INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced 6om the microShn master. UMI fflms the text direct^ from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from aiy type of conçuter printer. The qnali^ of this reproduction is dqiendait upon the quali^ of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photogr:q)hs, print bleedthrough, substandard Tnargî^g and inçfroper alignment can adverse^ affect reproductioiL In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete mamiscrqn and there are mkong pages, diese will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note wiH indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, diarts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and contiiming from left to r i ^ in equal sections with small overlaps. Eadi original is also photogr^hed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at die back of the book. Photogr^hs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographic prints are available for aiy photogr^hs or illustrations appearing in dûs copy for an addidonal charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 313.'76l-4700 800.521-0600 THE PAST IS ETERNAL: CHINESE PAN-HISTORICISM AS MANIFESTED IN POETRY ON HISTORY DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Gang Xu, B.A., M.A. The Ohio State University 1 9 9 6 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Hao Chang Yan-shuan Lao Timothy Wong Adviser Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures UMI Number: 9620095 Copyright 1996 by Xu, Gang All rights reserved. UMI Microform 9620095 Copyright 1996, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Copyright by Gang Xu 1 9 9 6 To My Wife I I ACKNOWLEDGMENT I express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Professor Yan-shuan Lao, my adviser and member of my dissertation committee, for his inspiration, encouragement, and guidance through the entire period of my study, and writing of this dissertation. The invaluable instruction and surveillance I could surely obtain from him, especially in the vast realm of traditional Chinese history and historiography, gave me the sufficient confidence to choose this topic, which presents a great challenge to me as a student of literature. I also like to express my gratitude to Professor Timothy Wong, another member of my dissertation committee. From every course I took under him and every conversation with him, I have always learned something about my study and research. Professor Wong’s comment on the outline of the dissertation helped me to check my not necessarily achievable ambition, and concentrate on its major issues. Deep gratitude is also expressed to Professor Hao Chang, the other member of my dissertation committee. The course in the history of Chinese thought I took under him not only was directly related to the topic of this project, but also offered great 111 methodological inspiration. And the discussions I had with Professor Chang on this dissertation have helped me to examine the entire issue in a much broader perspective. Special gratitude goes to Emeritus Professor David Ch'en, my adviser for five years until his retirement in 1994. The benefit I have been receiving from Professor Ch’en’s immense knowledge, earnest attitude towards the study of Chinese literature, and his spirited devotion to scholarship defies enumeration. For the severe training he has given me, and all the friendly advice he has been offering me even after his retirement, my gratitude is beyond language. I V VITA 1 9 8 2 ..................................................................... B. A., Zhongshan University, Guangzhou, China 1 9 8 5 ..................................................................... M. A., Xibei University, Xi’an, China 1985-1989 .......................................................... Research Fellow, Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences, Hangzhou, China 1 9 9 3 ................................................................. M. A., Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1993-Present..................................................... Ph. D. student, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio FIELD OF STUDY Major Field: East Asian Languages and Literatures Studies in Chinese Literature TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION i i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS i i i VITA ................................................................................................................... V TABLE OF CONTENTS v I INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER PAGE I. HISTORY, POETRY, AND CONFUCIANISM............................... 2 9 History and Confucianism ............................................... 2 9 Poetry and Confucianism ................................................. 6 0 II. MORALIZATION AND SYMBOLIZATION ................................. 8 6 Moralization ......................................................................... 8 6 Symbolization .................................................................... 1 1 0 III. SPATIALIZATION AND ETERNALIZATION .......................... 1 4 0 Spatialization .................................................................... 1 4 0 Eternaiization .................................................................... 1 6 3 IV. AESTHETICIZATION AND RELIGIONIZATION ..................... 1 9 0 Aestheticization ............................................................... 1 9 0 Religionization .................................................................... 2 0 6 CONCLUSION....................................................................................................... 2 3 0 BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................................................................................. 2 3 9 V I INTRODUCTION This dissertation is to examine one of the essences of traditional Chinese culture, that is, Chinese pan-historicism, as manifested poetry on history. The objective of the investigation is to explore and demonstrate how in this distinct genre of classical Chinese literature the Confucian intellectuals articulated their most fundamental world view and conviction about human life. Like “history” in English, the word shih in classical Chinese—its modern Chinese equivalent would be li-shish —may be employed in two different senses: it may mean (1) all the events and actions that make up the human past, or (2) the accounts of that past. When used in the first sense, it refers to what actually happened, whereas in the second sense it refers to the record or description of what happened. While history in the first sense could never be altered once it took place, history in the second sense could be revised again and again. It is therefore crucial to always keep in mind the distinction, as well as the relationship, between the two 2 senses of the term in order to avoid possible confusion. In this dissertation, the term history will be employed in both senses, but great attention will be paid to rendering its meaning unmistakable in the specific context. The term “historicism,” according to The Oxford English Dictionary, can have several different meanings as well. First, it can designate the attempt to view all social and cultural phenomena, all categories, truths, and values, as relative and historically determined, and in consequence to be understood only by examining their historical context, in complete detachment from present-day attitudes. Second, it can refer to the belief that historical change occurs in accordance with laws, so that the course of history may be predicted but cannot be altered by human will.'' Examples of historicism of this sort would be the evolutionary/revolutionary optimism of Karl Marx, and the devolutionary pessimism of Oswald Spengler.2 Thirdly, “historicism” can refer to an excessive regard for the institutions and values of the past. Although in some way associated with these meanings, the concept Chinese pan- historicism I shall use in this dissertation has its specific definition. It conceptualizes a deep-rooted conviction about, and a S ee Karl R. Popper, The Poverty of Historicism (New York: Harper and Row, 1964). 2 See Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West , 2 vols.(New York: Alfred A Knopf, 1926, 1928). 3 fundamental attitude toward, history, shared by most Confucian intellectuals in traditional China, i.e., that history is the manifestation of the T’ien-tao (Way of Heaven), or Tao , on earth through regulating and judging all human activities, that if any human issue—be it political, moral, or social—is to be fully comprehended, such a historical perspective must be adopted, and that every human being faces a historical judgment as the “Last judgment” of his entire life on the earth, and to successfully pass this last judgment by history must be the ultimate concern of man. To a Confucian intellectual, pan-historicism means not that he frequently thinks about history, but