| This thesis attempts to draw a new understanding to the literature development of Cheng Hua to early Zheng De period at the virtuous foundation of early and present researchers by way of studying the psychology state of scholars and the literature groups with the employment of comprehensive contrast and case analysis method.The empire of the Ming came into its transformation in the fields of the politics, economy, culture and the thought trends during the periods of the reign time of Cheng Hua. As to the field of traditional literature forms of articles and poetry, Taigeti, which was proposed by the three prime ministers with their surname Yang, still monopolized the arena of traditional poetry in the years of the reign times of Jing Tai and Tian Shun under the influence of its inertia after a period of more than forty years of thriving since Yong Le to Zheng Tong. When it came to the Reign time of Cheng Hua, the whole country lost its previous spiritual state of active moods in as for the mediocre politics caused by the low-spirited emperor and ministers, which broke the magical dream of the swarming times in the scholars' minds. At the same time, the sacred status of Confucianism developed by the Chengs and Zhu Xi was suspected and moved under the influence of the factors of developing economy, flourishing examinations for official-election and the wicked and corrupted cabinet ministers, which threatens directly the then feudalist ruling order. Therefore, the Taigeti works lost its rational surviving backgrounds. Under such circumstances, the royal scholars in Hanlinyuan realized the unsuitable situation firstly. The affair of the so-called Four Official Critics in Hanlinyuan banners the motives of the royal scholars has come into their struggle of changing their Taigeti-styled works of composing status. Since then, the scholars with Hanlinyuan backgrounds have lost their acceptation to the Taigeti-styled works, which marked the inevitable trends of Taigeti's falling.The Cha Ling group was a transition from the Taigeti-styled works to the restoration group. the Cha Ling poets had a common feeling of being hermits with official status during the mediocre period of the Cheng Hua times. They did not care their official ranks and salaries, but preferred to open up a piece of oasis in the roaring crowds to rest themselves with a still and clean situation oftheir hearts, though they have had respectable ranks and status.The Cha Ling poets were also for the literary restoration as the Restoration group, but they held a gentler attitude towards this and was not so strastic as Li Mengyang. Shao Bao, a poet of the Cha Ling group held that one should learn from the ancient poets, however, one did not have to learn from and composed like the six classical Confucianism books and the Book of Songs, even one might learn from the present renowned masters. And also, he held that the literary restoration should be used to work for the benefits of the present society, which should be paid enough attention to. By the mid-and-late period of the Cheng Hua years, a trend of new literary force grew up gradually outside the pavilions at the Imperial Academy, it is the literature colony of administrator and scholar in the local authorities at all levels. They gradually changed leather pass by that kind of only in conformity with that manservant handle affairs for officer's life style duty. At the public affair leisure , they would take advantage of gathering the chance to drink , probe into the situation at that time, encourage each other by means of writing poems and articles to describe the impressions. Especially the administrator officials such as Shao Bao and Chu Quan were more active. On one hand, they themselves were outstanding writers who reached great achievements, on the other hand, they worked as tutors for the younger generations of administrators actively which fastened the thrive of the administrators literary group. These official writers who worked in their duty after a long-term formed practical style in exercising the public affairs had washed off the weakness and superfluous ness of member of Imperial Academy scholar and demonstrated the vigorous and upward artistic style and features in literary creation. In creating the fundamental key tone, on one hand, they began to take pains in the style of poem creation and advocated a style to be high and ancient, which became the pioneers of the later Li Mengyang who launched the literary restoration movement; On the other hand, they formed a clear one serious Han, Wei hold knowledge orientation of Tang specially, this was not finished when being the administration until Li Mengyang became leader of the administrator writers.It is a looser period in political history of Ming Dynasty in the period of Hong Zhi. Emperor Xiao Zong showed extraordinary preferential treatment to the minister's of literature, which encouraged the newly officials such as Li Mengyang who had just passed the official-selection examination greatly. In the fifteenth year of Hong Zhi, Kang Hai's examination article was appointed as the first place by Emperor Xiao Zong, which put up a model and direction to the literature revitalization. The renowned KangHai left the Imperial Academy and moved into the administrator creators, which announced the disintegration of this literature dominant position of the Imperial Academy. And literature created by the administrators began to appear on the remarkable position of the literary world. Enlarge and manage it towards the rise of literature in the period of Hong Zhi caused the vigilance and opposition of such Neo-Confucianism minister, such as Liu Jian. They often suppressed and attacked the younger generation of literature creators, for which caused the struggle between the so-called literature force and Neo-Confucianism force. This struggle lasted till the Zheng De years when Eunuch Liu Jin upset imperial politics which caused the resign of Liu Jian from his position of prime minister and the departure of the administrative officers engaged in literature restoration began to convert themselves to Buddhism and Taoism, which declared a temporary break of the struggle. The later Confucianism scholar, Wang Shouren, transformed the theory of former Confucianism put by the Chengs and Zhu Xi and made its shape appear a new looks and connected and guided the administrator officers engaged in literature creation to his school, which began a new struggle between the literature force and the Confucianism force in a new level.In the Chang Hua years, the emperor and his ministers cared little about their business affair, and the customs and social circumstance became disordered in all ways. People could not keep still and the feudalist order was threatened. However, the Confucianism scholars then were still completely for the ever-formed theory put by the former scholars, which could do nothing to the changed social reality. Thus some new Confucianism scholars like Chen Xianzhang and Zhuang Chang could not tolerate such circumstance and made their minds to open up a form of the Confucianism theory which could bring about a relief to the then people and put the social circumstance into orders. They lived themselves in mountains and woods and held that scholars should sit still to engage in the uncovering of the material desire from the minds and put them into their primary state which could be exchanged with the Rules. They also held that one's mind was satisfactorily self-reliance with the Rules. This was the natural exhibition of the Rules in people's minds. Therefore, the Rules exited not in the book collections and preach speech by the former scholars but in everyone's deep mind. The Chenzhuangti styled poetry creation was just based on this theory. Chen and Zhuang did not pay much to the written form theory in words, but just put their thoughts into the creation of poemcreation although they engaged themselves into the building and transformation of new Confucianism theory. They looked themselves as Confucians but not poets. They wrote poems in order to excise, exhibit, test and advocate the Rules and thus the creation was close inseparable to their Confucianism ideas. Therefore, we should pay much more attention to the form of poetry composition's sense of watchword of the times and the Confucianism ideas it contained, but not just to their literal significance and value. Of course, some of their conceptions on poetry creation such as the emphasis on the natural feelings and primary nature should also be worthy of paying attention to.There were two extinguished literary groups, which drew most of people's attention in the literary arena during the Hong Zhi and Zheng De period. They were the Capital restoration group headed by the seven scholars and the Suzhou centered Wuzhong group. The Wuzhong scholars connected the literary conventions of emphasizing on talents and feelings with the then time spirits of emphasizing on tastes and interests in their literary creation which thus resulted in the characters of exhibition of human feelings and free spirits when literary composing. At the same time, stimulated by the negative influence of the official-selection examination article style, the Wuzhong scholars began to turn to the ancient classical works, which contained pure feelings and real knowledge. Thus the Wuzhong literary group became another restoration company with the Seven-Scholar group in literary restoration creation and formed the main literary trend of the Hong Zhi and Zheng De period. As a regional literary group though, the Wuzhong scholars were not narrow-minded and negative in eyesight .On the contrary, they held wide transitions in conceptions and works which brought them profits of betterment with the Cha Ling group, Seven-Talents group in Capital and the Chenzhuangti styled group with active and open mind. The Wuzhong literature exhibited distinct characters of coping with the time development, nature, open and individualization.The contrastive study among the four literary groups should be studied in many perspectives. As for the Wuzhong group and the Seven-Talents group, both of them were for literary restoration. However, the members of the Wuzhong group, which was a regional one, were scholars out of office and they were relatively without worldly desires to the affairs of state, what they heldwas not merely restricted to the poetic prose field, but the multi-field and omni-directional one. The restoration was engaged in a way of art and ultra utility way and what they pursued was a perfect individual character. Also, in their creation process, feeling was put in the center position, and style was not so emphasized. The seven talents group members were regarded young and vigorous doctorates holding office and they held a strong utility will to develop the literature of then period and pursue the leader position of the then literary arena. What they emphasized on was basically prose field and, as for style concerned, Han, Wei and flourishing Tang styles were respected and modeled after, which drew back the center position of feelings in prose production.As for the Wuzhong group and the Chenzhuang group, both of them were out of office though, they led different life styles and realms. The concealing life of the Wuzhong scholars led was mostly Righteous alone in a community where the general moral tone is low and what they cared most was themselves and they would often rest themselves in poetry, article, calligraphy and drawing, which could bring them free feeling and perfect life-leading but not in the ambition to save the times. The concealing life led by Chen and Zhuang was predestined to save the social circumstance and to develop the holy Confucianism. The Wuzhong poetry emphasized on feeling and the Chen and Zhuang emphasized on temperament. The coarse style of Wuzhong poetry was mostly simple, humorous, free and scanty. The coarse style of Chen and Zhuang embodied as the widely appeared tiresome Confucianism cliche.As for the Chenzhuang group and the Cha Ling group, both of them were the most outstanding literary groups during the Cheng Hua period. The former lived as hermits in the Countryside Mountains and woods and the later lived as hermits in the Capital official circles though, the same life conception of being hermits resulted their common base stone in literary and concept exchanges. However, the Chen and Zhuang's choice to be hermits was an active and self-conscious one, but the Cha Ling group members chose to live in seclusion was just a kind of the cabinet officials' self-consoling, compromise and making the best of things of helplessness reality which embodied their life conception was a passive one.
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