Study On The Three Generations

Miscellaneous Biography refers to the biographical literary works mainly applied todescribe stories of people in history, which is different from the Historical Biography.In thehistory of the development of miscellaneous biography, the Three Kingdoms period is a veryimportant stage, and the miscellaneous biography presents the following characteristicsduring this period:Firstly, the number of works increased considerably during this period.Secondly, the social background of the characters diversified. People from the upper class likethe emperor, the general and the prime minister, as well as people from the lower class, are allinvolved in those works. Thirdly, several biographical masterpieces with appropriate lengthand strong sense of literature appeared in this period, such as Biography of Cao Man andBiography of Mr. Big, etc. In addition, the relatively clear information of the authors and therich variety are the marked features of miscellaneous biography during this period, too.Therefore, Mr. Zhu Dongrun believes that the Three Kingdom stage is a self-awakeningperiod to biography literature.This thesis intends to comb though the miscellaneous biographyworks in the Three Kingdom period, in order to have a better and profound understanding ofbiography works in this period.This paper is divided into seven chapters. In the first chapter, the concepts of biography,historical biography and miscellaneous biography will be illustrated, and then an overview ofmiscellaneous biography in Three Kingdom period will be given, including the analysis ofreasons for its booming, a feature description and the uneven geographical distribution and itsinfluence. And chapter one will be ended with an appendix to explain the specific condition ofthe miscellaneous biography’s retention, collection and missing cases.Chapter two to chapterseven will narrate the Three Kingdom miscellaneous biography works distinctively, and fivekinds of biography will be mentioned, single biography, group biography, family biography,autobiography and biographical sketch.Chapter two and chapter three are related in thecontent. In the two chapters, lots of single biography works will be classified and analyzed,and some single biography works before the Three Kingdom period will also be described briefly, such as Biography of Dongfang Shuo and Supplementary Biography of Zhong liyi.The analysis of Biography of Cao Man will be the focus of the two parts. Different characters,such as the nobility, the literary celebrities, the warlocks and the woman, will be analyzedrespectively. Representative works include Supplementary Biography of Zhao Yun,Supplementary Biography of Bing Yuan, Supplementary Biography of Hua Tuo andSupplementary Biography of Cai Yan and so on.The group biography works will be discussedin chapter four. Biographies for Chaste Women, written by Liu Xiang, is the representativegroup biography work before Three Kingdom period, which will be discussed in this chapter.And the focus of this chapter will be the analysis to the important group biography worksduring Three Kingdom period, such as Hero written by Wang Can and Biography of Sage byJi Kang. In addition, a lot of group biography works concerning the sages, celebrities,government officials, females, fairies and dutiful sons exist during this period, which greatlyenriches the field of miscellaneous biography.Chapter five will deal with family biography.The rise of family biography shares many similarities with group biography because they areboth associated with local forces trying to highlight family power. This chapter mainlyfocuses on Supplementary Biography of Guan Lu by Guan Chen. This biography is very long,but it has great achievements in terms of characterization and artistic features. Biography ofLady Zhang, My Mother, written by Zhong Hui, is very touching and full of emotions; and itwill be discussed in this chapter too. Besides, Family Biography of Wang Lang and Wang Su,Family Biography of Kong Rong and Family Biography of Xun Yu will also be mentioned here.Those works largely extend the number of family biography.Chapter six tries to explore theautobiography works. Before the Three Kingdoms period, it relates to Sima XiangruAutobiography, Sima Qian Historical records of Taishi preface,Wang Chong Self discipline ofLun Heng and other works. Focuses on Cao Cao The order of explain myself, CaoPi Autobiography of Code and other practical typeautobiography autobiography, as well as byRuan Ji Biography of Mr. Big as the representative of the fictitious autobiography.Theyproduced major effect such articlesas Tao Yuanming Biography of Mr. five willows typeof narratives.Chapter seven focuses on biographical sketches works. Biographical Sketches ofthe Sage is one important work during this period. This chapter tries to dig it main contents and artistic features on the basis of compiling. Meanwhile, other four biographical works likeBiographical Sketch of the Sage in Han and Wei Dynasty and Biographical Sketches of theSage throughout the Country will be explored as well.The literariness and artistic characteristics of the works will be the emphasis in eachchapter.Miscellaneous biography has set examples for the later generation in terms of thesubject, the field and the character.And it has a far-reaching influence to Tang Legend and thedramas and novels in Ming and Qing dynasty. In a word, Three Kingdom period is a vicariousand innovative new period for miscellaneous biography, for the works in this period inheritedthe fine traditions from the Han Dynasty and inaugurated the prosperity of miscellaneousbiography in Jin Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Dynasties, showing a rather highlevel of self-consciousness in humanity and culture.