The Study On Gentry Class Culture Being Revealed From Yan Family Instructions

Yan Zhitui’s Yan Family Instructions reflected mainly the family life ofgentry classes in the Northern Qi Dynasty.This thesis tries to study the clture ofgentry class reflecting from Yan Family Instructions and pursue the features ofgentry class culture by comparison with Yuan Family Precepts for Social Life.Yan Family Instructions is taken as the study object in from Chapter One toChapter Five, inquiring into the characteristics of gentry class culture in theperiod of the Northern and Southern Dynasties and attempting to get a basicunderstanding of it.This thesis observes Yuan Family’s Buddhism belief in Chapter Centeringon Buddhism. Buddhism was enjoying its highly prevailing stage during the WeiJin Southern and Northern Dynasties when the top class intellectuals personallytook part in the translation of Buddhist Texts andpreaching. Buddhism has a strong influence on Chinese culture, therefore,it is something that can not be overlooked if the gentry class culture of the timecould be studied better. Centering on Buddhism, as one of20Chapters,concentrates on Yan Zhitui’s understanding of Buddhism.Another important expression of the gentry class culture is the pursuit of literature. Literature consciousness began to be aroused in Wei Jin period,literature gradually got to flourish among gentry classes and became not only avogue but also one of the important contents of family learning heritage. Theculture trait of literature is different from that of the study of Confucian classicswhich was the gentry classes’ traditional family learning heritage, evendeparting from it, this was what Yan Zhitui worried about. The author thinks thedevelopment of gentry classes had a subtle and important link with the literaturepursuit, this should be further thought over and discussed.The evaluation of characters in the book reflected the social idea and thevalue orientation in culture of gentry family’s that Yan Family stood for. Thisthesis observes and analyzes both the ancient characters and the legendarypersonages in the book.The gentry class culture reflected in the book was no doubt a kind ofaristocratic culture. Aristocrats in that time had both the guarantee of abundantmaterial life and the very cultural advantage that beyond the reach of any otherclasses, so only they were able to develop the most graceful&tasty intellectuallife of ancient China, what they did contributed a lot to preserve the traditionalChinese culture in chaotic historical period, making it continue and achieve the new. All of these were not accomplished at one stroke, it resulted from a longperiod of gestation and accumulation made by the gentry classes of the timethrough their endeavors.Comparing with Yan Family Instructions, we can find in Yuan FamilyPrecepts for Social Life that the disappearance of the gentry class culture wasthe key difference. In Yuan’s book, social people were classified as“high-ranking, rich, middle class, common people and tenant&servant”, suchdivision was not done in the consideration of cultural factors but according tothe more or less of wealth.Yuan Family Precepts for Social Life indicated that there was a lot ofmobility among these different classes. The family status barrier between gentryclasses and other classes in the Northern and Southern Dynasties resulted fromthe monopoly on culture and the long-time accumulation and inheritance offamily learning heritage could be in no way climbed over, but Yuan’ s bookrevealed there was no such barrier between the rich and the poor in Song societyLosing the status to monopolize culture and having no longer the cultureadvantage were the fundamental causes for gentry classes which once existed afew of centuries to step down the history stage. The cultural value and significance of Yan Family Instructions aresummarized in the conclusion.