Research On The Shanyang Wang Society At The Beginning Of Qing Dynasty

At the beginning of the Qing dynasty, the seat of the government of Huaian isShanyang. Xuzhou is also under the jurisdiction of Huaian. Xuhuai region is an importantpart between Yangtze and Huaihe River, so all the adherents of a former dynasty camehere like Gu Yanwu, Yan Ermei, Fu Shan, Wan Shouqi, etc. The association between themis a link interacts and contacts them of different regions. To some extent, the associationbetween the adherents of Xuhuai, which contact north and south adherents like theadherents of Guanzhong, Jiangnan and even Lingnan, is very helpful for us to study theecological environment of the adherents of a former dynasty at the beginning of the Qingdynasty. Shanyang has a rich cultural ambience and a strong tradition of poetry culture,enjoying the honor of “the city of poem” since ancient times. Qiu Xiangsui, a poet at thebeginning of the Qing dynasty, said in his preface of Huaian Shi Cheng,“The tradition ofpoetry of Huaian is better than any other places…Qiu calls Huaian as the city of poem.” Inthe Daoguang period, Ding Yan from Shangyang pointed out lots of famous poets here inhis preface of Shangyang Shi Zheng, many of which are Ming and Qing dynasty poets,from Mei Cheng of the Han dynasty to Wang Yuan of the Qing dynasty, and said,“Thereare Bing He old man, She Yang sir and Yu Shan hermit in the Ming dynasty, whose poemsare all excellent and are well praised by Zhu Zunyi and Wang Shizhen. There are evenmore poets in the Qing dynasty, like poets of Wang She, Tong Yuan family, etc, who alldo well in writing poems. The poems of Nan Zhai and Xi QIao are explicit, the poems ofFeng Yi and Hao Ting are implicit, the poems of Yu Men and Wu Shan are brilliant, andthe other ones like Bai Shi, Xing An, Yu Jiang, Dong Jiang, Dong Jian, etc, who arefamous for the study of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, are also good at writingpoems. Among them, Bing He old man is a poet from Shangyang in the Ming dynasty,whose name is Pan Heng or Cong Li, also known as Bing He. Zhu Zunyi said in his poetryJing Zhi Ju,“His poems are as good as ‘the ten talents’ in the Ming Dynasty.” Latergenerations of the Pan family all can write poems. She Yang sir is Wu Chengen, the writer in the Ming dynasty. It has been said that Journey to the West is written by him. And YuShan hermit is Zhang Yangzhong who is also known as Yu Shan, the main sponsor ofWang She in Shanyang at the beginning of the Qing dynasty. Wang Shizhen highly praisedthe verse from his one poem “Nan Lou Chu Yu San Geng Yuan, Chun Shui Wu Jiang YiYe Zeng” in his poetry Yu Yang and then made friends with him. The poets of Wang Sheare the focus of the paper. Wang she has a considerable influence on the association ofpoets at the beginning of the Qing dynasty. Li Yuangeng said,“Its reputation is as good asthat of association of poets in Wuzhong.” Although the members of Wang She are not allthe adherents of a former dynasty, with Zhang Yangzhong, Yan Xiuling, Jin Yingsheng,etc at the core, they make friends and exchange poems. In the special historical period oflate Ming and early Qing dynasty, Wang She not only inherits and develops the associationof poets at the end of Ming dynasty, but also reflects a special mental development, whichis created by this period, namely “hoping to see the Ming dynasty come back”. Therefore,the association of poets in this period has a stronger political complexion, and finallycauses that they are banned by the government.Race, environment, era are the three factors that impact the material and spiritual civilizations. The conclusion was first proposed theoretically by Taine. Due to the special history in the transition of Ming and Qing dynastic, this conclusion was confirmed accordingly as follows. Wangshe poetry society might be less impressive than other poetry societies, such as Jingyin or Yongshang, it also enjoy a throughout investigation for its impact in the historical background. Poetry society, a reassembly of literati, deserves a deep thought on its diversity and complexity. Members of Wangshe face a difficult choice between seclusion and officialdom, social activity and salvation. This is a typical presence in cultural phenomenon. Location of Shanyang enables Huaian a great capability in the cultural communication,attributed from adherents from south and north, in the transition of two dynasties. This hasbeen mentioned in travel logs by Gu yanwu, Fang wen, Du rui, Hu jie and Mao qiling. Therefore, the Wangshe is selected herein, as a research topic to shed a light in the study of history, literature, and culture in Ming/Qing dynasty.The thesis is composed of three parts. Introduction presents a short brief survey on theassociation history, with a short summary on the association by literati. Also presented is the method and theory in the current thesis. Chapter I summaries the background of the generation in association, with a confirmation on the establish time, member list. The civil servic es of the members are classified, with a description on their activities. Chapter II focuses inthe communication of Huaian both geometrically and culturally, and confirms the historical impact from literatures on the activity among members. In Chapter III, the poetry in Qing dynasty inherits the style from Ming, but more reflection is considered. The member from Wangshe birth from family ranging from adherents to Erchen, they share and communicate in poetry, so that the in the beginning of Qing, this communication is essential in studies.