A Study On Scholars And Literature In Late Ming And Early Qing Dynasties Of Central Yue Area

In late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, Central Yue Area witnessed a literary boom with the emerging of a group of outstanding playwrights, writers and poets. The present article intends to conduct a comprehensive study on scholars and literature in this specific period from three different perspectives: cultural tradition, politics and literary trend of thoughts. The article is consisted of a preface and three columns, which includes a total of 11 chapters.The preface introduces the research status in the academic circle, the scope of research of the current article, the reason for choosing the topic and basic ideas.The first column tries to analyze the relationship between the cultural tradition of Yue and the local scholars and literature in the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties. The geographic location, production and life style as well as the local customs all contribute to the formation of cultural characters of the Central Yue Area. The local culture not only affects the spiritual aspiration, thoughts and cultural fashion among the scholars, but also has a great influence on the local literature. Thus, the literature of the Central Yue Area has its unique feature in terms of literary form, topic and style.The second column analyzes the relationship between the politics of the time and the local scholars and literature. Literary scholars of Central Yue Area are closely linked to politics and play a very important role in the political stage. During the conflicts between political parties in the Late Ming Dynasty, the scholars of Central Yue Area stand on the side of and supported the up-straight Donglin Party. Under the South Ming Administration, they support the Hongguang Authorities and support King Lu on fighting against the Qing Administration. At the political transition period, the political performance of the scholars of Central Yue Area fully reflects their cultural tradition of upholding moral integrity and conduct. The political environment of the time has a great influence on the local literature and directly affects the topics and tones of the poems.The third column analyzes the relationship between the cultural trend of thoughts and the scholars and literature of the Central Yue Area. The romantic cultural trend in the Late Ming Dynasty had a deep influence on the literary development of the Central Yue Area. In the aspect of traditional opera, the theme of upholding individual consciousness and refuting the outside world is popular. In the aspect of article and poem, the poems and the articles of Tao Wangling, Wang Siren, Zhang Dai and Qi Biaojia all reflect the romantic literary trend typical of the Late Ming Dynasty. To the literary reconnaissance of Ming Dynasty, scholars of Central Yue Area respond differently, either disagree, or agree or support actively. In this period, the socially practical trend of literature is further developed. Scholars like Huang Zongxi, Zhu Shunshui and Mao Qiling pay high attention to social and practical help and use in their literary creation and contribute greatly to the formation of a practical literary style in the early Qing Dynasty.