Hanbei Literature Study

The thesis takes the Han Dynasty epitaph as the study object, referring to epitaph writing as a kind of literary phenomenon and literary form, using the literary view to examine and appraise the Han Dynasty epitaph comprehensively and systematically. In the study are included the probing into the process of Han epitaph's origination, evolution and maturation, the epitaph writing contents, style features, language characteristics, artistic tactics, the bearing of cultural ideas, and the Han epitaph's diffusion and influences. Through the building up of the Han Dynasty epitaph literature study framework, the author try to sketch the general view of the development of Han epitaph, reveal the change pattern of the Han epitaph writing style, and enrich active and detailed materials for Han Dynasty literature history study. The whole thesis is divided into seven parts.The thesis begins with introduction, in which the author introduces the background of the thesis choice, the study focuses, related research progress. The principal contents, study significances and study methods are also expounded in this part.Chapter one: The social reasons of Han epitaph's rise. The East Han social background for the rise and prosperity of Han epitaph and the evolution of the inscription stone as diffusing media are examined. For the reason of prevail elaborating burials and tomb sacrifice customs, and influenced by ideas of filial piety and leaving name behind, tomb stone inscription as a kind of literary style came into being. The promotion of social productivity laid material foundation for the occurrence of Han tombstones, and the dark political situation made the epitaphs developing fast among the populace.Chapter two: The formation of Han epitaph style. The origin of tombstone and evolution of inscription writings are discussed. The writing style came from the composition of different literary types and styles and was influenced by varying factors in the evolution process. The Han epitaph development features are described, and several developing periods are distinguished, according to which the epitaph producing, general characters and related reasons are analyzed respectively.Chapter three: The producing of Han epitaph. The factors related to Han epitaph producing are elaborated, such as purposes, materials, subjects, and writing rules. The great Han epitaph writer Cai-Yong is taken as a typical example and his composition practices are addressed in detail. Cai-Yong's epitaph writings exhibit his excellent literary talents and superb language expressive skills, reflecting his consciousness of art pursuit and representing the highest level of Han epitaph writing.Chapter four: The literary features of Han epitaph. The literary forms of Han epitaph are discussed with respect to language characteristics, artistic tactics, epitaph structure, and writing arrangement. Meanwhile, the relationship between Han epitaph and other Chinese classical literatures is explored, trying to reveal the deep reasons for the forming of the Han epitaph.Chapter five: The cultural connotation of Han epitaph. The main focus is on the discussion of life value, etiquette and custom in Han Dynasty to better understand the inherent impetus of Han epitaph evolution.Chapter six: The acceptance and influence of Han epitaph. Han Dynasty is the important period in which the Chinese epitaph developed, writing style is formed and epitaph writing example is built up. Through combing the situation of the Han epitaph acceptance and diffusion, the value of Han epitaph can be recognized and the objective historical status can be decided. The literary value of Han epitaph is waiting for further exploration, and its literary status should be acknowledged.Based on the above analysis, the author concludes that the literature history study should not merely focus on the mainstream literature forms, but need to pay much more attention to the practical literatures as well. By addressing the pragmatic developing state of the literatures and relevant ideas, the evolution process of literatures can be restored objectively and truly.