On War Pre-ai Qing Poetry Writing Activities

During the former period of the Anti-Japanese War, Ai Qing, in his poetic compositions, attempted to consciously seek for a balance between the reality and the art and persisted in a open realism, using a combination of diverse writing styles to break the parochialism and to enrich the aesthetical value of the poems during the War. Hence, his poems in the former period of the War represented the top level. In short, Ai Qing's poems that composed at that tune can be classified into three categories: the "earth"-imaged poems, the "sun"-imaged poems and the scenery poems. The poems based on the image of "earth" focus more on the sorrow of earth, the melancholy of the peasants and the disaster of the old nation. The poems based on the image of "sun" primarily express the historical trend and the nation's 'hopes. The scenery poems, though appear to be quite indifferent, display the poet's deep concern over his country. All the three categories are closely correlated and demonstrate the poet's deep love to his mother country and the people. Ai Qing's poetic theories in the former part of the War were influential creations by summarizing former poetic theories and integrating his own compositional experiences. Ai Qing proposed the notion that poems should be a unification of reality, virtue and beauty, and introduced aesthetics to poetic compositions, all of which are his contributions to modem Chinese poems. Furthermore, he actively took part in the literary activities during the War and played a role in the development of the Anti-Japanese War Literature. Thus, his compositions and activities in the former part of the War are significantly valuable.This thesis attempts to conduct the research on the poet from three aspects, his activities in the War, his poetic compositions and the constitution of his poetic theories. The following four parts constitutes the discussion:1. Arranging and analyzing Ai Qing's activities in the former part of the War.2. Illustrating and discussing Ai Qing's poems in the former part of the War.3. Elaborating Ai Qing's poetic theories in the former part of the War.4. Studying the meaning of his activities and poetic compositions.Based on the above, this thesis also probes into the profound effects of Ai Qing's poems on Chinese poems and on the "July" school and "new Chinese" school.