Research On Yang Xiong's Literature Theories And Thoughts

Abstract: Yang Xiong (53 BC --- 18 AD) is a famous thinker, writer and linguist in Western Han Dynasty (206 BC --- 25AD). This is confirmed by the comments on Yang Xiong in the textbooks on the history of modern Chinese literature and that of Chinese ideology history. Such a comment can be regarded as giving an objective comment on that part of history that has been wrongly construed and also equitably assesses Yang Xiong. This reflects the enormous progress on research of Yang Xiong's literature theories and thoughts that has been achieved since reform and opening-up. The progress is the result of multivariate thinking. In addition, the continuous grand misunderstanding of and prejudice against Yang Xiong existed in history have been redressed in the academic circles. The present thesis takes predecessors' research on Yang Xiong's literature theories and thoughts as a starting point, and reflects on the research of Yang Xiong's literature theories and thoughts from new point of view and also using new way of thinking. The purpose is to present the richness of Yang Xiong's thoughts and reveal the contribution of Yang Xiong's thoughts to the literature development of later ages.This thesis consists of three chapters. It mainly concentrates on the unique nature of Yang Xiong's thoughts. The thesis analyses the formation and evolution of Yang Xiong's thoughts detailedly. In the process of this, the author mainly reflects on Yang Xiong's contribution to the evolution and independence of ancient Chinese writers, literatures, and literature theories and thoughts as well through his endeavor in various aspects.In the first chapter, the author first comments on Xu Fu-guan's opinion on Yang Xiong. The author writes that Xu Fu-guan's narration about Yang Xiong in the book: The Ideology History of Western and Eastern Han Dynasty can be seen as a sympathetic understanding of Yang Xiong and also draws a true picture of the evolution of Yang Xiong's thoughts. This chapter talks about the characteristics of Yang Xiong's thoughts mainly from the point of view of environment's influence on one's thoughts. The author discusses changes of Yang Xiong's living environment and the two totally different historical backgrounds in the process of this change. The author's discussion covers the transition from the varied and heterogeneous natural and cultural background of Shu [a state in the Zhou Dynasty, occupying the Chengdu area of Sichuan] to the central cultural background characterized by "Paying supreme tribute to Confucianism, while banning all other schools of thought". During the long years of this process, both the prosperous and splendid natural background of Shu and the multivariate while rational cultural background lay the foundation for the evolution of Yang Xiong's thoughts in his later period. In his later period, under the influence of Confucian thoughts, Yang Xiong consciously got close to Confucian cultures. However, Yang Xiong's subjective ideal and the corresponding practice cannot deny the influence of the natural and cultural background of Shu in his early years.The second chapter concerns the learning and study of ideology history of Western and Eastern Han Dynasty (206BC --- 220AD). The influence of the study of Confucian classics is such a first and foremost question that everyone must confront and think about. The Confucian studies are the political representation of Confucian thoughts in Western and Eastern Han Dynasty (206BC --- 220AD). It is the objective consequence of Dong Zhongshu's "Paying supreme tribute to Confucianism, while banning all other schools of thought". The ideology of Confucian studies, especially the thinking patterns of Confucian studies, has great influence on every aspects of Western and Eastern Han Dynasty (206BC --- 220AD) even on the whole history of old China. The literature arts of Western and Eastern Han Dynasty are naturally included in the scope of 'extolling' and 'expostulation' which comes from Confucian school's poetry instruction. Naturally, as the mainstream literature of Western and Eastern Han Dynasty, Han Prose Poem cannot escape this kind of historical fate. Confucian studies have dual influence on the development of Han Prose Poem: on the one side, they promote the development of Han Prose Poem; while on the other side, they also inhibit the development of Han Prose Poem. From the perspective of practicality which comes from Confucian school's poetry instruction, Yang Xiong comments Han Prose Poem as "Diaochongzhuanke, Zhuangfu buwei". This negative comment leads to the possibility of reflecting on Han Prose Poem from the point of view of literature by later generations. The development of literature and literature theories in Western and Eastern Han Dynasty is just before Kingdom of Wei (220---265), which is a splendid era for the development of literature and literature theories. The consciousness of Weijin Literature is by no means the water without sources or the trees without roots, let alone an artificial intriguing idea got overnight. It owes a lot to the endeavor of the writers of Western and Eastern Han Dynasty. Yang Xiong's rational thoughts and the distinct change of his attitude towards Han Prose Poem make great contribution to the qualitative change of literature in Kingdom of Wei. The thinking patterns of Confucian studies make scholars of Western and Eastern Han Dynasty show great respect to the classics left by predecessors. Extreme worship of classics has great guiding impacts on the social development of later generations. Taking classics as the only standard can only lead to the retrogression of society. Because of his rational thinking, Yang Xiong formulates some illuminating remarks during the process of learning classics. From the works of Yang Xiong, we can faintly see the dawn of the consciousness of Weijin Literature.The third chapter talks about the influence of Yang Xiong. It is well-known that the ancient Chinese culture is the trinity of poetry, music, and dance. In ancient China, the real "pure literature" notion did not appear until Kingdom of Wei. Of course, there were no pure men of letters. The appearance of independent men of letters needs a long process of development. Men of letters develop from that social stratum which was between senior officials and the common people in ancient China. Scholars are the representatives of intellectuals in ancient China. They appeared in a special era of history, and assumed special historical mission. They take "Tao" as the supreme spiritual pursuits, and also adopt "establishment of moral integrity", "making of contributions", "achievement of glory by writing" as code of conduct.The development of history is constantly making differentiation of scholars as a class, and ultimately leads to the appearance of pure men of letters. Because of such a historical relationship between them, there are countless ties between pure men of letters and scholars. On the one side, scholars as a class worshiped "Tao", while men of letters pursued the ideal society and ideal living condition. On the other side, scholars as a class took part in the political affairs, whereas men of letters expected to participate in political affairs. In this tough delivery process, Yang Xiong's rational self-consciousness is of vital importance to the development of men of letters of future generations and to the enhancement of rational faculty of Chinese thinkers of the future generations.