A Comparative Study Of Liu Xizai' S And Wang Guowei's Ci Throry

Both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei are famous literary theorist in the history of Chinese literature. In recent years, a comparative study of Liu Xizai's and Wang Guowei's theories of literature has become the spotlight in academic circle, but it hasn't formed a consensus yet. On the basis of Liu Xizai's YiGai·CiGai and Wang Guowei's The Poetic Remarks of the Human World, this paper attempts to make a comparative research on Liu Xizai's and Wang Guowei's theories of Ci to illustrate that Wang Guowei's theories not only inherit from Liu Xizai's theories but also exist some innovation and breakthrough.This paper consists of three parts, the introduction, the text and the conclusion. The introduction part mainly analyses about the status of Liu Xizai's and Wang Guowei's Ci theory in recent thirty years at home, and elaborates the background and significance of this research as well.The text part is divided into four chapters. I mainly contrast Liu Xizai's Ci theories with Wang Guowei's. The first chapter is the study of the ontology. About the ontology of Ci, Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei hold some similar and different point of views which mainly reflect in two aspects, the theory of Ci and the history of Ci. On the theory of Ci, first of all, both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei attach much importance to “the value of Ci”, but they differ greatly in means of expression. Secondly, although both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei think that there are some differences in the Ci of “Ya Zheng”, but the former emphasizes on the form, while the latter focus on the content. Another aspect, about the history of Ci, Liu Xizai discusses its “Zheng Bian” and makes comments on the poets and the works objectively, and also puts forward that Yuan Haowen is “the most successful Ci writer in Song dynasty”. While Wang Guowei illustrates the “prosperous beginning and declining end” of the Ci history by praising the “Wu Dai” and “Northern Dynasty” and belittling the “Southern Dynasty”. However, it is worthy of paying attention that some comments on some important Ci poets and works, their point of views are consistent.The second chapter is the creation theory research. About the Ci theories of creation. Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei share slight similarities but many differences, which mainly reflected in two aspects,the subjective of creation and the methodology of creation. On the one hand, about the subjective of creation. Firstly, both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei think that the works are closely related to the authors. Liu Xizai proposes the point of view “there I am”, while Wang Guowei divides the mental realm into “with me” and “without me”. Secondly, Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei think that the “Ci poets” should have “Ya emotion”, but Liu Xizai emphasizes on “Zheng emotion” based on Confucian ethics, while Wang Guowei insists on “pure heart”, especially the “true emotion”.Thirdly, Both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei attach much importance to the Ci poet's ability, but the former adheres to the” talent and knowledge”, while the latter emphasizes on accomplishment and advocates “genius theory”. On the other hand, on the methodology of creation. First of all, both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei think that “the eye of Ci” is extremely important, but the former insists on “God's light gathering”, while the latter advocates “realms all out”. Secondly, Liu Xizai elaborates the art of composition, syntax, lettering, rhyme, etc of Ci in detail which form a well-conceived system, but Wang Guowei mainly discusses the “isolation” and “unisolation”, “the creation of realms” and ”write realms”. However, it is worth paying attention to their views about “the usage of words” are the same.The third chapter is the theory of style. About the styles of Ci, among Liu Xizai's and Wang Guowei's point of views, you will find some similarities in differences and some differences in similarities, which mainly reflected in two aspects, the classification of styles and the aesthetic value of style. First of all, on the classification of style, both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei advocate dichotomy, but the former divides the styles into “masculine style” and ”feminine style”, while the latter divides the styles into “magnificent style” and “elegant style”. Secondly, about the aesthetic value of style, both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei advocate “nature” works, but Liu Xizai stands for “wonderful creations” and “rich and deep”, while Wang Guowei appreciates “free and easy” and “Solemn and stirring”.The fourth chapter is criticism theory research. About the criticism of Ci, the theories of Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei share much similarities with little differences, which mainly reflected in two aspects, the standards of criticism and the methods of criticism. On the one hand, about the standards of criticism. First of all, on the ideological standards, Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei insist on “the style is the man”, and think that the “character of works” is consistent with “personalities”. Secondly, about the artistic standards, Liu Xizai prefers to use “tastes” to make comment on Ci, while Wang Guowei claims of “scenes”. On the other hand, about the methods of criticism, both Liu Xizai and Wang Guowei adopt “criticism on sentences” and “mutual interpretation between poetry and Ci”, but Liu Xizai's most distinctive criticism method is “dialectics”, while Wang Guowei has the characteristic of “learning both from Chinese and Western”.The conclusion part summarizes and analyses about the inheritance and innovation in Wang Guowei's Ci theory from Liu Xizai.