CH'EN WEI-SUNG, THE TZ'U POET Item Type text; Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Chu, Madeline Men-li Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 07/10/2021 03:20:22 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/298858 INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. 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England HP10 8HR 7B21923 CHU, MADELINE: MEN-LI CH•EN WEI-SUNG, THE TZ'U PDETt THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA, PH.D.# 1970 University Microfilms International 300 n.zeeb road, ann arbor, mi jbiog © 1978 HADELINE MEN-LI CHU ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CH'EN WEI-SUNG, THE TZ'U POET by Madeline Men-li Chu A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ORIENTAL STUDIES In Partial Fulfullment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 19 7 8 Copyright 1978 Madeline Men-li Chu THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE I hereby recommend that this dissertation prepared under tny direction by Madeline Men-11 Chu entitled CH'EN WEI-SUNG. THE TZ'U POET be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ilP^, L^icr 'k.., .?<; Dissertation Director (yDate As members of the Final Examination Committee, we certify that we have read this dissertation and agree that it may be presented for final defense. C• Tvtt^ ~X9t /<iTs Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent on the candidate's adequate performance and defense thereof at the final oral examination. STATEMENT BV AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to bor­ rowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: PREFACE Lacking any previous monographic study of the life and works of Ch'en Wei-sung in Chinese, Japanese or any Western language, this dissertation represents a preliminary exploration of the subject. Its coverage is therefore necessarily limited in scope. In addition to attention to historical and biographical elements, this study involves an alalysis of key elements in the poetic works of Ch'en Wei-sung. Chinese words and names are given in Wade-Giles system, with the exception of some well known place names where forms more commonly used are followed. Differences in line length, a characteristic feature of tz'u poetry, are indicated by a system of indentation. Lines that are too long for the margin have been divided into two lines according to the placement of the ceasura in the orginal poem. I am indebted to many people in finishing this dissertation. Here, I would like to thank in particular my adviser, Dr. William R. Schultz, who has directed my research and writing, and my husband and children for their encouragement and understanding. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT v 1. FAMILY BACKGROUND 1 2. LIFE AND THOUGHT 18 3. CH'EN WEI-SUNG AND THE TZ'U REVIVAL 35 4. CH'EN WEI-SUNG'S TZ'U 55 Major Themes 58 (i) Feelings of Personal Sufferings 58 (ii) Sentiments on History 64 (iii)Comments on Current Events 72 (iv) Sensuous Moods 77 (v) Leisurely Retirement 80 General Stylistic Features 82 Poetic Mood 86 Craftsmanship . 87 His Critics' Judgments 101 5. CONCLUSION 106 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Ill iv ABSTRACT Ch'en Wei-sung belonged to a family active in both literary and political circles. His grandfather, YU-t'ing, was a censor and high ranking official at the Ming court and a lecturer in the Tung-lin Academy. His father, Chen-hui, was an active member of the fu-she organization. In the struggle against the palace eunuch clique, both YU-t'ing and Chen-hui became the victims of factious political conflicts and partisan controversies. Ch'en Wei-sung was endowed with great genius. His talent in writing classical and parallel prose, and shih and tz'u poetry was widely recognized. The quick flow of words from his brush, the splendor of his style, as well as his brilliant resourcefulness were highly admired by his contemporaries. He was, however, unsuccessful in the civil service examinations and, after his father's death, he travelled broadly in China seeking employment. A special po-hsUeh hung-ju examination was held under the auspices of the K'ang-hsi emperor in 1679. Unlike some Ming loyalists who refused to participate, Ch'en Wei-sung seemed to have welcomed the opportunity to enter public service. He took and passed the examina­ tion and was assigned the position of Corrector in the Han-lin Academy to work on the Ming dynasty history project. He became friendly with many prominent figures and was active socially in the capital. vi Nevertheless, bad health and feelings of advancing age and nostalgia cast a shadow over the last years of his life and he died at the age of fifty-six. The seventeenth century witnessed a renaissance in the literary arts, among which the revival of the tz'u form after a three- hundred-year decline marks a milestone in the development of this genre. Originally associated with music and dependent on the world of entertainment, tz'u was generally considered inferior to shih as a literary genre. The most significant aspect of the Ch'ing dynasty revival of the tz'u was the new stature it gained as an acceptable literary genre. Ch'en Wei-sung's contribution to this revival of the tz'u form is manifold. He undertook to establish a new and positive theoretical ground for the tz'u form. In advocating allegorical and metaphorical meanings in the tz'u, he acknowledged its capacity to convey more serious emotions and intellectual perceptions. He argued for the usefulness of tz'u verse as a vehicle for the expression of personal philosophy and social criticism and applied to it all the standards that were applicable to the shih. In this way, he strove to widen the content of tz'u poetry. His copious creations in this form, especially in the long mode, marked another aspect of his contribution to this development. His vigorous and spontaneous style also led the tz'u of early Ch'ing times away from mere formal embellishment and towards fluency, directness and vitality. vii Ch'en Wei-sung's tz'u is remarkable for its heroic mood and unrestrained style. In spite of the use of abundant allusions, a sense of vividness and spontaneity is retained in his tz'u. In the fusion of scene and emotion, feelings of melancholy, sorrow, relaxa­ tion, happiness and expectation are all effectively conveyed. The use of color words, rhyming compounds, alliteration, antithesis, and his­ torical and literary allusions and metaphors serve to lend both depth and strength to his poetry. Even in using old images, he often lent them new life. As a scholar-official of the Ming-Ch'ing transitional period, Ch'en Wei-sung's life and thought are valuable for our understanding of the intellectual and literary history of that period. As an advocate and prolific writer of tz'u poetry, Ch'en Wei-sung made important contributions, in both theory and in actual practice, to the revival of the tz 'u in the seventeenth century, and this accom­ plishment was to influence later developments in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries.