Confucian Canons And Chinese Poetics

The main stem in traditional Chinese culture, Confucianism has exerted strong influence on and restrictions of traditional Chinese poetics. Confucian canons are not only the main spiritual resources from which traditional poetics has come from, but they, along with some other interpreting texts, have also become the source on which chief categories and themes of traditional Chinese poetics are based. As the living cultural tradition (not traditional culture), they have never lost the modem value, but, instead, remained the applicable resources in today's construction of literary theories. In the past hundred years, however, the research en traditional Chinese literary theories (poetics) has comparatively neglected the positive role of Confucianism in traditional poetics. The chief reason that the v/riter has chosen this subject as his dissertation chiefly lies in the folio ing two aspects: on the one hand, the origin-seeking effort has been applied to the Confucian canons so that the characteristics of traditional Chinese poetics could be fundamentally explained. One the other, it tries to respond to debates over the modem transformation of traditional Chinese literary theories, attempting to help achieve the ultimate goal in the new century-to find some references in such transformation, return to the spiritual homeland of our mother tongue, and make known again traditional Chinese theories in today's world.What distinguishes this dissertation could be found out in several aspects. It is the first such kind of writing which, from the perspective of Confucian canons, analyzes the cultural background and poetic spirit in the formation of Confucian poetics; it, by using the discourse analysis, discusses the language concepts, formation of meaning, and ways of speech. It is also the first of such kind of work that analyzes in detail the modes of interpretation of Confucian canons (classics [jing xue], Chinese metaphysics [xuan xue], new Confucianism [li xue], and Classics in Qing dynasty [pu xue]). What is different from the previous traditional Chinese poetic studies is that the dissertation not merely applies Western hermeneutic discourse theory to "re-reading" Confucian canons, but consciously discusses these canons from an integrated whole, thus breaking the limitation of some cultural interpretation of only one canon and helping fully recognize the true nature of Confucian poetics and the real meaning Confucian canons have contained.Mainly from angles of cultural studies, hermeneutics, discourse theory, the dissertation interprets Confucian canons, and, from that, analyzes and explores the influence on and limitations of traditional Chinese poetics that cultural and poetic spirits have exerted, theinstitution of meaning, ways of speech along with some case studies ir discourse, and some chief topics concerning Confucian canons and other interpreting modes The dissertation is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is entitled "The Cultural Spirit of Confucian Canons," which concentrates on the analysis of such cultural spirits as "humanism (renwen jingshen)," "harmony (zhonghe jingshen)," "self-strengthening and enterprising (ziqiang, jinqu)," "the realistic concern of the national fate (youhuan yishi)" so that to expound that the influence Confucian canons have exerted on traditional poetics is first and foremost reflected in Confucian cultural spirit, and this is the very essence of the influence. The second chapter is under the title of "The Poetic Spirit of Confucian Canons," which specially analyzes the following spirits: "the spirit of indoctrination in letters,'' "harmony between heaven and man," "the contained spirit in stressing harmony and adjustment of resentment and indignant action," "vigorous and righteous spirit of ferggu," "innovation of reservation and changes." and "'Classic' spirit of taking canons as samples and restoration to the ancient origin." This chapter has interpreted most of the categories differently although most of them .have been dealt with in the schol...