The End Of The Qing Song Poetry School Literati Groups Study

This paper puts forward the concept of "the literary community of the school ofSong poems (SSP) in the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China (LQDERC)",referring to the poets community holding Song dynasty poems in esteem in the yearsof Guangxu, Xuantong and LQDERC. The representatives are Chen Sanli, ZhengXiaoxu, Shen Zengzhi, Chen Yan, Chen Baochen and others. Breaking through theresearch mode of academic discussion, the thesis takes people and their literarymovements as study objects and separates them from the SSP in years of Daoguangand Xianfeng. Therefore, the name of "the school of Song poems in the late Qingdynasty and early Republic of China" is adopted. Besides, to the contrary of thecommon belief that this is only a loosely tied literary group, it is a community withfixed members, tight communication and to some extent, consciously, making use ofthe modern media to expand its influence. Basing on the first-hand collected material,this dissertation analyzes in detail the literary activities of these poets in years1895-1921. There are six chapters in this paper:The first chapter probes into the early literary activities of several poets who laterbecame heads of SSP. In Hunan, Chen Sanli, Wang Kaiyun, Guo Songtao and so onformedthe Blue Lake Poem Society. They got together frequently and many of themembers kept close touch with Chen Sanli for a lifetime. Zheng Xiaoxu lived hisearly years in Peking and through his good friends—Wang Kezhang, Huang Shaoji,Zhang Qian and Shen Zengzhi, established wide contact with outstanding poets inliterature world in his time. Chen Yan, then only a local noteless poet, founded theBranch Society of Fuzhou in Fujian about the year 1882. The province examination in1882 was significant to the poets of SSP. That year, Chen Sanli, Zheng Xiaoxu andChen Yan went to the capital to take part in the same province examination. Zhengand Shen appreciated each other very much on their first meeting and they becamebosom friends. Zheng also met Chen for the first time. Although having no substantialconnection with each other for rather a long period, they shared a conjunct friendcircle.The second part mainly discusses the relation between the community of SSPliterati and Zhang Zhidong's thinking pad. The breakout of the war in 1894 had changed the literature field deeply. Several poets of SSP joined Zhang Zhidong'sthinking pad and they met frequently, discussed poems and the theory of poems. Inthis period budded the important theory of SSP—"Three Yuan Theory"(The years ofKaiyuan and Yuanhe in Tang dynasty and Yuanyou in Song dynasty). Meanwhile, thecommunication in the thinking pad provided a greater platform for SSP to contactexcellent poets all over the country and the repute of SSP began to spread.The third chapter explores the get-together and society founding of SSP. In 1907,Chen Yan, an ideologue of SSP, went to the capital and often gathered with the Pekingpoets. The activities of "xinhai society" centering poets of SSP exerted great influencein Peking. At the same time, Chen Sanli met other poets in Nanjing and changed theiropinions with frequency and gradually grew to a leader of poem field. With thebreakout of the war in 1911, most of the SSP members went to Shanghai. They recitedand changed opinions with acquaintances who were advocates of the former dynastyand formed "chaoshe society" and "yishe society". From these societies andget-togethers it is clear that SSP was becoming the main stream of the poem field.The fourth chapter discusses the diffusion of the influence of SSP through theconnection by blood, birthplace and discipleship. Former scholars have alreadynoticed the connection by birthplace of SSP, but they pay less attention to theconnection by blood and discipleship. Original documents have been read, this paperexplains the complicated ties among literati communities of SSP and attempts toanalyze the familiarity and alienation among them through the theory of relationnetwork.The fifth chapter studies the relation between SSP and modern media. In 1912,Shi Yi Shi Shi Hua published on Yong Yan edited by Liang Qichao was the symbol thatmodern Song poem movement has entered a new era. In 1915-1920, SSP published ahost of articles using the platform of The Orient Magazine and Tongguang style (aschool which mainly imitated the Song poem style; actually, Tong refers to the yearsof Tongzhi and Guang, the years of Guanxu in Qing dynasty) became a literary trendthat prevailed in the classic poem seminar in the Republic of China. Of the 1700poems published in the poem column of The Orient Magazine, 70% was composed bySSP. Therefore, how the SSP took up and utilized such important literary diffusionresource is examined in this thesis.The sixth chapter explores the connection between the SSP literati communityand other literati communities in LQDERC. From researching the ties between SSPand the "revolutionists of poem society", it could be seen that their diverge is not as huge as we thought. From reexamining the controversy between Tang and Songpoems in Nan Society in 1917 we can find that this is a literary dispute—ancounterattack from Liu Yazi against the strong pressure of SSP. And Xueheng Societyresembles SSP a lot in the aspect of spirit origin and its leagues also have complicatedconnections. We can see that SSP is a group with strong cohesion and great forcesover other communities in the early Republic of China.This dissertation tries to surpass the standpoint of evolutionary model andideological determinism of "new" and "old" and study the group into the concretehistorical context. Based on plentiful materials and careful study, the conclusion isreached: SSP in LQDERC is a transitional literati community between traditionalliterary school and modern literary society and represents the Chinese culture'stransitional complexity from classic to modernness.