| As the research objective, this doctoral dissertation studies C·Buynnemeh and the genre theory showed in his work Elementary Knowledge to Literature.A distinguished writer, social activist, and one of the pioneering theorists in modern Mongolian literature, C·Buynnemeh is among the founders of Mongolian modern literature. Since he began his writing career in1920, he wrote over150poems and lyrics, one of which had been sung as the national anthem of the People's Republic of Mongolia until1950. Among his approximately20dramas and script outlines, The Three Ministers of Deeds written in1922is considered by scholars to be the first revolutionary drama in Mongolia. Other genres of prose, letter, research thesis, literary theoretical writing, historical writing, works of translation as well as journalistic genres like news report, constitute over100of his works, with revolutionary literature being the majority. Particularly notable is his research achievements on literary theories. He wrote over20research papers (including "Reference for Poets", and "On Writing Literary Works") on the phenomena, and patterns of modern Mongolian literature, presenting valuable arguments to enrich Mongolian literary theory.His Elementary Knowledge to Literature is the first work of literary theory written in Mongolian language in the history of Mongolia. Written in1935, Elementary Knowledge to Literature consists of introduction and5chapters, with "Observation and Writing","The Purpose of Literature","The Theme of Literature","Central Line in a Stanza","Central Stanza in a Poem", and "Techniques of Composing Haolaibao Style Poems" constituting35sections. The book deals with the nature of literature, relationship between literature and reality, categorization and characteristics of genres, rhetoric in literature, literary criticism, and literature writing theories, etc. As the first work of literary theory in the history of Mongolia, and the last gift left by the author to the world, Elementary Knowledge to Literature embodies rich stock of the author's experience and thoughts on literature, which makes it worthwhile to study in order to gain deep understanding of both C-Buynnemeh and Mongolian literature.However, because of the disappearance of many of C-Buynnemeh's works, the study on this author and on his Elementary Knowledge to Literature, there has not been any systematic work on the matter.Genre theory is the major part and theme of Elementary Knowledge to Literature, and the most difficult part of the work at the same time.Throughout the long history of Mongolian literature, there have been multitudes of genres like poetry, novel, prose, etc., with different forms and functions. Nevertheless, genre in a broader sense, includes such functional types as letters, receipt, and even riddle.It is of great importance to evaluate the influence of this work on the development of general Mongolian literary theory, through studying the genre theory presented in the work, the author's point of view, and the forming, developing, and the historical and social background of the theory and his argument. Meanwhile it is essential for studying the Mongolian literary theory and Mongolian literature in general.This dissertation consists of five part:introduction, the main body (three chapters), and conclusion.In the introduction, the author gives a brief introduction of C·Buynnemeh, Elementary Knowledge to Literature, and the genre theory embodied in the book. Meanwhile, review of related research, the significance of this research, the theory, method, and the materials applied in the research are also presented in this part.Chapter One:Genre Theory of Rhymes—Haolaibao Style PoetrySection One:"Definition and Features of Haolaibao Style Peotry"Through the differentiating terms like "Haolaibao Style Rhyme" and "Haolaibao Style Poetry", C·Buynnemeh made a distinction between Haolaibao in a broad sense and poetry. The "Haolaibao Style Poetry" he refers to, is a reflection of life characterized by refined, rhythmical language, with carefully arranged stanza lines. As it fit the definition of poetry that is referred to by modern literary theory, it is not improper to understand "Haolaibao Style Poetry" as "poetry" in this sense.Section Two:"The Genre Classification of Haolaibao Style Poetry"C-Buynnemeh did not classify poetry in the traditional sense into lyric, narrative poetry, prose poetry, and metrical poetry, etc., but classified it into8categories according to his own literary experience and the characteristics of Mongolian poetry, and elaborated each category in detail. His categorization can be regarded as a distinctive one in the research history of Mongolian genre theory. This section mainly analyzes and studies C·Buynnemeh's classification and elaboration of poetry genres, with the help of other related literature.Chapter Two:Genre of Rhymes-Haolaibao Style Rhyme and OthersSection One:"The Features and Classification of Haolaibao Style Rhyme"C·Buynnemeh referred to all the rhymes with any kind of rhyming pattern (such as alliteration) as Haolaibao style rhyme. From his explanation, we understand that the Haolaibao style rhyme belongs to folklore—"Haolaibao" of the broad sense. He further divided Haolaibao into "eulogy","rhymes of good wishes", and "aphorism" This section analyzes the above mentioned aspect of the book, making use of C-Buynnemeh's elaboration, together with other related materials.Section Two:"Other Genre Theory of Rhymes"This section mainly studies the genre theory of C·Buynnemeh concerning the genres of "couplet","proverb", and "riddle".Couplet is a genre characterized as being literary, functional, and cleverly composed. In Elementary Knowledge to Literature, C·Buynnemeh made an attempt at producing "Mongolian couplet" theory and putting it into practice. In doing this, he took Chinese couplet theory as model, while taking language features of Mongolian into consideration. This dissertation studies the "couplet" theory from the following three perspectives: C·Buynnemeh's couplet theory, C·Buynnemeh's "couplet" theory and classical Chinese "couplet" theory, and C·Buynnemeh's "couplet" and "Mongolian couplet" tradition. Proverb is a genre of short forceful language, generated in the long course of human activities, reflecting human's observation and understanding of both natural and social phenomena. In Elementary Knowledge to Literature, C·Buynnemeh summed up the characteristics of Mongolian proverb:refined wording, carefully arranged sentence patterns, rich imagination, forceful rhyming, and profound message, etc. What is more, he attempted writing proverbs himself.Riddle, being another rhyming form of folklore, consists of "riddle" and "answers", of which the "riddle" part offers people keys and clues to the answer. In Elementary Knowledge to Literature, C·Buynnemeh summed up the features of riddle as short, rhythmical, with its implied meaning concealed. He further classified riddles into two types according to their forms, and this dissertation carries out an in-depth study of the part concerning this genre.Chapter Three: The Genre Theory of Prose and Drama literatureSection One:"Genre Theory of Prose Literature"C-Buynnemeh elaborated on such genres as short story, novelette, full-length novel, fairy tale, animal tale, historical novel, humorous story, and fable. Here, the dissertation studies this part of his theory within the framework of related theory.Section Two:"Genre Theory of Drama Literature"This section studies the genre theory of drama literature presented in Elementary Knowledge to Literature, from the perspectives of "The Writing and the Characteristics of Drama Literature", and "The Categories of Drama Literature". In his work, C-Buynnemeh recognized the significance of "dramatic contradiction", and classified it into three categories:the contradiction between the hero and the environment, the contradiction between the hero and other figures in terms of temperament and ideology, the contradiction of the hero's own ideology. In addition, he recognized the persuasive power of drama, the importance of the coherence between the thought and the form, and the significance of building up distinctive characters. C·Buynnemeh classified drama into "tragedy","comedy","opera","living newspaper", etc., and elaborated on each sub-genre. Here, the dissertation carries out a detailed study on this aspect of C-Buynnemeh's Elementary Knowledge to Literature, with the aid of related theory of drama.Finally, the author sums up the main argument of this dissertation in conclusion.
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