Tang Bird Imagery Connotation And Its Causes

As an important image in Chinese classical literature, the blue bird has rich connotations which are gradually formed and developed in a long period. It firstly appeared in old scriptures of pre-Qin days. Then it developed not only in novels of Han and Wei dynasties but also in poems of Wei Jin northern and southern dynasties. When the Tang dynasty came, it became complete since the works described it made a great breakthrough in both quantity and artistic achievements. This paper is consisted of three parts. In the first part, we study the appearance and development of the image of the blue bird in pre-Tang dynasty. In the second part, we analyze the rich connatations of the blue bird by encompassing the poems of Tang dynasty. In the third part, we discuss the reasons for the fomation of the rich connatations of the blue bird.In part 1, we make clear the process of the generation and development of the blue bird before Tang dynasty, which paves the way for our following anylysis. According the time, the process is divided into three parts. The first is about the blue bird in pre-Qin days. In Shan Hai Classic, the blue bird, a raptor good at flying, is the feeder of Xiwangmu(name of a godness), meanwhile, it has a certain symbolic meaning which implies the mysterious life awareness of ancestors. In Zuo Zhuan, the blue bird appears as the official position in charge of the beginning of the spring which is greatly developed in the late literature works. The second is about the blue bird in Wei-Jin dynasties.In this period, the religion connatation of the blue bird is initially formed since it was described as the transporter of medicine and the guide of immortal. The third is about the blue bird in Wei Jin northern and southern dynasties. In this process, the religion connatation continuely developed, and the symbolic and emotion connatation initially formed. The characteristic of this process is that the symbolic connatiion became dominant in the works about the blue bird.In part 2, we mainly analyze the rich connatatons of the blue bird in the poems of Tang dynasty from the following three facets:religion, emotion and symbolic. Firstly, the emotion connatations of the blue bird contain two kinds:one is the love between man and woman, the other is the love among friends and relatives. According to the differences of the ways by which the blue bird transmitts the love, the former can be devided three cases:the arrival of the blue bird, the leave of the blue bird and the isolation of the blue bird. Secondly, the religion connatation of the blue bird has two kind of meannings. On one hand, the blue bird is the messenger of the immortal. On the other hand, it is the symbol of the fairyland. Different from that of Wei-Jin dynasties, the blue brid in Tang dynasty not only works for Xiwangmu but also works for other immortal such as Magu. Thirdly, the symbolic connatation of the blue bird means that it bears the weight of the poets who dream of the free and unconventional life.In part 3, we mainly discuss the reasons for the fomation of the rich connatations of the blue bird. To begin with, the rise of the Taoism is beneficial to the formation of the religion connatation of the blue bird. The taoism rised in the final days of Han dynasty and Wei-Jin dynasty, and greatly developed in Tang dynasty. Meanwhile, the the religion connatation of the blue bird formed and changed with the development of the Taoism. Moreover, the "secularization" cultural mental state of Tang dynasty makes the sacred blue bird the friend of human, which means the blue bird has emotion connatation. Finally, the spirit of pursuing freedom of Tang dynasty motivates the fomation of the symbolic connatation of the blue bird. Contrasting with the people in Wei-Jin dynasty, the people in Tang dynasty chose pursuing freedom instead of escapism.