A Comparative Study Of The Feminine Theme Of Yuefu Songs Of The Northern And Southern Dynasties

The yuefu songs of the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-589) are a legacy ofChinese folk songs. They enjoy distinctive regional characteristics because of theirappearance at a special historical period of North-South confrontation. This thesis is devotedto the feminine theme of yuefu songs. By comparison of particular pieces, this thesis makes anoverall inquiry into the differences between wuge songs and xiqu songs—the two styles ofyuefu songs of Southern Dynasty, and the differences between yuefu songs of SouthernDynasty and those of Northern Dynasty from the perspectives of feminine theme through avariety of social aspects including politics, economy, customs and so on.Wuge and xiqu songs came into being at different times and places, as a result, they havea great variety of contents on feminine theme. As far as the feminine theme is concerned, theformer concentrates more on women's emotional and psychological world, such as love-thirstgirls, dating couples, love-sick ladies while the latter involves more works on travelingmerchants, on sorrows of parted lovers. Furthermore, due to their different techniques ofexpression, the two styles have different artistic characteristics on feminine theme—works ofwuge songs appearing more implicit and refined, and more lovable and plaintive;while thoseof xiqu songs, more brisk and lively, and more plain and forthright.In this thesis, special emphasis is laid on the comparison of women images in thecomparative study of the feminine theme of yuefu songs of the Northern and SouthernDynasties. Women figures in yuefu songs of the Northern and Southern Dynasties presentedgreat differences owing to the large geographical span, various customs, and aesthetic pursuit.This thesis probes into four aspects of the women characters in yuefu songs of the Northernand Southern Dynasties, namely, the differences of their social positions, their typicaldispositions, their attitudes towards marriage, and their characteristics of love. Meanwhile,this thesis also conducts a tentative analysis of the causes for these differences.