A Study Of The Guixi Ci In The Qing Dynasty

Poetesses in the Qing dynasty were mostly guixiu, women in scholarly or literary families. Contemporary scholars’critiques have long regarded guixiu songs (in Chinese, ci) as an embodiment of melancholy and blues. Starting with the relationship between culture and the writing act, this paper conducts an exhaustive analysis and interpretation of guixiu songs, in terms of the writer’s identity, writing psychology, content presentation, imagery and connotation, theoretical construction, etc.The first chapter discusses the identity recognition of the Qing guixiu poetesses. In the light of historical development, some extent of respect was paid to wife-ness and maternity, so as to maintain social stability in the Confucian system, which valued family as a miniature of nation. Besides, Daoism gave credit to feminine values. These two factors co-granted a limited number and scope of resources and rights to guixiu, gentlewomen in China’s traditionally patriarchal gender hierarchy. It used to be an ethic code for noble guixiu that "women should obtain the qualities of scholars," yet as female education was popularized and secularized, it became a code of conduct for average guixiu in the Qing Dynasty. Centering on "talent, piety, and worthiness," it stimulated the guixiu community’s inclination to idealism and extreme moralism. The Shuyuci anthology, a great accomplishment of Li Qingzhao, and the genre tradition of songs gave guixiu the legality to be poetesses. Hence, writing poems and songs constituted an effective means to acquire the identity as a talented woman. In order to become writers, guixiu maintained an acute awareness of gender norms and genre criteria. Excellent guixiu song writers would be taken as "banished immortals," a perverted recognition from society.The second chapter focuses on the writing psychology and emotions of guixiu. Mutually contradictory gender notions coexisted in the Qing Dynasty, and correspondingly, with regard to literary practices and concepts, some guixiu writers would feel self-inferior and thus burn down their manuscripts, whereas some were deeply immersed in literature. Educated guixiu would strive for more respect and elevation in their status by means of rigid moral discipline to themselves. Nonetheless, the discrepancy between being ethically respected and enjoying personal happiness aggravated their mental sufferings, which were a collective sub-conscious of almost the entire guixiu community. The Qing guixiu inherited the writing psychology of self-expression from the Song predecessors, and the increase in their number gave rise to the motive of expanding their social space by responding to and chiming with one another. Writing songs was indeed a time-killing aesthetic game in their tedious in-chamber lives.The third chapter talks about the female writing and imagery clusters. The female images in the system of feudal literature semiotics are "hollow signifiers" in the male-dominated culture. Apart from their images and appearances, women themselves remain silent and submerge in a pre-symbol or symbol-less chaos. With a large number of composers and works, the Qing guixiu songs stood out in the lasting history of male writing. The traditionally erotic chambers and courtyards gained a touch of reality:the chamber was associated with the refined pleasure of reading and writing, couple affections, and emotions about child education, while the courtyard became a place for guixiu to meditate and anticipate. Thus there occurred some descriptions about initiative mood management and transcendence of personal lot and worldly fame and wealth. Based on the literary tradition of self-control and refinement, the imagery of chrysanthemum developed into a reflection of such qualities as strong-mindedness, self-admiration, and self-esteem of the weak. Daffodil became a piece of feminine imagery that integrated physical aesthetic ideals with spiritual ones. The imagery of Qixi, the Chinese Valentine’s Day, symbolized not only the reunion of couples but also the get-together of confidants. Giving more emphasis on and concern about the agony of the parting legendary lovers ("the Cowherd and the Girl Weaver"), the Qing guixiu exhibited their practical rationality towards and heartfelt demands of marriage and family.The fourth chapter centers on male literati’s comments on the guixiu songs. It can be seen in the Qing commentary that the literary circle started to pay attention to women writers’songs with praise on their beautiful delicacy and the praise evolved to be a refined aesthetic system mingled with moral scrutiny. In the late Qing Dynasty, the expression of natural temperament and real emotions attracted more attention. The focus on whether a female piece catered to the male needs evolved into a watchful eye on the life experiences of poetesses. The female images in the songs, which had been symbols of male desire, gradually converted into spokespersons of their own lives. It took a long time for the mainstream literary circle to position female songs. The relative independence of them as a literary representation of women’s lives was not clearly acknowledged until the late Qing Dynasty.The fifth chapter analyzes guixiu’s texts and points out that guixiu intended to construct a history of female songs and was aware of the distinction between poetry and song. The aesthetic value and style is also discussed here.To draw a conclusion, song writing was part of the social and personal lives of the Qing guixiu. Their substantial composition practices did a subversive complementation on the traditional overtones of songs, especially on the significance of literary pieces about guixiu sentiments. The mainstream literary circle eventually acknowledged guixiu songs as a literary representation of women’s lives, and guixiu attempted to build up a theoretical system for their songs, and managed to finish a part of it.