Research On The Development View Of Poetry In Ming Dynasty

The poetics in the Ming Dynasty was flourish.There was a wide range ofpoetic schools in the Ming Dynasty,and the controversy among the schools wassevere.With a series of debates,the poetic theorists improved their points andtheories constantly,which imposed positive impacts on the poetics in the MingDynasty.Seemingly,the poetic theorists in different poetic schools did not agreewith each other.However,they had the common aim that to find the rationalmethods to promote the development of poetry.Compared with the previouspoetic theorists,the poetic theorists in the Ming Dynasty could pay attention tothe development of poetry more consciously,and probe into the related issues ofthe development of poetry.The introductory part analyzes the research status of the poetics in the MingDynasty,the meaning of this topic,the research methods and the innovationpoints.In addition,the main notion and the research scope are defined in thispart.Due to the general research mode of the research on poetic schools in theMing Dynasty,the common views of different poetic schools are ignoredfrequently.This thesis tries to research the common views of different poeticschools by reading the poetics written by poetic theorists in Ming Dynasty.Although the arguments among the theorists of different poetic schools wereheated,most of them held the same aim on promoting the development of poetry.The development view on poetry is the poetic theorists' understanding andviewpoints on the development of poetry,which includes one or several aspectsof the reconsidering on the troubles of the development of poetry,the evaluationon the development process of poetry,the analysis on the reasons of the development of poetry and the research on the methods of the development ofpoetry.The first chapter analyzes the social background in the Ming Dynasty,thegeneral situation of poetics in the Ming Dynasty and the poetic developmentviews in different periods of time in the Ming Dynasty.At the beginning of MingDynasty,the cultural condition was conservative and people did not have plentyof personalities.After mid Ming Dynasty,with the development of economy andsociety,the idealogy and culture developed remarkably.In the later Ming Dynasty,an increasing number of scholars argued that individuals should possesspersibilities and express their own feelings.In the late Ming Dynasty,the culturalatmosphere was neutral and objective.In the changing situation,there wereplenty of poetic schools.The fundamental aim of the poetic theorists in differentpoetic schools in the Ming Dynasty was common.In fact,they all wanted toimprove the poetic theories to direct the poetic writing,which could promote thedevelopment of poetry.The second chapter studies the reconsidering on the troubles of thedevelopment of poetry of poetic theories in the Ming Dynasty.On one hand,theprosperity of poetic theories from Song Dynasty had not guide the poem writingideally.There were three main reasons.Firstly,the poetic theories could guidepoets to follow the rules,but writing excellent poems needed the abilities ofpoets as well.Secondly,some poets did not understand the poetic theoriesexactly,so they could not practice the advice.Thirdly,some poetic theories werenot rational,which might impose negative impacts on poem writing.On the otherhand,there were some defects in poem writing,such as writing poems forutilitarian purposes,paying excessive attention on poem rules,copying famouspoets' works before and neglecting the basic rules of poems.All of thesebehaviors might exert negative influence on the development of poetry.The third chapter studies the analysis on the reasons of the development ofpoetry of poetic theories in the Ming Dynasty.Firstly,poet's ability,knowledgeand attainment could exert influence on the development of poetry.Not onlycould poet's ability affect the applying of his knowledge,but it could affect thequality and the artistic styles of poems.The knowledge of a poet could help himwrite delicate poems and express his emotion without strain.If a poet did notpossess sufficient knowledge,he might follow others' poetic views easily andeven depart from the right way of poem writing.A poet's attainment could helphim write high-artistic-state poems.Secondly,the environment and the trend oftimes influenced the poets directly,and then influenced their poem writing.Although poets possessed subjective initiative,the effect of times should not beignored.As a matter of fact,poets could not realize the limitation of the timesthat he was living generally.Moreover,the development of poetry had its ownlaw.The fourth chapter studies the research on the methods of the developmentof poetry of poetic theories in the Ming Dynasty.Firstly,some poetic theories inthe Ming Dynasty thought that learning poetry from the previous excellent poetswidely could help poets to be outstanding ones.Learning from others did notmean copying others' works.In fact,they wanted to make change on the basis oflearning from previous poets.Secondly,some poetic theories in the Ming Dynastyheld that the development of poetry should depend on the environment and thetrend of times.Thirdly,most poetic theories in the Ming Dynasty argued thatpoem writing should be based on poets' real emotions,and the emotions shouldbe limited by senses.The fifth chapter studies the technical thinking that could make the formand the meaning of poems develop harmoniously.Most poetic theories in theMing Dynasty understood that the beauty of poems needed the support both ofrules and poets' attainments.As a consequence,the poetic theories held thatpoets should pay attention to the rules of poetry as well as the meanings ofpoetry.They argued that poets should write delicate poems by their attainments.Firstly,poets should avoid copy others' poems by their abilities and attainments.Secondly,poets should avoid writing in an ornate style.Thirdly,poets shouldthink hard before writing.The sixth chapter analyzes the historical value,the contemporary enlightenments and the limitations of the poetic theorists' viewpoints on thedevelopment of poetry in the Ming Dynasty.Compared with the previous poetictheorists,the poetic theorists in the Ming Dynasty could pay attention to thedevelopment of poetry more consciously,and their views on the development ofpoetry were more specific and systematic.In addition,the poetic theorists' viewpoints on the development of poetry in the Ming Dynasty laid a solidfoundation for the development of the poetics in the Qing Dynasty.There are twomain contemporary enlightenments of the poetic theorists' viewpoints on thedevelopment of poetry in the Ming Dynasty.Firstly,it is necessary for modernindividuals to learn Chinese ancient poetry.Secondly,scholars are supposed tostudy the poetics in the Ming Dynasty by reading and respecting objectivedocuments.Obviously,the poetic theorists' viewpoints on the development ofpoetry in the Ming Dynasty have limitations,such as some unreasonable viewsand the limited theorization.