Research On The Image Of Swallows In Poems Of Tang And Song Dynasties

Swallow,flying lightly and trippingly,is a frequently mentioned image in ancient Chinese literature and enjoys a unique literary position.There are a large number of masterpieces about swallow in Tang and Song poetry.Swallow has a close connection with people’s daily life,emotion and culture,which is going far beyond other birds.This thesis mainly discusses affective traits,cultural connotations and aesthetic expressions of swallow image in Tang and Song poetry,divided into five chapters.The first chapter introduces the origin and development of swallow image.This part gives a summary of swallow’s shape features and living habits,and exhibits various alternative names of swallow from ancient books to explore the relationships among swallow,human life and creative writing.Besides,a brief carding about swallow’s literary images before the Tang Dynasty is shown.The second to forth chapter focuses on the expressions of swallow image about folk psychology,affective traits and personality symbols.In the folkways culture,swallow image mainly suggests the luck of pregnancy and the sadness of time passing.It is the first ancestor of Shang Nationality and the symbol of spring,gradually developing into a famous lucky bird which brings good deeds.Swallow reminds people of the valuable time and life by its arrival in spring and leave in autumn.Swallow image can be used to express emotions in various ways.Double-swallow symbolizes perfect love and deep friendship,which serves as a foil to the pain of departure and yearning.Fly-back-swallow means going home.It implies homesick,farewell and missing.Swallow flies back to its old nest every year,unconsciously being a witness to vicissitudes of life.As a result,poets endow swallow image with vast historical overtones.When used as a symbol of personality,swallow image has three layers of implications: traditional literati in their official career,tender and charming femininity,and some negative qualities such as mediocre and crafty.The fifth chapter analyzes the aesthetic forms of swallow image.People adore and pay close attention to swallow because of its beautiful feather and graceful throat.Swallow displayed by Tang and Song poetry is of high esthetic and artistic value in both outward appearance and profound thought.The story of Swallow Pavilion was born in the Tang Dynasty and developed in the Song Dynasty,which intensively presents the nice emotions of swallow image at that time.