A Study On Wang Yucheng And His Prose

Wang Yucheng was a proser of Retrospection Faction in early Bei Song Dynasty. He advocated that literati should take after HanYu and Liu Zongyuan, maintained that fickle and furtive characters of literature should give place to simplicity and popularization. Although in prose field at that time there stood LiuKai as another coordinate, Wang Yucheng's theories and creations were more preeminent than him. Wang Yucheng was a real litterateur combined theory and practice well and a reformation literature group formed round him. His prose creations with advanced theory and distinct characteristic, not only influenced literati at the moment, but also provided firsthand valuable experience and teachings for successors of prose innovation faction, as OuYang Xiu and SuShi. As for personal experience, individual ability, litterateur aptitude and reformation conditions, Wang Yucheng was similar with OuYang Xiu, however, he failt on account of temper, ? courage, early-death, ?immature p?olitical setting, few discussion of congener. He was not exalted by the people at that time, and his prose innovation movement was broke down as well. The flag of prose was not finally kept its footing until OuYang Xiu and SuShi appeared.