Poet Wang Shilu

Wang Shilu is an important poet during the early days of Qing Dynasty(1644～1910) with great influence in the poem circle. As a famous poet, he leaves lots of valuable culture heritage and spiritual riches for Chinese people. Wang Shilu teaches his brothers how to write poems. They all become famous for poems. Among them Wang Shizhen enjoys the highest reputation. Owing to his great achievement of literature in the early days of Qing Dynasty, Wang Shizhen has been studied by so many scholars that various exciting and amazing results have been got. However, very few people are interested in studying his brother, Wang Shilu. As a matter of fact, the two brothers are both well-known in literature circle and in the capital city of Qing Dynasty. They are honored Two-Wang( Two masters of literature and poems with family name Wang) . It's of practical value to meticulously study and objectively assess Wang Shilu's influence and position in our literature history. It helps to build up Wang Yuyang's legacy as our main-stream regional culture and future develop Qilu( the ancient name of Shandong province) culture.This essay highlights Wang Shilu's poems and the comparison of his writing style with Wang Shizhen's. At first, I study the background, cause and evolution of the phenomenon of Wang Shilu according to the principle that we shall not only enjoy the authors' works but also study the period of culture the authors describe and live in. Then, I employ the method of "Historical Comparison" to three-dimension the subject upon which I am studying. To draw an objective conclusion, I blend the study of his works with the other things related to the works and even make lots of field survey. The conclusion is divided into three chapters.Chapter I: Family Influence and Famous Scholar of the Early Days of Qing Dynasty. According to the principle of studying both the author's works and the period in which he or she lives, this chapter discusses his family characteristics and his personality. This chapter is composed of two parts. Part I, Literature Family, introduces the poetic tradition of Wang Shilu's family and how he inherited the tradition .Part II, Biography, depicts and analyses Wang Shilu's life of frustrations and perfect personality. Born in a literature and aristocratic family, his life is filled with frustrations and up-and-down. These hardships make him more and more optimistic and generous instead of making him dejected and dispirited. The toils of his lifetime strengthen his solid individuality. Moreover, Wang Shilu is a man full of humanity. He is extremely honest and pious to his parents, and friendly with his friends. Chapter II, the Theory of Poem Creation, focuses on his poems and artistic features. This chapter consists of three parts. Part I, The Outline of Wang Shilu's Poems, introduces his poems one by one. Part II, Poems of Journeys and Poems to Friends, categorizes and explains his poems in the light of their contents. Wang Shilu's poems embody a lot of themes, among which the number of poems of journeys and poems to friends is the largest and most famous. The poems of journeys fall into three main categories, i.e. poems about sightseeing, reflection of historic events, local customs and travel. The poems to friends are rich in themes and connotations. I choose some typical poems to let readers understand them clearly. Part III, the Writing Style , explain Wang Shilu's poetry from the stylistic point of view. His writing style is manifold and unique with contrasts in many points: From his poems, we can fully experience the imaginative power and brilliance, lyrical qualities and tenderness. The poems are both as delicate as fresh flowers and as strong as hard rocks.Chapter III, The Comparison of Wang Shilu's and Wang Shizhen's Writing Styles, mainly describes the differences and similarities regarding their poems. This chapter is divided into three parts. Part I, Brother and Teacher, describes the deep influence Wang Shizhen got from Wang Shilu, who was both Shizhen's brother and first teacher in terms of how to be a poet and an officer. Part II, The Differences and Similarities of Material and Subject of Their Works, analyzes the similarities of the materials with which their poetry are concerned and the different expressive methods to depict the social circumstances of their time. Brought up through the similar social background and culture tradition, the two brothers write poems with many similarities regarding subjects and connotations. The subjects of their poems are mainly about the sightseeing, reflection of historic events and nostalgia. However, many differences also exist and among them the most striking contrast is to realistically satire the politics of the time or try to be somehow surrealistic. The contrast results in the color of depression and optimism in their poems. Part III, the Differences and Similarities of Artistic Style, analyzes the differences and similarities of their poetic art and writing styles. Reading Two-Wangs' poems, we can feel freshness and grace here and there. The artistic conception of many poems is so magnificent that we often associate them with romantic and divine charm.. The most obvious difference lying in their writing style is that Shizhen employs freshness and grace as his mainstream writing style while Shilu intensity and straightforwardness.