The Literati’s Mentality Of Avoiding Disasters In The Late Yuan And Early Ming Dynasties

The regime change between Yuan and Ming Dynasty was an important revolution for the Han regime to "return" to China.This regime change not only had the common phenomenon including crisis,rebellion,and power transfer,but also caused the literati to encounter national concepts.Loyal to the emperor and defending the minority has become a difficult choice.In addition,for literati who have fully experienced the process of the regime change between Yuan and Ming Dynasty,the relatively relaxed cultural atmosphere at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the strict cultural control at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty formed a sharp contrast,leading to an unprecedented deterioration in their spiritual world.Literati under the background of this era,when faced with great changes in the national situation,social environment,and cultural trends,the changes in their values,the evolution of thoughts and feelings,and their psychological activities have become the valuable material in the field of literati mentality research.Deeply digging into the characteristics of the literati’s mentality will not only help to have a more comprehensive understanding of the social situation of this historical stage,but also a more accurate grasp of the true and secret inner world of individual literati.Among the complex,changeable and contradictory mentalities of literati in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties,the mentality of avoiding disasters became a very typical and representative mentality of this period.The concept of avoid disasters is similar to the pre-Qin period’s awareness of valuing one’s life.Its essence is to cherish and value personal life,avoid and prevent risks and disasters.During the regime change between Yuan and Ming Dynasty,this mentality has become an extremely common phenomenon among literati.Through reading literary works during this period,combined with relevant historical records,we can fully understand the mentality of avoid disasters of literati in this period.It includes the reasons for the birth of this mentality,its performance in different literati,and the similarities and differences compared with other generations,so as to add new academic viewpoints and analysis to the field of ancient literati mentality research.