In China The Old Narrative Poem Of Change (1840-1940)

The century between 1840 and the 1940s was one of the hardest and most radically changing eras in Chinese history, which had greatly influenced the classical narrative poetry written during this period.As during the 1800s the traditional ideas of the world in ancient Chinese civilization were eventually replaced by the idea of "modern world system", which was invented and developed by Westerners from 1500s to 1700s, the ideas about the world and the self-identification of the Chinese people expressed in narrative poetry in traditional styles was composed of a lot of western geographical, ethnical and racial terms such as "Asia" and "Mongolian race". Modern nationalism became a great influence on the poets of this period. They also began to regard the western civilization and Christianity as inevitable for Chinese society. As the tributary system in ancient East Asia eventually collapsed during the 1800s, the facts and ideas of a new international order in East Asia and the life of Chinese people under foreign authorities were also considered important in classical narrative poetry composed between 1840s and 1940s."Poetry as History" is one of the most significant ideas in traditional Chinese literary criticism. As for the narrative poetry in traditional styles composed between 1840s and 1940s, it usually refers to the expansion of contents and literary techniques. The poets also began to write about the rises and falls of the other nations such as Turkey and Japan.The radical changes and fatal clashes of morality and values in modern China were also an important part of the contents of the classical narrative poetry. Some poets wanted to keep the traditional society and ethics completely, which was determined to fail. The poets also began to describe the life and destiny of some communities which was condemned in traditional society such as courtesans and actors.Poetic styles always define the contents and methods of expression greatly in classical Chinese poetry. Yuefu was comparatively freer in vocabulary and contents, which made it the main style in the "Revolution of Poetry". Changqing Style, however, was more exclusive to new words and themes, which prevent it from the exact expression of reality. This problem was more evident in the Recent Style poetic cycles, which urged the poets to find other methods such as adding notes or introductions to solve this problem.