsr between human women and male mice. The earliest of these is Nezumi no soshi ("The Tale of the Mouse"), a fifteenth century ko-e ("small scroll") attributed to court painter Tosa Mitsunobu. Nezumi no soshi was followed roughly a century later by a group of tales collectively named after their protagonist, the mouse Gon no Kami. Unlike Nezumi no soshi, which focuses on the grief of the woman who has unwittingly married a mouse, the Gon no Kami tales contain pronounced comic elements and devote attention to the mouse-groom's perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism
    Zen Classics: Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism STEVEN HEINE DALE S. WRIGHT, Editors OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Zen Classics This page intentionally left blank Zen Classics Formative Texts in the History of Zen Buddhism edited by steven heine and dale s. wright 1 2006 1 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright ᭧ 2006 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zen classics: formative texts in the history of Zen Buddhism / edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright. p. cm Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents: The concept of classic literature in Zen Buddhism / Dale S. Wright—Guishan jingce and the ethical foundations of Chan practice / Mario Poceski—A Korean contribution to the Zen canon the Oga hae scorui / Charles Muller—Zen Buddhism as the ideology of the Japanese state / Albert Welter—An analysis of Dogen’s Eihei goroku / Steven Heine—“Rules of purity” in Japanese Zen / T.
    [Show full text]
  • How Poetry Became Meditation in Late-Ninth-Century China
    how poetry became meditation Asia Major (2019) 3d ser. Vol. 32.2: 113-151 thomas j. mazanec How Poetry Became Meditation in Late-Ninth-Century China abstract: In late-ninth-century China, poetry and meditation became equated — not just meta- phorically, but as two equally valid means of achieving stillness and insight. This article discusses how several strands in literary and Buddhist discourses fed into an assertion about such a unity by the poet-monk Qiji 齊己 (864–937?). One strand was the aesthetic of kuyin 苦吟 (“bitter intoning”), which involved intense devotion to poetry to the point of suffering. At stake too was the poet as “fashioner” — one who helps make and shape a microcosm that mirrors the impersonal natural forces of the macrocosm. Jia Dao 賈島 (779–843) was crucial in popularizing this sense of kuyin. Concurrently, an older layer of the literary-theoretical tradition, which saw the poet’s spirit as roaming the cosmos, was also given new life in late Tang and mixed with kuyin and Buddhist meditation. This led to the assertion that poetry and meditation were two gates to the same goal, with Qiji and others turning poetry writing into the pursuit of enlightenment. keywords: Buddhism, meditation, poetry, Tang dynasty ometime in the early-tenth century, not long after the great Tang S dynasty 唐 (618–907) collapsed and the land fell under the control of regional strongmen, a Buddhist monk named Qichan 棲蟾 wrote a poem to another monk. The first line reads: “Poetry is meditation for Confucians 詩為儒者禪.”1 The line makes a curious claim: the practice Thomas Mazanec, Dept.
    [Show full text]
  • The Historical Roots of Technical Communication in the Chinese Tradition
    The Historical Roots of Technical Communication in the Chinese Tradition The Historical Roots of Technical Communication in the Chinese Tradition By Daniel Ding The Historical Roots of Technical Communication in the Chinese Tradition By Daniel Ding This book first published 2020 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2020 by Daniel Ding All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-5782-0 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-5782-6 To Karen Lo: My Lovely Wife and Supporter “Thy fruit abundant fall!” —Classic of Poetry TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One ................................................................................................ 1 Technical Writing in Chinese Antiquity: An Introduction Chapter Two ............................................................................................. 21 The Oracle-Bone Inscriptions (甲骨文): The Earliest Artifact of Technical Writing in China Chapter Three ........................................................................................... 37 Classic of Poetry (诗经): Technical Instructions and Reports Chapter Four ............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
    WHC Nomination Documentation File Name: 1004.pdf UNESCO Region: ASIA AND THE PACIFIC __________________________________________________________________________________________________ SITE NAME: Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties DA TE OF INSCRIPTION: 2nd December 2000 STATE PARTY: CHINA CRITERIA: C (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (vi) DECISION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE COMMITTEE: Criterion (i):The harmonious integration of remarkable architectural groups in a natural environment chosen to meet the criteria of geomancy (Fengshui) makes the Ming and Qing Imperial Tombs masterpieces of human creative genius. Criteria (ii), (iii) and (iv):The imperial mausolea are outstanding testimony to a cultural and architectural tradition that for over five hundred years dominated this part of the world; by reason of their integration into the natural environment, they make up a unique ensemble of cultural landscapes. Criterion (vi):The Ming and Qing Tombs are dazzling illustrations of the beliefs, world view, and geomantic theories of Fengshui prevalent in feudal China. They have served as burial edifices for illustrious personages and as the theatre for major events that have marked the history of China. The Committee took note, with appreciation, of the State Party's intention to nominate the Mingshaoling Mausoleum at Nanjing (Jiangsu Province) and the Changping complex in the future as an extention to the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing dynasties. BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS The Ming and Qing imperial tombs are natural sites modified by human influence, carefully chosen according to the principles of geomancy (Fengshui) to house numerous buildings of traditional architectural design and decoration. They illustrate the continuity over five centuries of a world view and concept of power specific to feudal China.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poetic Ideas Scroll Attributed to Mi Youren and Sima Huai*
    The Poetic Ideas Scroll Attributed to Mi Youren and Sima Huai │ 85 The Poetic Ideas Scroll paintings extant, is one of the best represented painters of the Song dynasty.1Moreover, especially in the eyes of later admirers, his paintings share a uniform subject and style: Attributed to Mi Youren and Sima Huai* cloudy landscapes (yunshan 雲山) rendered largely with blunt strokes, repetitive dots, and wet ink tones. In contrast, Sima Huai is essentially an unknown figure—so unknown, in Peter C. Sturman University of California, Santa Barbara fact, that even his given name, Huai, is not unequivocally established. Poetic Ideas is composed of two separate paintings, neither of which is signed or imprinted with an artist’s seal. Both are landscapes, though of different types: the first Abstract: (unrolling from right to left) presents a scene of distant mountains by a river with dwellings From the time it came to the attention of scholars and connoisseurs in the late Ming dynasty, the and figures (color plate 8)—I refer to this as“the riverside landscape.” The latter is a “small Poetic Ideas scroll attributed to Mi Youren (1074–1151) and Sima Huai (!. twel"h century) has scene” (xiaojing 小景) of more focused perspective, presenting a pair of twisted trees ’ long been considered an important example of Song dynasty literati painting. #e scroll s two backed by a large cliff and a quickly moving stream that empties from a ravine (color plate 9) paintings, each of which is preceded by single poetic lines by Du Fu, o$er a rare window into —I refer to this as “the entwined trees landscape.” The images complement one another the inventive manner in which Song scholar-o%cial painters combined texts with images.
    [Show full text]
  • Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China
    Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China Popular Songs and Ballads of Han China ANNE BIRRELL Open Access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities / Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program. Licensed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 In- ternational (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits readers to freely download and share the work in print or electronic format for non-commercial purposes, so long as credit is given to the author. Derivative works and commercial uses require per- mission from the publisher. For details, see https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. The Cre- ative Commons license described above does not apply to any material that is separately copyrighted. Open Access ISBNs: 9780824880347 (PDF) 9780824880354 (EPUB) This version created: 17 May, 2019 Please visit www.hawaiiopen.org for more Open Access works from University of Hawai‘i Press. © 1988, 1993 Anne Birrell All rights reserved To Hans H. Frankel, pioneer of yüeh-fu studies Acknowledgements I wish to thank The British Academy for their generous Fel- lowship which assisted my research on this book. I would also like to take this opportunity of thanking the University of Michigan for enabling me to commence my degree programme some years ago by awarding me a National Defense Foreign Language Fellowship. I am indebted to my former publisher, Mr. Rayner S. Unwin, now retired, for his helpful advice in pro- ducing the first edition. For this revised edition, I wish to thank sincerely my col- leagues whose useful corrections and comments have been in- corporated into my text.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poetry of Folk Elements in Fei Ming's Short Stories
    FEI MING’S SHORT STORIES: A POETRY OF FOLK ELEMENTS NINGYI LI SCOTTISH CENTRE FOR CHINESE STUDIES, THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH Fei Ming, the penname of Feng Wenbing (1901-1967), was a pioneer of lyrically descriptive fiction based on ordinary daily life.1 He was an innovator in adapting poetic language into short stories during the New Culture Movement. In the first stage of developing new literature in China (1900-1937), writers were encouraged to speak on behalf of the oppressed classes and help create a social revolution in literature.2 Some activists advocated that literature at that time could be defined as one way of promoting social changes. Obviously, Fei Ming’s writings do not conform to this function; instead, he expressed his love of folk culture and the peaceful life in the countryside around his hometown. He refused to accept the left-wing line of displaying social revolutions in literary creation and this refusal freed him from social burdens when writing fiction. Believing in his own principles of literature, he also refused to be well known among the public, as the meaning of his pen-name suggests: abolishing names. Few histories of modern Chinese literature in English or Chinese mention Fei Ming and his works or if he is introduced, it is only briefly as one of the writers in Peking literary circles in the 1920s. Feng Wenbing was born in the small town of Huangmei in Hubei province, which is famous for the local Buddhist culture. As one of the May Fourth generation, he was interested in New Culture and was admitted to English department of Peking University in 1922.
    [Show full text]