On The History Of Thoughts In The Study Of Ci From The Tang And Five Dynasties To North Song

The critical theories of Ci from the Tang and Five Dynasties to North Song are relatively weak, compared with those of other periods. The reason is that the concept of Ci and the ideal of aesthetics at that time were mostly embodied in the practice of literary creation rather than theoretic construction. On basis of a comprehensive study of the theories, criticisms and creations of Ci of that period, this dissertation intends to convert the study of Ci from a theoretically critical perspective into a historically ideological one. Centering on the thoughts in the study of Ci from the Tang and Five Dynasties to North Song, the dissertation has had a thorough exploration of the historical background, a macroscopic discussion of the relation between the thoughts of Ci and the thoughts of society and culture, an explicit outline of the development of the thoughts of Ci, and a detailed analysis of the specific situations on each stage of their development. The thesis has also revealed some basic ideas of those thoughts: the characteristic, functional, subjective and creative theories of Ci, and its aesthetic ideal. Thereupon, it further demonstrates some important propositions and conceptions: for instance, the application of topics for proclaiming one's ideas, the coherence between form and content, the unity of poems and Ci, the transformation of prosody from old to new, the originality of particular styles, the grandness of poetic vigor, the substitution of poems for Ci, the tranquil concinnity, the simple purity and the rhyme etc. The major approach applied in this dissertation is an integration of the studies of the creation, criticism and theory of Ci, accompanied by some other methodologies such as esthetics, culturology, sociology and so on. The thesis has laid stress on a unity of historical materials and theoretic analysis, and a combination of microcosmic analysis and macroscopic mastery. Hence an originated system of the history of thoughts in the studies of Ci from the Tang ' and Five Dynasties to North Song is thus constructed.