Astudy On Xiao Gang's Pian Ti Wen

This dissertation deals with Xiao Gang's Pian Ti Wen (a kind of rhythmic prose in ancient China), which falls into a case study on Pian Ti Wen of the Six Dynasties.The main contents of the dissertation are composed of an introduction, Part One (including the main text and the other discourses) and Part Two. First of all, the introduction explains Pian Ti Wen's form elements in detail, which can be view as a general elaboration of Pian Ti Wen's forms and the reference to Xiao Gang's study of Pian Ti Wen. Secondly, it makes a brief description of Xiao Gang's writings and the purpose of this study. Part One has six chapters. The first chapter is a detailed analyze of Xiao Gang's Pian Ti Wen, including the observation of his lost articles and some lost sentences and ascertaining the quantities of his Pian Ti Wen that can be find today. It also involves the comparison of some collections of his Pian Ti Wen in Ming and Qing Dynasties. From the second chapter to the sixth chapter, the dissertation analyzes Xiao Gang's Pian Ti Wen's form beauty in detail. It has five aspects, such as sentence pattern, antithesis, rhetoric, allusion, rhythm etc. And the main purpose of the analysis is to show the characteristics of various applications of formal elements when Xiao Gang wrote Pian Ti Wen. The other discourses roughly revealed Xiao Gang's proper place in the history of Pian Ti Wen of the Six Dynasties: Xiao Gang played a role as inheriting the past and ushering in the future and had a bridge-like position in the history of Pian Ti Wen of the Six Dynasties. At the same time, he developed a writing model of the court Pian Ti Wen. He can be given the status of Master.Part Two is composed of three Chapters. First one is a review of the research on Xiao Gang by some ancient and modern scholars. We can understand the situation of the study on Xiao Gang through them. Second one is an analysis of the locations of the rhythmic sentences and words in Xiao Gang's Pian Ti Wen. It can be help for further study on the conditions of using rhythm. Third one recruits some comments on Xiao Gang'Pian Ti Wen, which come from well-known scholars. They can help us to know the writing value and style of Xiao Gang's Pian Ti Wen and to understand correctly his role in the history of Pian Ti Wen of the Six Dynasties.