Study Of Zhang JI-Liang's Literature

Beside his poems,Zhang Jiliang,an important patriotic poet around the Opium Wars,produced a vast amount of ancient Chinese proses,verses and Xiaxie notes(prostitutes biography),and compiled a regional poetry anthology Poems of Venerable Elders in Jianning(Jian Ning Qi Jiu Shi Chao).Since the 1980s,the related studies on Zhang Jiliang put emphasis on his non-fiction poems,but gave little attention to the other works,not to mention a systematic study on his writings.Based on existing research results,this thesis presents a systematic study on the content and significance of Zhang's works.Taking into consideration the historical context during the reigns of Emperor Jiaqing(1796-1820)and Emperor Daoguang(1821-1850)in the Qing Dynasty,the thesis aspires to provide a comprehensive,systematic understanding about Zhang's writings and to shed new light on his literary achievements.The analysis of this thesis is conducted by the genres which Zhang's writings can be categorized into,that is,poetry,ancient Chinese prose,verses,Xiaxie notes and his compiled work.Zhang's poetry features rich themes,including documentary poems,landscape poems,feast poems,farewell poems,Huaigu poems to recall the past,and poems for paintings,which reflects Zhang's life,interests and thoughts,as well as a social vogue for paintings and literati gathering upheld in the Qing Dynasty.In addition to the content of Zhang's poetry,this thesis also explores its poetic art which involves various types of poetic genres,frequently-used long titles,sub-titles,poetic preface,and notes of title or poem.Zhang's poetry features a gloomy,bold and unrestrained state of mind in style,but he also wrote bright and graceful poems.Zhang Opposed to simulate and learned from the Flourishing Tang poetry.His practice in poetic creation and his poetic thoughts such as "The purpose of study is to pursue truth","Knowledge nourishes the spirit"highlight the poetic circles during the Jiaqing and Daoguang reigns.Zhang's proses and verses are not many in number but covers a wide range of styles including biographies,prefaces,letters,essays,notes and so on,which contribute to the research on his life and thoughts.Zhang's Xiaxie notes Tears Left on the Dressing Table(Jin Tai Chan Lei Ji)and Record in Nanpu(Nan Pu Qiu Bo Lu)depict the lives of prostitutes based on what he had seen and heard.The two notes are grounded in historical backgrounds and personal experiences,which is of precious historical and literary value.Poems of Venerable Elders in Jianning,compiled by Zhang Jiliang and Li Yungao,is a collection of regional poetry.It demonstrates the basic development course of poetry in Jianning county and has significance to the inheritance and research of regional literature.Three new approaches are proposed in this thesis:the first one is intensive analysis of The Pedigree of Zhang's Family in Sui'an(Sui An Zhang Shi Zu Pu),A Record of Old Friends(Jiao Jiu Lu)and Poems of Venerable Elders in Jianning,which were of no concern before;the second one is comprehensive evaluation of Zhang's achievements in literature.The last one is the conduction of field investigation,data analysis and graphical method which add the directness and objectivity to the thesis.