Researching On The Styles Of Speeches In Spring And Autumn Period

This thesis mainly carries on the research into various styles of the speech appropriate to the occasion in Spring and Autumn Period. There were a great number of these speeches in some historical records such as Zuozhuan and GuoYU. Generally speaking, people think that these languages appropriate to the occasion were spoken directly at that time or written by the author of Zuozhuan and GuoYu. That was a misunderstanding of the speeches appropriate to the occasion in Spring and Autumn Period. First, they may have been spoken by the speaker or recorded by the official historian and touched up by the compiler, which were still the reflection of the people's thought and the style of writing of that time. Second, these speeches appropriate to the occasion were not stated orally. Most of them were written on bamboo slips and silk beforehand. It was a very common phenomenon to change the ready article into the speeches appropriate to the occasion in ancient China, not only in pre-Qin Period, but also in Two Hans (the Western and the Eastern Han Dynasties). The speeches appropriate to the occasion in Spring and Autumn Period included the main style of prose at that time. The study on this topic is important to make clear the prose-writing conditions in Spring and Autumn Period.This thesis holds the opinion that there were many kinds of styles in the speeches appropriate to the occasion in Spring and Autumn Period, such as alliance, oath, elegy, prayer, letter of credence, letter of correspondence, order, admonition, comment, diplomatic language, etc., divided into ten chapters to study each style and show the existence and characteristic of these styles one by one.As the basis of the style, the speeches appropriate to the occasion is the key point this thesis discusses, which is also the foundation of the study on styles. This thesis carries on the argument from following aspects: first, some styles were the essential document of related protocol at that time, not only to be written on bamboo or wooden slips, but also to be read out in public. The styles: alliance, oath, elegy, prayer, order, belonged to the situation mentioned above. These styles had already formed the stable and complete characteristic and were applied commonly. It was no doubt that the language appropriate to the occasion of alliance, oath, elegy, prayer and order all came from the written materials. Second, use the cultural relics excavated from underground to prove. The cultural relics which excavated from Houma and Wenxian were irrefutable evidence that studied the alliance and oath. Thus, it was obvious that the speeches appropriate to the occasion of alliance and oath needed to be written on bamboo, wooden and jade slips. The QinYan's prayers on jade slips in Warring States Period were also a vivid display of the characteristic and manner of prayer. Third, the same speeches appropriate to the occasion was seen in different historical records. After collating, it was found that the speeches appropriate to the occasion in this book was clearly recorded as the dispatch, while the dialogue in that book was recorded neatly in this one, which was an ironclad proof of the speeches appropriate to the occasion recorded in the from of dialogue in historical records. This kind of situation always laid in written form, letter of credence, admonition, comment and diplomatic language. From another side, it showed that all these styles had complete written form at that time. Fourth, some speeches appropriate to the occasion were spoken orally and recorded by the official historians, who abided the faithful records principle. Even though the characters had a little change, the content and structure wouldn't have had a big difference. Others were touched up by compilers and could also reflect the people's thought at that time. The speeches of Confucius in Analects were handed down by his disciples, still belonging to Confucius himself. So did the speech appropriate to the occasion in Spring and Autumn Period. These situations existed in admonition, comment and diplomatic language and showed this kind of style had still being in a dynamic and complex condition. The argument between written language and spoken language in Spring and Autumn Period is a theoretical study on persuasive prose from oral form to written form.This thesis classifies and organizes the applied characters in pre-Qin Period according to different styles, in order to display the structure and characteristic of each style. Where one style differs from another, there comes the essence. The alliance included five main elements: the date, the members, the reason, the requirement and the curse, while the oath covered the date, the oather, the promise and the curse. Both of them referred to gods and had the mystic colour. But the difference was the curse of alliance was targeted at the whole members while the curse of oath was aimed at the oather, which had decided the different styles.The elegy was something to pronounce a eulogy and appraisal over the dead; the prayer was the special language appropriate to the occasion used to pray; the letter of credence was dialogues between different nations used for invitation and notice; the order was given to a junior person in Spring and Autumn Period, including the reason and content of the reward and best wishes; the admonition was sent to a senior person in Spring and Autumn Period, emphasizing the way of criticism; the comment covered the comments on different fields such as politics, theory, war and people, which was the precursor and harbinger of different philosophers and authors.This thesis also aims at the origin, development and influence on the literature of later generations of each style. The creation of each style contains related cultural background and becomes the origin of the new style. The research on the relation of imparting and inheriting is very helpful to make clear the historical function and position of the styles in Spring and Autumn Period. The elegy heralded other styles such as profiles of a deceased person, posthumous title, etc. The admomtion affected the formation of Zhang, Biao, Zou, Qi, Yi and Shu. The comment made preparations for Yi, Lun, Shuo,Jie,Bian and Yuan. The diplomatic language influenced the lobbies of militaries in Warring States Period. After the vertical comparison, it was found that oath, order and prayer had being declined during the Spring and Autumn Period, while alliance and letter of credence had reached its peak, and elegy, admonition, comment and diplomatic language had being ascendant.The difference of styles result from different situations, so special emphasis shall be laid on each style. Alliance, oath, elegy, prayer and order had a very close tie with related protocol and culture, which needed a further study on protocol system and cultural background. Admonition, comment and diplomatic speech should be paid more attention, for their glorious achievement. The forefathers' researches on this field give this thesis a strong support, which can also be seen in each chapter.