On Youxian Shi In The Wei-Jin Period

Youxian was a subject that was kept abreast of Yongshi, Yonghuai and Shanshui in The Middle Ancient Times. The study of the Youxian shi was less than the others, and the concentration on the Youxian shi was just the analysis of the writers and the works in the past. The comprehensive and systematic research of the Youxian shi seemed comparatively insufficient. In order to give a complete account of the Youxian shi, the dissertation, based on the texts of Youxian shi, was carried on the study of the historical origin, the cultural background, transmutation orbit and the aesthetic characteristics of it. In order to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the Youxian shi, the dissertation is divided into six parts altogether. In The first part, we reviewed the study of the Youxian shi in Wei-Jin period from the 1980s. From the review we can sum up the experiences and find the insufficiency. In the second part, we put emphasis on the historical origin of the Youxian shi on the basis of the definition of it. We analyzed the relation of the Youxian shi and the consciousness about life, the thought of immortality in Wei -Jin period and the metaphysics in the third part. From the relation we can see the cultural background of the Youxian shi's development. The fourth part described the transmutation orbit according to the characteristics of the Youxian shi in Jian'an, Zhengshi, Xijin and Dongjin times. In the fifth part, we analyzed the aesthetic characteristics of the Youxian shi from the unique images, the queer realm, surmounting permanent feelings, the vehement words and the indignant feelings. We compared the Youxian shi with the Shanshui shi and the Xuanyan shi in the sixth part. From the comparison we knew the interaction about them. Generally speaking, the Youxian shi was a poetry subject which underwent a process from development, mature to summit in Wei -Jin period. Through Youxian, poets have expressed mankind's common dreams and hopes. The surmounting to reality has been obtained behind the action of Youxian. People dreamed of getting the permanence of life by surmounting limited time, and of the freedom of body and mind by the narrow space.