Macroscopic Analysis Of "the Nineteen Ancient Poems"

"The nineteen ancient poems" is preceded by "Shi Jing" and " Chu Ci", and initiated the "Five character per line poem" and "Seven characters per line poems" of the Wei and Jin Dynasty. This thesis adopts a macroscopic view into the investigation of "The nineteen ancient poems". It is divided into four major chapters:The first chapter summaries the relationship between "The 19 ancient poetry" and the social background, general sentiments and the Chinese's literature ideological trends towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty. During that era, under the influence of the social background and general sentiments, the literature awareness was raised amongst the poets of the Eastern Han dynasty. The poems in "The nineteen ancient poems" reflected the sentiments of the poets in the lower social hierarchy of the Eastern Han dynasty, and inspired by and expressed the life experiences and common customary emotions of the poor scholars.The second chapter analyses and categorises "The nineteen ancient poems" into themes. It can be divided into 2 distinct themes. In the days when getting a post with the government meant having connections or friends who are well connected, poor scholars who are well-learned often have to travel and search for available jobs with the government away from home. Often, this fruitless search takes years, with the scholar constantly travelling and unable to return to his hometown or afford to have his wife travel with him. The first theme depicts the lonesomeness of the scholars during their long and desperate quest. The second theme reflects the loneliness of the women at home, waiting for the husbands to return. The two themes actually represented two facets of the same social problems and tragedies unfolding during that period in Chinese history. "The nineteen ancient poems" was the contribution of many unknown poets and expressed their tragic life experiences, and the contradictions between their ideals and reality. Although the poems were a result of the scholars' tragic lives, they were very reserved in the emotions reflected in the poems.The third chapter focuses on the tragedies and images portrayed in "The nine ancient poems". The tragic emotions manifested in the poems can be grouped into three kinds: the pain of separation, the pain of an uneventful life, and the understanding of how fragile life is. The poems reflected the pain of life and are full of melancholy sentiments. The poets made use of images to create a sense of melancholy in their poems. There are two main types of images used - natural and man-made. The images are used to infer the bleakness of the poets' lives. The last chapter examines the poems from an aesthetics point of view. The main areas that are discussed are the language and the structure of the poems. The poems reflect the sincerity of emotions, the reserved nature of the poets and the simplicity of the language used. There are two types of structure observed in the poems. The first structure being a linear structure, where images and emotions are reflected in a sequential arrangement. The second structure shows images and emotions reflecting a central theme or idea. Through both structures, abstract feelings are translated into tangible imagery. The chapter also traces the history of artistry development from Shi Jing, Chu Ci and Yue Fu Shi. The "The nineteen ancient poems" was seen as a pivotal point in the development of poetry artistry.