| Tan Gui(1614-1680 CE)was born in the 42 nd year of the Ming dynasty Wanli(1572-1620 CE)period(1614 CE).His life of 67 years spanned turbulent times,seeing the fall of the Ming and rise of the Qing dynasties.As dynasties transitioned,the figure of Tan Gui serves as particularly representative of these times.While his life was reflective and emblematic of the lives of literati during at that time,he also served as a unique example of someone with a complex identity,way of thinking,and mode of moving through the world.As such,he became a controversial figure within aristocratic circles,and this controversy has carried over into our present day.Evaluations of a literary figure often influence the critical scholarship of his or her works.As his social circles were diverse,many of his works addressed these interactions with others.This invited criticism from all sides,and to this day there are many gaps in our full understanding of this writer and his literature.In actuality,an objective evaluation of Tan Gui’s writing,thought,artistic technique and lasting influence renders a body of work that cannot be scoffed at.This dissertation attempts to conduct a systematically objective description of vicissitudes through which Tan Gui moved,as well as of their influence upon his work.This context is provided in order to restore his public opinion environment to their originary context,removing them from the prejudices within which his literary corpus has fallen.At the same time,we examine the artistic merit and literary value of his works.This dissertation is divided into six chapters.The first chapter is the Preface,which introduce Tan Gui’s life while culling through his extant works,indicating the field of analysis this paper aims to cultivate.This chapter also brings light to scholarship on his writings,from his time until now;while articulating new theoretical approach,methodology,and overall research objectives.After combing through all this,we find that previous research and evaluation of Tan Gui’s work has been subjective,provided by scholars who were unable to see outside of the limitations of their own times.Scholarship has tended to examine his ci works,while neglecting his poetry.This disparity uncovers a schism between passive and active scholastic treatments of his literary corpus.Relatively speaking,actively objective treatment of his work is scarce,neglecting full discussion and appreciation of its value.This paper primarily addresses this point.Chapter one lays out the turbulent and unpredictable times within which Tan Gui lived,describing the transition between the late-Ming and early-Qing dynasties;while also discussing the events of Tan Gui’s life and the friends with whom he interacted.Discussion of his life is divided into periods of studying in Hangzhou,his official service at the end of the Ming,his conversion to Buddhism at Lingnan,as well as he transfer Buddhist scriptures from Jiahe period.From discussing these periods of transitional history as well as Tan Gui’s travels and relationships,we gain a clear picture of the literary milieu within which he was writing.We also learn about the deeper reasoning behind his life choices and thinking;setting up a foundation upon which to base research into his literature.Regional cultural influences,as well as family and social background,all contributed to Tan Gui’s literature,cultivating in the writer a forthright and brazen character,infected with the spirit and style of late Ming scholarship.From his father and studies,he also formulated a sense of disrespect for official service in favor of a love for the common people.From his conversion to Buddhism at Lingnan,we see an active transition in his feelings and relationships which are indicative of a change in his thinking.Looking at his interaction with and participation in institutions of his time,we detect a consistency;from his early conversion and life as a hermit,to his wide interaction with others as a Buddhist,until the time when identified with large groups of people who had been left behind;we see that in the end his heart and mind belonged with the people.Chapter two explores the multiple aspects of Tan Gui’s identity,thought and psychological makeup.It looks at secular and religious factors,tensions between Chan Buddhist and Confucian life values,looking at his works,career and life in order to examine his psychological makeup;as well as to analyze the special times and places through which this writer lived.As such,we examine the changes in his identity as well as thinking;while at the same time keeping an eye out for those parts of his character and work that remained consistent.In this research,special care will be taken to avoid stereotyping and labeling,in an effort to reconstruct Tan Gui’s identity and psychological makeup.It will be important to examine his inner makeup and the contradictions and struggles therein,in order to unearth that which was truly extraordinary,as well as that which went into the composition of his writing.After entering into the Buddhist clergy,he succeeded in integrating Confucian thinking with Buddhist values.He was able,under the relative shelter of Buddhist life,to practice that in life which he believed to be true;i.e.a praxis of both Confucian and Buddhist values.Although he spent a number of years living the life of a Buddhist monk,he never dispensed with his Confucian teachings and views.As a classic example of a Confucian entering into Buddhism,Tan Gui’s thinking and actions serve as a guide and example for the secularization of Buddhism in later ages.Chapters three and four center around great changes in Tan Gui’s social identity as well as upon research into his poetic composition.With an appreciation for his entire body of poetry,we select two representative groups of poems.One group of poems,‘Qian xing’ arises from the early period when Tan Gui first converted to Buddhism;and another later group of poems,‘Nanshao za shi’ give us a sense of the full breadth of Tan Gui’s poetic composition,as well as of the changes these compositions went through in stride with their author.We see from these developments a transition from an earlier and individually-centered lament over events in the world;to a later and more generalized concern for human beings and the people he saw suffering.His poetic thinking transitioned from personal concerns and sadness to a critical stance towards Southern Ming treatment of the common people.His poetic compositions also developed away from macrocosmic flourishes to common simplicity.These artistic changes were undoubtedly strongly connected with the analogous transitions in both society as well as the poet’s thinking.At the time,as we look at poetic compositions dealing with social exchanges,satirical pieces expressing the will of the poet,as well as poems which contained Chan sentiments as well as concern for his country;we see tensions arise within the poet’s mind and heart between his role as a late-Ming literati and his role as a Buddhist monk.Chapter five discusses the relationship between poetry and the milieu within which it is created.This discussion develops in light of early-Qing critique of Tan Gui’s poetry.Although Tan Gui never produced any official discourse on poetics;his prefaces,postscripts and biographies give us a sense of the author,his poetic production,as well as the relationship between his poetry and Buddhist poetic criticism.We explore Ming dynasty imitations of social poems,definitions of poetry and its role in education,as well as pursuit of elegance and propriety in poetry;all of which arise within an early-Qing milieu of ‘remarks on poetry’.At the same time,these discourses arose within Lingnan and Southern poetic milieus,forming theoretical bridges between these two regions.Also,we look at Tan Gui’s expectations for the cultivations of a writer’s character,his views of creative praxis,guidelines for evaluating written works,as well as his sense of ancient and contemporary writing;all of which reveal unique insights into poetry and writing during his time.At the same time,we see the poet’s dissatisfaction with reception in general of poetry written by Buddhist monks during his time;a dissatisfaction which was rarely expressed by his contemporaries.We see a reverence for a poet’s talent,courage and knowledge as expressed in literature.These expressions formed a theoretical basis for Qing dynasty poetry of the xingling school.These contributions place Tan Gui firmly within the history of Chinese poetic discourse.Chapter six looks at the life of people left behind during the transition between the Ming and Qing,and of their acceptance into society.This helps us understand public discourse and opinion at the time in terms of Tan Gui and his work;especially in light of his work’s reception and dissemination.Evaluation of Tan Gui’s character as well as study of his work have been influenced by two main factors;critique by the people,and Qianlong’s official literary inquisition and persecution of writers for their compositions.When it comes to reception of Tan Gui’s work by the people,there were both favorable and unfavorable responses,with criticism being fairly subjective and driven by individual agenda and arbitrary standards.These critiques lacked objectivity.The court’s literary inquisition as shown in Tan Gui’s Bian xing tang ji gives a strong sense of political background;as well as an exaggerated picture of criticism and suffering.As we look at literati discourse and normalizing political situations;we gain a clearer sense of Tan Gui’s life within a given cultural milieu.Using this as an entry point for our discussion;we move from one close individual study to a much larger and broader historical picture.These six chapters enter into Tan Gui’s life and historical milieu through his poetry.While looking at the general style and character of his body of writing,we focus on literary genre,poetic imagery,creative praxis,stylistic character,and cultural makeup of a regional culture and period of history;while gaining a sense of Tan Gui as a person with a unique psychological makeup.While sketching out late-Ming and early-Qing conversions among literati to Buddhism,we gain a sense of historical period.In the conclusion of this dissertation,which derives from the concluding sections of each chapter;we set out with Tan Gui as a person left behind who converted to Buddhism,in order to look at this transition between Ming and Qing;analyzing interpretations of and a return to the individual;while examining descriptions and analyses of cultural and literary ecologies.In three appendices provided,bibliographical information is provided in a systematic manner in order to provide textual support for further research into Tan Gui and his literary corpus. |
