Creation Reform And Fu Thought Of Yang Xiong’s Han Fu

Yang Xiong was a scholar who has outstanding achievements in various aspects in Western Han Dynasty. He has very deep attainments in literature, philosophy, linguistics, and other fields. Many of his works were widespread, which have a profound influence at that time and the later generations. Yang Xiong’s personality and works have caused great controversy because he wrote the book "Ju Qin Mei Xin" during the period of Emperor Wang Mang which had been criticized by the later generations, and many of his important works are the products of imitation. In respect of the poetry creation of Yang Xiong, some people praise him for saying that Yang Xiong is only next to Sima Xiangru and his Fu represents a very high level in Fu creation after Sima Xiangru, while some people criticize him for saying that his works were serious simulation and has no innovation at all. Yang Xiong himself went through a "love Fu since childhood" to "stop and no longer compose". This dissertation explores the success and failures in the Fu creation, change of Yang Xiong, and analysis his relatively mature Fu theory in the Fu creation transform and re-recognition,. from the characteristics of the times of Yang Xiong and his unique life experience by putting him on the background of the social and historical environment and the mutative academic trend of thought.The first chapter introduces the social academic environment and the literary creation background of Yang Xiong in Han Dynasty. Writers and their works are not isolated, it must has a close relationship with the social environment, academic atmosphere and personal experience. The era environment influenced the formation of the writer’s personality and ideology, which affected his literary works, and the literary works reflect the characteristics of the era environment. At the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, the centralism was further strengthened and the autocratic monarchy reached its peak, scholar’s identity and status had obvious change compared with the pre-Qin, at the meantime, emperor changed frequently, eunuchs and the relative of emperors were autocratic, land annexation was serious, people’s lives were miserable, and social conflicts were intensified. With the centralization of imperial power, emperors began to strengthen the control of thought, Confucianism became orthodox thought, and classics tendency appeared under the oppression of the political environment appear. Influenced by thick Confucian atmosphere Sichuan, the unique personal experiences and the ideology of the whole society and Yang Xiong formed the idea characteristics ideas and literary pursuit emphasizing Confucianism.The second chapter discusses the Fu creationreform and failure of Yang Xiong. Under the social environment of Han Dynasty, the Fu creation showed feature of stressing praise and unconcerning satire and remonstrance, more simulation and less innovation, the function of prettification and sarcasm lost gradually. Face of the status and problems of the Han Fu creation in Han Dynasty and under the control of active mundane thought of Confucianism, Yang Xiong performed Fu creation reform actively. On sorrow consciousness of crises in the last years of Han Dynasty, he strengthened the force of satire in Fu. However, limited by the scholar identity and Han Fu’s own characteristics, his poems did not get rid of the influence of the Fu of Sima Xiangru, the satirical allegorical meaning submerged in the ornate style, and still not achieved the intention of the satire and remonstrance, and ultimately went to failure.The third chapter discusses the re-recognition of Yang Xiong on Han Fu function and his Han Fu theory. In the last years of Western Han Dynasty, politics became more dark, Yang Xiong personal career was impeded, accompanied with failures in the Fu creation reform, Yang Xiong suffered multiple attacks. Yang Xiong must reconsidered his understanding on Fu. He realized that Han Fu as a kind of literary style is not suitable for the satire and remonstrance. After balancing the relationship between "gracefulness" and "usefulness", he determined to "discarding gracefulness for usefulness", gave up the narrative writing of descriptive big Fu creation, turned to the Fu of recording of the romance. In addition, in the process of re-recognition of Han Fu, Yang Xiong gradually formed mature Fu theory, and has a certain impact on the Eastern Han Dynasty lyrical small Fu and Fu criticism.