A Study Of Literary Openness In Classical Chinese Poetry

Openness in the Western culture was originally an aesthetic category signifying one of the attributes of artwork, that is, they are open to appreciators' varied interpretations. Later on, this aesthetic term found its expression in poetic criticism, and turned into a literary concept. That happened from the early 60s to the early 70s of the 20th century. Inspired by its establishment in the Western literature, the author of the thesis began to consider the doubtful absence of openness in Chinese literature. To her great surprise, openness has never been ignored by Chinese artists and scholars. On the contrary, they attached great importance to it in their artistic practice and critical texts.Openness plays an important role in bridging different cultures and connecting Chinese literary world to its occidental counterpart. For example, a work of art with high artistic value is often described as containing a quality suggestive of poetry or painting (富有诗情画意). This compliment only goes to manifest the position of openness in artistic perception.In this perceptive context, specific historical records are sought among classical literary texts to demonstrate the existence of openness in ancient Chinese aesthetics, poetics and poetry. In searching for the needed materials, ideas and relevant aesthetic and literary terms expressing openness have also been discovered and discussed. Meanwhile, the author has come to be aware that a pure theoretical approach is far from being persuasive as expected.Taking account of this possibility, examples are also employed in the exposition on the use and artistic effects of openness in Chinese poetry of ancient times. These instances, beyond expectation, enlighten the author to develop another chapter centering on the major means of creating openness in classical poems.As far as the content and the structure are concerned, the thesis is divided into five parts with the middle three serving as its body. The first of the main chapters, an introduction to the basic knowledge relevant to the central theme, lays a general foundation for later discussion. The budding,...