Research Into Quan De Yu

Quan De Yu, styling himself Zai, was a politician and a man of letters in the periods of Tang De Zong and Tang Xian Zong. During these periods, he made a reputation for himself in the literary world by reforming the imperial examination system, thus having contributed a lot to the ancient literature movement. But in his later life, he lived in obscurity, not highly appreciated in the literary world. The distinction between his early popularity and later obscurity resulted from people's change in concept and individual's aesthetic value. However, his role in the literary world was immeasurable. Accordingly, this paper discusses his life story, ideas, poetry, literary works and relevant problems in a comprehensive and objective way.This paper falls into five chapters.The first chapter gives a brief account of the social, historic and cultural background in his time, esp. by illustrating the well-known scholars' pragmatic and conventional attitudes towards life, as well as the strong desire for the revival of the imperial examination system and the restoration of the Confucian ethics. This paper aims at presenting the successful conceptions, systems, economy, culture and scholars during the periods of De Zong and Xian Zong.The second chapter mainly discusses his family background, life style, study, travel, etc. This paper deals with his life career from the aspects of study and travel, including the appointment of government officials. Moreover, such problems as his life, study, travel, political ideas in his lifetime are discussed in detail, esp. about his travel. The early scholars' misunderstanding of his poetry and determining his poetry' exact time are also amended and corrected.The third chapter researches into the origins of his thoughts. Prom the aspects of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, this paper summarizes the origins of this ideas, his main viewpoints, his political inclination, describes his ideological preference in an overall, comprehensive and objective way, finally gives a basic definition of his viewpoints. It is believed that his official career is based on Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, by stressing their unity in supporting politics, selecting personnel, and educating and reforming. Buddhism and Taoism, by stressing their unity in supportingpolitics, selecting personnel, and educating and reforming. By and by, he was apt to combine them into one.The fourth chapter discusses his works, esp. his account of people and events, along with his role in the ancient literature movement. It was thought that his reform in the imperial examination system and criterion for personnel selection, judged by rationality and fairness, had played an important role in it, having improved its status in life and politics and pushed forward the ancient literature movement.The fifth chapter is about his artistic creation. He was a pioneer of artistic conception in the ancient Chinese aesthetics. For the first time, he put art and conception together and gave its definition. This was his greatest contribution to it. Furthermore, it analyzes and studies his poem's main ideas and significance, while keeping the old style and creating his new one.Therefore, Quan De yu's life story, ideas, literary activity and literary achievements, influence on the literature in the periods of Zhen Yuan and Yuan He, even on the ancient literature movement all these need deep consideration.