Copyright 2018 Jing Chen REMAKING EARLY POETIC TRADITION: PUBLICATION AND RECEPTION OF ANCIENT-STYLE POETRY ANTHOLOGIES IN LATE IMPERIAL CHINA BY JING CHEN DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in East Asian Languages and Cultures in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Chilin Shih, Chair Professor Zong-qi Cai, Director of Research Professor Kai-wing Chow Associate Professor Anne Burkus-Chasson Associate Professor Dan Shao Assistant Professor Gian-Piero Persiani ABSTRACT Situated at the intersections of literary studies, book history, and print culture, this dissertation studies how literary anthologies were shaped by and shaped literary tradition in late imperial China from the sixteenth century to the eighteenth century. Specifically, by combining approaches from the fields of literary studies, book history, and digital humanities, this dissertation focuses on the practices of compiling, publishing, and reading ancient-style poetry (Ch. gushi or guti shi) anthologies. Through examining poetry anthologies from both macroscopic and microscopic perspectives, this dissertation argues that the late imperial practices of compiling, publishing, and reading a large amount of ancient-style poetry anthologies have transmitted, transformed, canonized, and popularized the ancient poetic tradition in Ming-Qing China. This process is marked by (1) the reinvention of the pre-Tang tradition, (2) the expansion of the readership of pre-Tang poetry, (3) the transformation of the general perception of the term gushi, and (4) the emergence of new methods of interpreting and reading gushi. Ultimately, by the 1700s, these practices have resulted in a significant remaking of the ancient and early poetic tradition. The main body of this dissertation contains five chapters. The introductory chapter introduces the topic, materials, and methodology. Chapter 1 argues that late imperial China witnessed the rise of “ancient-style poetry anthology,” a genre native to Ming-Qing society. It is a unique genre of books neutered within and by late imperial society. Chapter 2 delineates the formats and forms for this genre of books, identifying several new late imperial ways of compiling and reading these anthologies. Chapter 3 focuses on the production of pre-Tang poetry ii anthologies in the 1500s, examining the contributions of the sixteenth-century anthologizing practices to the reinvention of an all-inclusive pre-Tang poetic tradition. By the end of the 1500s, a gushi corpus became widely available. Chapter 4 argues that the practices of commercially printing and reprinting the gushi corpus in the early 1600s have served the needs of contemporary readers and attracted new readers. More importantly, these practices have also transformed the understanding of the literary term gushi. Chapter 5 focuses on commented anthologies produced by late Ming and early Qing literati after the 1620s, and demonstrates that the literary ways of interpreting gushi in commented anthologies were in line with the understanding of gushi in contemporary critical writings. Through several case studies, this chapter also proposes that late Ming and early Qing gushi anthologies have presented two approaches for interpreting gushi—a holistic approach and an analytical approach. The concluding chapter addresses the Qing-dynasty poetry learners’ experience of reading ancient- style poetry anthologies and displays the use of gushi anthologies as entry-level materials for poetry-learning in the 1800s, concluding that the late imperial publication and reception of ancient-style poetry anthologies have remade early poetic tradition. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The seed of studying poetry anthology was perhaps already planted in my mind ten years ago when I chose to bring Shen Deqian’s Gushi yuan with me, flying to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to start a new journey. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Professor Zong-qi Cai, for his valuable guidance, unfailing support, continuous encouragement, wise advice, and caring suggestions along the journey. He not only taught me how to be a scholar, but also taught me how to work with others, and how to become a well-rounded person. He is very supportive of all activities that allow me to explore my research interests. I would also thank him for his tolerance, patience, consideration, and his belief in me as he always offered me many valuable opportunities that are beneficial to my career development. Along the journey, I have also learned a lot from his advice on my research articles, from his editing for my grant proposals, and from his insightful suggestions at many crucial stages of my Ph.D. studies. I would also like to thank Professor Kai-wing Chow, Professor Dan Shao, and Professor Anne Burkus-Chasson, with whom I have taken several graduate courses during the past ten years. Their courses have not only helped me to pay attention to the blind spot in my research, but also have inspired my conceptualization of this dissertation. I would thank them for their valuable comments, insightful suggestions, constant encouragement, and unfailing support for this project and my career development at various stages of my graduate studies. Thanks also go to Professor Chilin Shih and Professor Gian-Piero Persiani, who have offered valuable suggestions for this dissertation, as well as kind help and generous support during the final stage of my graduate studies. iv I am also very grateful to other faculty members in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who were always supportive during my graduate studies. I would like to thank Professor Jerome Packard for his valuable advice on this project as well as his generous support and constant encouragement for me. Thanks also go to Professor Robert Tierney and all faculty members who kindly came to listen to my talk in November 2017 and offered insightful comments and helpful suggestions for this project. I am also very grateful to my teachers and friends back in China. In 2015, during my three-month research trip to Beijing, Nanjing, and Beijing, I received help from many friends and teachers. I would like to thank Professor Zhang Hongsheng, my mentor at Nanjing University, for being always supportive, and for always offering comments that helped me clarify my thoughts. Thanks also go to Professor Liu Yucai, Dr. Li Dan, and Dr. Shi Mei for helping me locate valuable rare books and take care of various difficulties during my stay in Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai. I would also thank Professor Jonathan Chaves for his generous help with this project. His valuable advice on my proposal back in summer 2015 has pushed me to think about the uses of literary terms. During my research trip to Washington D. C. in November 2015, he has also offered valuable help in helping me secure several high-quality editions of Gushi yuan in George Washington University Library for my use. Thanks also go to the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and the Graduate College at the University of Illinois, who have generously offered me a Summer Research Fellowship, a Dissertation Travel Grant, and a Dissertation Completion Fellowship for v the completion of this dissertation. Without the financial support, I would not be able to travel to several libraries, check primary materials, and finish writing this dissertation. Early versions of several chapters of this dissertation have been presented at several conferences. Two earlier versions of Chapter 1 were presented at the Symposium on Ming-Qing Literature and Literary Criticism held by Lingnan University in Hong Kong in March 2015, and the Illinois/Indiana and USC/UCLA National Dissertation Workshop at Urbana, Illinois in May 2015. Part of Chapter 3 was presented at the 10th Annual Conference of the Ming Literature Association held in Beijing in August 2015, and the Stanford-Berkeley Graduate Student Conference on Pre-modern Chinese Humanities held by Stanford University in March 2016. It was also published as part of “Reinventing the Pre-Tang Tradition: Compiling and Publishing Pre-Tang Poetry Anthologies in Sixteenth-Century China” in the Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture, Vol. 4:1 (April 2017, pp. 91-128). I would like to thank Duke University Press for allowing me to include it here. Two earlier versions of Chapter 4 were presented at the American Oriental Society Western Branch’s 2016 Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon, and the 2017 AAS Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada. An early version of Chapter 5 was presented at the Southwest Conference on Asian Studies in Dallas, Texas in November 2017. Here I would like to thank Dr. Chen Guanghong, Dr. Ronald Egan, Dr. Yuming He, Dr. Scott Gregory, Dr. Catherine Swatek, Dr. David Rolston, Dr. Jessica Moyer, Dr. Kin Yip Hui, Mr. Minoru Takano and all conference participants for their valuable suggestions as well as their insightful questions and comments. I would especially thank Dr. Timothy Clifford for generously sharing his dissertation, which has offered many insights for this dissertation. Finally, I am deeply indebted to my friends and family in the U.S. and in China. During my research trips in 2015, I have held many intellectual conversations with my friends Dr. Yu Su vi and Dr. Zhao Shuyang, whose insights have inspired me to think further about my research. I would also thank Mr. Xiaohui Zhang and Ms. Mei Wang for kindly copying and mailing research materials for me when I was staying off campus. Along the journey, I would also thank Dr. Nanjun Liu for talking to me about the possibility of using an abstract framework to think about literature. I would also thank my cousin in Beijing who always offered urgent help either during my research trip in 2015 or the final stage of my graduate studies in 2018.