The Study Of Zeng Guofan's Literary Thoughts

Zeng guofan was a famous figure in modern history, who succeeded in politics and war though he was a scholar in the hard times. He not only succeed in his career, but also influenced the process of Chinese history. Though there is disagreement about his status in politics and his achievement due to historical cause, there is no doubt about his contribution to literature and literary theory. In modern history, Zeng disheng was a literary giant ,who studied from Tongcheng School and influenced Xiangxiang School. He also made great efforts for Song Poem Campaign ,which influenced literature for a dacade. As the last famous fingure cultivated by Chinese traditional culture in feudal times, Zeng guofan formed his completely new literary theory ,for which he not only had a deep understanding of the previous literary theory but also developed it according to development of history. There were two outstanding characteristics of his literary theory, which are openness, utilitarianism and practicality .It was deeply rooted in traditional history and benefited from changeable modern literary trend.This paper tries to introduce the process of Zeng guofan's learing from previous study and the process of his theory conflicting with the new ideas and thoughts of his age , which formed his literary theory against social background. We can see the essence, regional traits and practicality through the analysis of the structure and implication of his theory.