Liu Yuxi Yuefu Poetry

By a thorough study of the Mid-Tang litterateur Liu Yu-xi's Yue-Fu poems, this thesis presents a clear picture of his Yue-Fu writing. It analyses how Liu's special political life in different official situations influence his Yue-Fu works. It also summarizes the characteristics of Liu's Yue-Fu poems through a comparative study with other contemporary poets' works of the same category.There are three chapters in this thesis. Chapter one examines from a documentary point of view. Firstly it sorts out all Yue-Fu poets in Liu Yu-xi's Poetry Anthology, aside from what already exist in the book's Yue-Fu Volume. Then it divides all his Yue-Fu works into sub-categories according to different functions. Chapter two studies from a historical point of view. Putting his works against the background of Mid-Tang Yue-Fu writing tide, it describes his works chronologically and in different official stages, with summaries of his writing styles and changes of the styles caused by different life experiences in different periods. Chapter three analyses the characteristics of Liu's Yue-Fu poems from a mixed view of music performance and literature writing. As for the New Title Yue-Fu poems, the article compares Liu's works with Yuan Zhen and Bai Ju-yi's, with in-depth explanation about reasons; as for the Old Title Yue-Fu poems, case studies are firstly conducted as to find out similarities and differences with former author's works under the same titles, then follows generalization of characteristics about Liu's works under this sub-category as a whole.