A Study On The Works Of Northern Korean Writers In North Korea

After the "Yongjia Rebellion", the ruling power of the Western Jin Dynasty shifted towards south and settled down at the Yangtze River; while in the north, the Huns, Di, Qiang, Jie, Xianbei and other ethnic minorities were fighting for the throne in Central China and established their own regime successively. However, the fighting and annexation among these minorities also help promote the cultural exchange and integration. It is the interchange of various ethnic cultures that result in the remarkable multi-ethnic culture. Under this special cultural background, the illiterate Xianbei people who originally carve the wood to mark the events gradually became enthusiastic in reading. In terms of the low starting point and chaotic external environment, Xianbei literature in the Northern Dynasties has advanced rapidly in terms of its own development. This thesis discussed their literature in two categories, books and poetic prose. Despite the fact that most of the books were scattered and lost, this thesis classified the books into Confucian classics, historical records, philosophical writings and miscellaneous works in order to depict the outline of the Xianbei literature. Poetic prose consisted of prose and poems and in this section, the composing of literature is illustrated.The first chapter summarized the works that have already scattered or lost to give the audience an overview of Xianbei literature in the Northern Dynasties. This chapter is divided into four parts:(1) to analyze the Confucian classics and the reasons for their rise, which was contributed to the joint advocacy by the ruling class of Xianbei and the scribes of Han. (2) to introduce the historical records and analyze the reasons for the prosperity of history recording, which were closely related with the prevailing political situation, socio-economic status and academic atmosphere at that time; (3) to introduce the philosophical writings. Xianbei people not only had passion for Confucian classics but also wanted to learn about other philosophers including Emperor Huang and Lao Zi. Their study of Chinese literature was based on the real needs of the ruling; (4) to analyze the miscellaneous works.The second chapter focuses on their prose composing. Influenced by the Confucian concept of pragmatism and cultural quality when receiving and learning Chinese culture, they put special emphasis on the ability to compose government documents, namely scholars’ "strokes". According to the prevailing view, this thesis classified verses, parallel prose, and the articles with no rhyme as ancient prose. What’s more, these prose were divided into official documents, letters, prefaces and congratulatory messages according to the stylistic features and are illustrated respectively. Among their existing works, official documents account for a large amount and the articles expressing personal feelings only present a small proportion. In terms of style, their natural taste and pragmatic writing style went down to Northern Qi and Northern Zhou period. The content of their prose evolved in the prevailing politics and culture, showing the focus on the reality, diverse subject matters, rich diction, along with the multi-ethnic style, which made their prose advanced quickly in quality. At the same time, these prose reflected their strong adaptability, strong thirst for knowledge, courage to explore, filling the blank of Xianbei written literature, and promoting the prosperity of the northern literature.The third chapter mainly discusses the poetry creation of XianBei people in the Northern Dynasties. The poetry creation and development were connected with those of the times:starting with the imitation of Southern Dynasties’ aesthetic taste, the literary poets integrated the multi-ethnic humanism and temperament with their creation. Therefore, their poems combined the bleak, grand, and powerful style of the north and the graceful and restrained side of the Southern Dynasties. Their creation were based on social reality, and in some way reflected the social and political states at that time.