Poetic archaicization: A study of Li Bo's fifty-nine 'Gufeng' poems

This dissertation focuses on the "Gufeng" (Ancient Airs), a set of fifty-nine old style pentasyllabic poems that constitutes a significant portion of the poetic corpus of Li Bo (701--762), the most fascinating, if not the greatest, poet in the history of Chinese literature. It commences with an introductory chapter setting the scope as well as explicating the methodology of study. Basic issues pertaining to the set such as how it came into form and the authenticity of the poems included in it are carefully examined so as to provide grounds for the interpretation of these oeuvres later on. Chapters 1--2 are devoted to surveying the background of the "Gufeng." The former chapter discusses the various factors contributing to the political situation of the early eighth-century China, which stirred deep feelings in the poet and triggered his composition of the "Gufeng." They are the emperor Xuanzong himself, the powerful interest groups from his inner palace, the dominant ministers at his court, and the relation his government formed with the neighbors of China. The latter chapter probes into the development of the pentasyllabic poetry and the literary milieu of Li Bo's time, explaining how his concept of poetic archaicization arose and what it comprises. Then presented in chapter 3 is a critical analysis of the five subject topics of the fifty-nine poems. It provides a full view of Li Bo's inner universe reflected in these works. Chapter 4 offers a detailed discussion of the artistry of the "Gufeng" from three aspects: prosody, syntax and metaphor. Both of these chapters demonstrate that the intrinsic values of the "Gufeng" are in accord with the poet's idea of poetic archaicization. The closing chapter is a complete rendering of the poems studied, with elaborate annotation explaining the difficult lines studded with allusions. It is the hope of the author that through this dissertation the true nature and values of the poems are brought to light.