Han, Wei And Six Lyrical Poems In The Genre

Fu (Rhapsody, Rhyme Prose) is one of the five literary forms of Chinese ancient literature, and one peculiar to China, which originated in Pre-Qin Dynasty, flourished in Han and Tang, and withered away in Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing. The thesis endeavors to examine the literary works of Fu in the perspective of stylistics. Based on an objective description of the language features of Lyric Fu, and with the discussion of the relations between language and context as its departure, the thesis further analyzes this style's adaptability to and initiative impact on the context. Apart from Introduction and Conclusion, the thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter One argues from the angle of stylistics that the function of the language in Lyric Fu is to express feelings. By applying the analytic, descriptive, and comparative approaches, Chapter Two holds that, restricted by its function to express feelings, Lyric Fu, Compared with Prose Fu and Yuefu (Music Bureau) Ballads, embodies in terms of language features the interfusion of rhyme and prose, lying somewhere between the two. Then it examines the adaptability of such language elements as speech sounds, vocabulary, sentence patterns, and figures of speech to its stylistic function of expressing feelings. Chapter Three, departing from the relations between language style and context, explores the adaptability and creativity of this language style towards its context. The adaptability of language manifests mainly in the follwing three aspects: First, the change of speech sounds and the upsurge of rhythm theory. Second, the differentiation between "wen" (literary writing) and "bi" (practical writing) and the development of literary style awareness. Third, the shortening of writing length and simplifying of structure and the change of thoughts in different times.