Yang Kuisheng And Ci Circle Of Jiadao

Yang Kuisheng (1781-1841), styled Bokui and assumedly named Huanxiang, was born in Jinkui (Wuxi) in Jiangsu Province and the grandnephew of Yang Chaoguan, a noted dramatist and son of Yang Fancan, an eminent poet. He compiled six-volume of "Ci of Zhensong Pavilion", which was incorporated into the "Ci Collections of Famous Scholars in Qing Dynasty"; he also had the masterpiece called two-volume Ci of Guoyunjingshe, which, together with the Ci of Pengyue Tower by Yuan Tong, Ci of Zhengchuan by Liu Siwan, Ci of Lvqiu Thatched Cottage by Gu Han, Ci of Yushan Hall by Wang Du, Ci of Chongmu Lodge by Wang Quande and Ci of Biwu Lodge by Wang Shitai, were called as the Ci of Seven Masters by the compiler Wang Shitai. With profound knowledge transmitted from his family members, he was once a follower of Guo Lin, a representative of the School of Ci of Zhexi in the later period, thus obtaining great achievements in Ci creation and theoretical research. As the works of Guo have changed the style of the school of Ci of Zhexi, Kuisheng inherited the fine qualities and was not limited to the set form. Xie Zhangting extolled his works as "powerful and unconventional with profound significance"This paper offers an overall and systematic study of the origin and life, academic achievements and works of Yang Kuisheng, a poet of the mid Qing Dynasty as well as the time factors and cultural characteristics reflected in his works. Firstly, it offers a textual research into his family and life. Born in a well-off family, he was diligent in pursuing academic studies and progress during his childhood. After initial success has been achieved in his studies, he began to take part in the imperial competitive examination but failed each time. Later, he worked as the feudal prefectural governor, marking the beginning of his ups and downs in his official circles. By introducing the fate and sufferings of Yang Kuisheng in an overall manner, this paper offers a general mastery of his life experience; the investigation of his family aims at sorting out the influence of his family relations on his whole life. born in Jinkui, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, Yang Kuisheng grew up in an aristocratic family of Jiangnan Culture (regions south of the Yangtze River). The profound literary hangover from his family exerted substantial bearings on his creation.Secondly, this paper also expounds on the poetic activities of Yang Kuisheng during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and Daoguang. With a proactive presence in the literary arena, he had frequent academic exchanges with his contemporaries, which were mainly evident by his participation in Jinpu poems’ responsory and Yanshi Ci chanting. Through the introduction to his participation in these two Ci activities, this paper sets forth his circle of friends and analyzes its impact on him.Thirdly, this paper also offers a systematic introduction to his works and analyzes them from three perspectives, selection of works, poetic style and humanistic feature so as to gain an objective understanding of the artistic characteristics.At last, the life of Yang Kuisheng and the Ci activities he participated in epitomize the new pattern of Ci during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing and Daoguang, which serve as a basis for the in-depth investigation of the literature ideological trend and the feature and development of the literary phenomenon during this period of time.The appendix of the paper also introduces the chronicle of Yang Kuisheng’s life. It is the first time to systematically and completely inspect the chronicle of his life experience and Ci creation so as to clearly demonstrate his path of literature creation and reflect the influence of his life experience on his creation and literature thoughts.Appendix Ⅱ includes the collection of comments and evaluations.