The Research On Zha-Shenxing's Poetry

Zha Shenxing,together with Shi Runzhang,Song Wan,Wang Shizhen,Zhu Yizun and Zhao Zhixin has long been known as the great poet in the beginning of Qing Dynasty.His poetic creation,representing the highest achievement of the so called "Song Poem School" and being its model,exerts a wide and far-reaching influence on the circle of Qing poets.However,the research on Zha Shenxing's poetry is the weakest among the six poets mentioned above.Currently,the studies on Zha Shenxing's poetry in academic fields are usually confined to certain aspects,and has achieved few academically in terms of thorough and general study and analysis,which does not conform to the poet's status in poetic circle.This dissertation,focusing on Zha Shenxing's poetry,connecting the methods of description and interpretation,makes a thorough and multi-dimensional study on Zha Shenxing,including the thoughts and contents of his poetry,artistic features as well as his historical status in the poetic history of Qing Dynasty.The paper will cover the following four chapters:The first chapter dwells on an account of Zha Shenxing's poetry-based life.Zha Shenxing relates his major life experience to poetry,in which reproducing his own life experience is one of the recurring themes.Besides poetry-based life,with reference to other materials like histories,chronicles and notes,this chapter also probes into the causes of the significant events that Zha Shenxing meets with,which enables a deeper understanding of him.Zha Shenxing's life after 30 can be divided into 6 principal stages according to his major experience reflected in poetry,briefly,travelling far distance to Yang Yongjian's office,dismissed from the Imperial College due to the event of Chang Shengdian,bumpy honour-fame road and struggle for survival,10 years of official life, returning home,put into the imperial prison due to the case of Zha Siting.Zha Shenxing never left his hometown before 30.His father died in the 17^thKang Xi year,and the next year,in order to find a means of livelihood,he had to travel far to the office of Yang Yongjian,the grand coordinator of Guizhou.At that time,the chaos of the 3 vassal states in Southwest had not been put down,so Zha Shenxing underwent unimaginable difficulties in his 3 years of military career.In the fall of the 21^stKang Xi year,Zha Shenxing returned home,but due to economic difficulties,he attended Zha Peiji's office in Jiangxi the following year,the latter aiding him financially and enabling his entrance to the Imperial College in the 23^rdKang Xi year.He failed the country examinations in the 23^rdKang Xi year and 26^thyear.In August of the 28^thKang Xi year,he went to a gathering watching Chang Shengdian performed,and because it was less than 100 days from Queen Xiao Yitong's death,the gathering was lodged an accusation against,which is the well-known Chang Shengdian event.Zha Shenxing was dismissed from the Imperial College and had to leave the capital for getting entangled with this event.From the 29^thKang Xi year to the 41^styear,Zha Shenxing's honour-fame road was not smooth.Within those years,he failed 3 metropolitan examinations,dashed about to attend offices in order to survive,and thus fell into poor spirits.Out of the depth of misfortune came bliss in October of the 41^stKang Xi year,when he was summoned to South Study and bestowed favours by Emperor Kang Xi.There occurred 3 strange affairs:first,he became a successful candidate in the highest imperial examination and was elected to be a Shujishi of relief against instruction;second,he was conferred on a compiler in the 43^rdKang Xi year,while usually it takes 3 years for a person to become a compiler from Shujishi;third,in the fall of the 45^thKang Xi year,in less than 6 years, he was allowed to return to homeland burying parents.Zha Shenxing's 10 years of official life can be divided into 2 phases,the first the period of being in favour when he was appreciated by the Emperor and ascended directly to South Study,while the second the period of being out of favour when he lost favour in the Emperor's eyes and went to Wuying Publishing House compiling Peiwen Yunfu.Suffering from coldness and squeeze,Zha Shenxing gradually realized what officialdom really was.He felt he could fit in with it no longer,and therefore decided to make a quick retreat from it.In the 52^nd Kang Xi year Zha Shenxing returned to his homeland and began to enjoy the rural life at home.During this period he traveled to 3 different offices because of bad economic situation,respectively,the grand coordinator Manbao's office in Fujian in the 52^ndKang Xi year,the grand coordinator Fahai's office in Guangdong in the 56^thKang Xi year and the grand coordinator Baihuang's office in Jiangxi in the 58^thKang Xi year.Generally speaking,his life after resign from office was quiet.But the quietness was broken after the case of Zha Siting was exposed in the 4^thYong Zheng year.Accused of not having educated his child well as a parent,Zha Shenxing together with his whole family was put into the imperial prison.The origin of the case of Zha Siting,as a matter of fact, could be traced back to the competition for heir in the later period of Kang Xi's reign. Yin Reng,the fourth son of Emperor Kang Xi and successor to the throne,was not only cruel to his brothers,but intransigent toward the courtiers who had adjoined his political enemies.The Zhas were caught in the disaster because they didn't belong to the party of Yong Zheng in the political conflicts:Zha Siting's coffin was opened up and his corpse was chopped up;Zha Shenxing was released,but the unforseen misfortune on his family was such a heavy blow to him that he died in melancholy soon.The second chapter focuses on the epic feature of Zha Shenxing's poetry.Zha Shenxing's poems are conspicuous for its reflection of the extensive social life,which is mainly conducted from four aspects,that is,the documentary records of the political and military situation,the presentation of the social economy,the illustration of the life of the intellectuals and the description of the social norms and customs.Generally speaking,the political recording in Zha's poems mainly involves in the life of the emperors at that time including Emperor Kangxi and Yongzheng,This thesis takes the poems describing the life of Kangxi as examples to prove that Zha's poems record Kangxi's six times' inspections of the southern China,Kangxi's hunting in Summer Palace of Chengde and the banquet for thousands of aged men.Moreover,the appointment of the officials,the political environment,and the establishment of the counties can also find their ways in Zha's poems.In terms of military,Zha's poems describe such important fights as the Revolt of the Three Feudatories and the rebellion of Gerdan and at the same time,he also expressed his viewpoints on such military actions and affairs as setting up Jizhou Waterborne Troops in his poems.The presentation of social economy is also one of Zha's focuses,for example,the depression after the war,the heavy tax of the government,the management of rivers and channels, the development of commercial sense and international trade and the lingering memory of wanderers for their hometowns.Zha Shenxing's poems also presented the life of the intellectuals comprehensively,though which the readers could acquire such kind of information as the cultural policy,the communication of intellectuals and the art of paintings as well as the heritage of academic schools.The unique features of the scenic spots and customs in various parts of China are also revealed to the readers today through the vivid description of Zha Shenxing.In brief,it is due to the epic feature of his poetry that it can make up the historical loss and correct the historical errors.The third chapter mainly studies the artistic features of Zha Shenxing's poetry.The first two chapters center on the thoughts and contents as well as the significance of Zha Shenxing's poetry.And in this chapter,the aesthetic meaning and artistic value of his poetry will be focused on.Zha's artistic features will be analyzed from the aspects of his poetic innovation,straightforward style,penetrating comments,strict textual research and poetic verses,etc.Zha Shenxing proposed that artistic innovation,in addition to concentrating on the fields which are never,or seldom written by poetic ancestors, should be made mainly in the familiar field,which finds a perfect expression in his poems about Zhao Beikou and enjoying plums in Xiqian.Zha Shenxing held that it would be better for a poet to use more simple description and fewer allusions.The simple description held in esteem by the poet required that poems should abandon flowery language and complicated sentences,seeking a simple and natural style.His poems which best represent this feature are centered on the subjects as mountains,rivers and relatives.Without allusions,these poems rise to a very high artistic level by employing various rhetorical devices,such as metaphors,personifications,etc.,and the true feelings hidden in the verse lines.Zha Shenxing's sense poems not only interpret the laws of natural world,but also reveal the justice and sense of the worldly affairs,and succeed in merging law and justice to produce a reasoning taste.Moreover,his poetic comments are also embodied in his poems about history.The fact that his historical remarks are enlightening lies in his incomparably superior knowledge and strength which enable him to say what the others can not or dare not,which makes his poems embody the perfect combinations of talents,guts,knowledge and strength.Zha Shenxing's poems about history have another striking feature,i.e.,a strong emotion behind a gentle appearance,which is achieved through the use of repetitions and echoes. These poems,making senses from things,finding enjoyment from scenes and presenting meanings from chores,tell the meanings of themselves and at the same time, like the flow of the rivers,give the readers a sense of beauty.Most of Zha Shenxing's textual research poems are relatively long,sometimes with preface and notes,being typical academic poetry.This paper makes an analysis of the poetic verses in Zha Shenxing's poems from the aspects of the usages of"I love","dream" and repetition of the words.In terms of the general style,Zha Shenxing's poetry belongs to Song Poetic School,whose artistic achievements are due to his taking advantages of Song poetry and getting rid of its defects.The fourth chapter probes into Zha Shenxing's status in Qing poetic history, including the formation of his leading position and his influence on the middle and late Qing poetic circles.With some master-hands as his guides,Zha Shenxing's starting point for a poetic career was high.And in the process of his following Wang Shizhen and Zhu Yizun,Zha Shenxing could form a prominent feature of his own which is completely different from his two guides,and took charge of the poetic circle over 20 years after securing an official position.Zha Shenxing's poetry exerts great influences on Gediao School,Xingling School and Jili School in Qianlong period in middle Qing Dynasty.Zha Shenxing's influences on Gediao School represented by Shen Deqian mainly embody in thoughts and moral character,meanwhile inspire the latter's poetic proposal.Zha Shenxing' poetic practices and proposal of simple description and his emphasis on disposition influence Yuan Mei's Xingling school directly,and his disbelief in God or Buddha,his disapproval of authority and his respect for women also influence Yuan Mei's idea.Zhao Yi and Jiang Shiquan,together with Yuan Mei,who are called Jiang You Three Masters,are also under the influence of Zha Shenxing.Zhao Yi had the greatest esteem for Zhao Shenxing.He enlisted Zha Shenxing as one of the ten greatest poets in his Ou Bei Poetry Talks,which means only Wu Weiye could be in the same breath with him in Qing Dynasty.Jiang Shiquan's proposal that poetry follow the examples of both Tang and Song is also based on Zha Shenxing's idea.And his meticulous and vigorous style belongs to Song poetry in general,which is greatly influenced by Zha Shenxing's sense poetry and historical poetry.Jili school,represented by Weng Fanggang,paying close attention to knowledge and laying stress on presenting justice and sense with textual research,is also under direct influence by Zha Shenxing's textual research poetry.Besides,this paper,with rich and exact materials,also dwells on Zha Shenxing's influences on Gong Zizhen in late Qing poetic circle,He Shaoji and some other poets who initiated Song School Movement in Daoguang and Xianfeng periods,as well as "Tong Guang Style"poets,represented by Chen Yan in Tongzhi and Guangxu periods.The general poetic style of the Qing Dynasty is mainly built on the spirits of Song poetry.As the highest model of Song Poetry School in Kangxi and Yongzheng periods,Zha Shenxing's poetic creation is the origin of Song Poetry School from Qianlong till late Qing Dynasty,which is a great transition in the development of the whole Qing poetry.Zha Shenxing's poetry involves various names,among which many are illustrated by official positions and reputations,which brings certain trouble to the readers.So this dissertation attaches Jing Yetang Poem Collection Textual Notes on Names to the body of the paper with the hope that it will offer the readers some help.This dissertation justifies some innovative viewpoints,and thus in some degree fills in the gaps in this academic field.