The Academic Atmosphere And Poetics In The Late Ming Dynasty

The late Ming Dynasty mainly includes the period of chongzhen and tianqi.Arguments centering on the late Ming Dynasty are rare in the existing study of literature and poetics,which always become parts of the study related to the last period of Ming dynasty or the Turn of the Ming and Qing Dynasties/the Late Ming-Early Qing Period.The division between various periods usually corresponds to a certain study perspectives and paradigm.The characteristics and value of the late Ming Dynasty have not been understood due to the obscure division.During the late Ming Dynasty which connecting the last period of Ming dynasty and the early Qing dynasty,some important poetic statements has been rectified and deepened by reflecting the last period of Ming dynasty and responding to the arguments at that time.The so-called academic atmosphere contains many aspects,such as academic thought,political thought,the method and attitude of study,etc.It is widely acknowledged that the academic atmosphere and poetics are closely related.For example,when discussing the theory of Learning from Heart in the last period of Ming dynasty,the influence of the theory of YangMing cannot be ignored.In addition,people in Qing dynasty always criticized people in Ming dynasty not taking the academic research seriously which resulted in superficial literature and poetics in the Ming dynasty.Negative comments,though,shed some light on the influence of academic atmosphere.It might be a good choice to discuss the significance of poetics in the late Ming dynasty which has been clearly stated as above on the basis of the cultural trend and the development of poetics at the time starting from the relationships between the academic atmosphere and poetics.This paper is divided into five chapters.The first chapter mainly discusses the overall circumstances of the poetics.People in the late Ming Dynasty realized the negative consequences brought by studying inattentively and tried their best to spread the value of learning and cultivation by rethinking the imperial examination,the theory of YangMing,and the previous poetics.The second chapter is about adjustments of the attitudes and methods of the academic research.In terms of studying attitude,people of the time were no longer intolerant and imperiousas generally believed.They possessed full understanding and recognition of different views,so serious quarrels seldom occurred.Temperament peculiar to literators kept them from hurting each other's feelings.In addition,they would actively resolve conflicts if necessary.In terms of the studying methods,being fully aware of the importance of knowledge,they all pursued erudition and originality and laid emphasis on thoroughness in their literary criticism and writings.In the third chapter,we consider the connotation of sentiment at that time.Due to influence of pragmatism and respect for the classic,people were inclined to accept the traditional ideology.Those changes were not only responsive to the current literary conditions,but also the inevitable choice after they rethought thenliterary disadvantages.Meanwhile,they were closely linked with the mentalities which were deeply affected by political situations.It was universally emphasized that literature was of great significance to the society.In view of previous disadvantages,erudition and knowledge were regarded as the key to avoid the superficiality of sentiment.The fourth chapter deals with the confluence of theories of learning from heart and learning firom ancient.Owing to rethinking of the literary problems and the development of the two literary thoughts in the past hundred years,people all realized bias would cause disadvantages,which made them try to find new ways to mingle the two literary thoughts.They confirmed the principles and the basic ways to mingle on the basis of analyzing circumstances of literary creation and some concrete statements such as sentiment,reason,and law and so on.The fifth chapter is about the models.Specifically,it contains dynamic changes concerning arguments about learning the article of the Qin and Han dynasty or of the Tang and Song dynasty and about learning the poetry of the Tang dynasty or of the Song dynasty.In terms of the former arguments,discussions in the field of literature and thought became much more in-depth and subtle under the influence of changes of academic atmosphere.However,problems impelled unsophisticated and narrow-minded successors to find a way to mingle.In terms of poetry,they realized the values of the poetry in the Song dynasty,and analyzed its characteristics,advantages and disadvantages very carefully.Such research not only corrected people's attitude to the history of literature,but also inspired them to find the value of the poetry of the Ming dynasty.