On The Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose

Parallel Prose is a beautiful literary style only existing in Chinese literary. It reached its peak in the Six Dynasties period, and then became diverse in its forms. The Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose is one of the great changes which appeared in Tang Dynasty after the Movement of Ancient Chinese Prose in Mid-Tang Dynasty. The Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose refers to the parallel prose exemplified by Li Shangyin, Wen Tingyun and Duan Chengshi, and it gets such a name because all of the three writers rank the sixteenth in their brothers and sisters, and they are all good at writing parallel proses which share some common features. The Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose was quite popular in the late Tang Dynasty, and exerts a great influence on the later literary. With the development of the times and the literary concept and owing to the lack of related literary documents, people have different understandings and explanations of the special literary form. The Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose was at first the parallel prose itself and later people adapted the term to refer to the prose written by the three writers, which is a significant derivation in the process of its development. It is not correct to say that the Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose is the same as Xikun Parallel Prose. The thesis deals with the original form of the Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose, i.e., the practical form of the literary works by the three writers including funeral oration, memorial, record, letter, and report. As an important stage in the development of parallel prose, the Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose draws on the succinct of the parallel prose, combining the features of the parallel prose in Tang Dynasty, thus possessing a unique style and particular charm. Generally speaking, it uses rich allusion, flowery language, ingenious antithesis and exact rhythm. It adapts a style that is both aesthetic and practical, both smooth and variable. The writer fuses their deep feelings into the prose with ambiguous diction, designing different forms according to its style. The Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose came into existence due to various complicated factors. The thesis intends to deal with the social, political as well as literary background of the special form. At first, the appearance of the Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose is closely related to the commanding general system, the dispute between different parties and the imperial examination. Specifically, it is collectively influenced by the art of the memorial to the emperor, the form, the prose poem and the judgment of the imperial examination papers as well as the social atmosphere created by the disputes between different parties. In literary aspect, as a result of self–development and evolution, the literary ideology of the three writers and their creation trends make the principle elements for the appearance of the Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose. The Three-Sixteen Parallel Prose was quite popular in the late Mid-Tang Dynasty, and greatly influences the later parallel prose, with many a scholars studying it. For instance, Xikun Parallel Prose inherits its style, taking it as the model. The three writers, Li Shangyin, Wen Tingyun and Duan Chengshi, stress the creation trends of the artistic forms of parallel prose, examined and imitated by a great number of writers, thus promoting a new tendency in the creation of Chinese ancient parallel prose.