The Research On Mo Youzhi’s Literature

Mo Youzhi was a famous scholar,litterateur and calligraphe of Guizhou province in the Qing Dynasty,known as “Great scholar of Southwest China”.He has not only made outstanding achievements in academic fields,such as study of Confucian classics,exegesis,bibliography and history,but also has great attainments in literature.He was not only a representative poet of the Song Poetry School during the Daoguang and Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty,but also a first-class poet in the Ci history of Guizhou province.His literary creation is a medium for him to observe society,express feelings and ideas.It reflects the social reality of internal and external troubles in the late Qing Dynasty,as well as the spiritual world of impoverished scholars in the tide of the times.At the same time,it also incorporates the elegance and wisdom of scholars,making his literature both artistic and theoretical.He also devoted great enthusiasm to the collection of literature and the construction of literary traditions in Guizhou history.Mo Youzhi’s literary achievements are closely related to his social and cultural environment and life experiences.Firstly,learning of family tradition was the starting point of Mo Youzhi’s academic and literary career.The advocacy of his father Mo Yuchou for the academic and literary style of honest and sincere had a subtle impact on Mo Youzhi’s literary concepts and creations.Secondly,Mo Youzhi’s life experience is connected to the pulse of the Daoguang and Xianfeng period from prosperity to decline,from ancient times to modern times,which gives his literary creation both profound personal feelings and rich connotations of sentimentality and chaos.Thirdly,Mo Youzhi had a wide range of friends,including teachers such as Li Xun,Tang Shuyi,Wu Songliang,Qi Junzao,close friends such as Zheng Zhen and Li Zhaoxun,as well as official friends represented by Zeng Guofan.Social interaction played a crucial role in the formation of his literary concepts,the improvement of his literary level,the stimulation of his creative enthusiasm,and the acquisition of his scholarly reputation.Fourthly,Mo Youzhi’s literature was also influenced by the literary atmosphere of the times.During the Daoguang and Xianfeng period,the Song poetry trend led by Cheng Enze and Qi Junzao led Mo Youzhi and Zheng Zhen entry into the path of Song poetry.The influence of Wu Songliang on the formation of his relatively comprehensive poetic views and his entry into the path of Song poetry in his creation also cannot be ignored.The literature of Guizhou province,which developed form the Ming and Qing dynasties,was the soil for Mo Youzhi’s literature.During the Daoguang and Xianfeng period,Guizhou literature flourished,establishing Mo Youzhi’s literary confidence and conscious awareness of regional literature and bringing regional characteristics to his literature.Mo Youzhi’s forty years literary career has presented three creative stages.From the eleventh year of Daoguang to the nineteenth year of Daoguang was the early period of his creation.His literary creation reflected his relaxed mood and presented a fresh dominant style,as well as a creative process from innocence to maturity.From the twentieth year of Daoguang to the tenth year of Xianfeng was the heyday of Mo Youzhi’s literary creation.The subject matter and artistic style of his literature are more diverse.During this period,the embarrassment of personal fate and social turmoil influenced his literary creation.Expressing feelings of anger and bitter,and writing broad social reality became the most distinctive theme of his creation,His literary works created before and after the Guizhou War allowed us to have an insight into the ups and downs of that era and the rise and fall of governance.From the eleventh year of Xianfeng to the Tenth year of Tongzhi was the later stage of creation.During the period,Mo Youzhi’s creative enthusiasm declined,the number of poems and essays significantly decreased,and his creation of Ci ceased.The scope of his literary themes has gradually narrowed,and poems of presenting in reply have become the main genre.The scenic poem written during the journey is the most successful work of this period.It not only depicts the beautiful scenery of Jiangnan area,but also incorporates the sadness and emotions of the rise and fall after the war,reflecting a deeper emotional meaning and a strong sentimental tone.Mo Youzhi was skilled in both poetry,prose,and Ci,although the achievements vary in height,each style has its own unique characteristics.Mo Youzhi’s poems are rich in content and diversified in style.On the one hand,his poetry is willing to discuss and use many allusions,which has a simple and hard style.On the other hand,there is also a kind of fresh and plain style.His application of large groups of poems,preface,appendix and annotations was the main way to express knowledge in poetry and write poetry as the same as prose,which had distinct personal characteristics.Mo Youzhi’s prose can be divided into three categories: "argumentation prose","biographical prose" and " lyrical prose".His argumentative prose had a strong academic flavor,the biographical prose,often well-tailored and sometimes full of deep feeling,fully reflected his historical talent,and lyrical prose mainly focuses on notes of landscape and place of interest,which had both rational interest and aesthetic character.It was a good integration of moral principle,textual examination and literature.Mo Youzhi’s Ci reflected the turbulent situation and social outlook of the late Qing Dynasty,as well as the poet’s own rich inner world,reflecting the pluralistic style,and own artistic character.The overall style and personal characteristics of Mo Youzhi’s literature are mainly reflected in three aspects: Firstly,the writing of the fate of the poor is his most prominent literary theme.he focused on expressing the pain of hesitated about becoming an official or seclusion,the sadness of poverty and wandering,at the same time,his literature also reflected the sincere heart,benevolent spirit and sense of danger.We can clearly see the lyrical protagonist image of the poor scholar in his literary works.Secondly,the identity of a scholar has a significant impact on Mo Youzhi’s literary choice of themes and ideology,and also makes his literature present a realistic creative tendency and a writing style that combines simplicity and novelty.Thirdly,the marginal province culture mentality made Mo Youzhi had a strong sense of regional cultural protagonist,he focused on the collection of local documents and the construction of the literary tradition in Guizhou province.The colorful regional characteristics of Guizhou province had contributed to the local themes in Mo Youzhi’s literature works and formed a distinctive geographical space in his literature.The regional features of his literature are also reflected in the fact that he kept enough rationality and independence in the aspects of literary ideas,the path of learning,and aesthetic pursuit,thus realizing the establishment of his own literary character.Mo Youzhi’s position in literary history can be examined from two dimensions: late modern literature and Guizhou literature.His influence on literature from the late Qing Dynasty to modern times is mainly reflected in poetry.He enjoyed reputation as a poet during his lifetime and was later revered by Tongguang poetry school as a representative poet of the Daoxian Song poetry school.His poetic concept of emphasizing both knowledge and character,as well as his artistic pursuit of combining strength and charm,were also accepted and inherited by Tongguang style poets.Mo Youzhi,Zheng Zhen,and Li Zhaoxun formed the core of Zunyi Shatan Literature,playing a leading and exemplary role,creating an extremely prosperous regional family literature scene,and having a huge impact on the development of literature in central Guizhou province.