Physical Poetics, And The Southern Song Dynasty Poetry

The goal of the present dissertation is a probe into the relation between Neo-Confucianism and poetics in the Southern Song Dynasty, with a special focus on a systematic review of thoughts of poetics hold by different schools of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty, on the basis of which an analysis is carried out on the Neo-Confucian elements contained in the poetics of major poets. The dissertation is composed of six chapters.In the introductory section, a survey of the boom and popularization of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty and the evolutionary trace of Neo-Confucian poetics is conducted. It briefly illustrates the connection between Neo-Confucianism and poetics.Chapter One mainly discusses the poetics of Zhu Xi and Huxiang school. In Zhu Xi were synthesized not only Neo-Confucianism, but also Neo-Confucian poetics. Under the guidelines of his Neo-Confucian thoughts, inheriting the poetic views of various schools of Neo-Confucianism in the Northern Song Dynasty, especially the thoughts of Cheng Yu and Yang Shi, Zhu Xi established such a comprehensive poetic theory that it included nearly all aspects of poetics, on the basis of his own poetic studies and understandings of writing. It can be said that Zhu Xi's poetics was a miniature of the essential relation between Neo-Confucianism and poetics, which contradicted and compromised with each other. Earlier than Zhu Xi, Hu An-guo founded the Huxiang school of poetics which was considered as the first banner in the field of Neo-Confucianism in the Southern Song Dynasty. Although this school did not make many outstanding contributions to poetics, some of their illuminating ideas were of great values. For example, Hu Yin, from the perspective that ci (poetry) and qu (songs) could raise the level of cultural life, realized the similarities between literature and Neo-Confucianism in temperamental cultivating.Chapter Two talks about the poetic theories of Lv Zu-qian and Yongjia school. Though Lv-zuqian was among the"three famous intellectuals in the southeast", he did not make much contribution to poetics. His emphasis on practicality of literature was reflected in his study of The Book of Songs and edition of The Selection of Articles of Song Dynasty, and had great influence...