Research On The Tanli Poetry Society

In Tongguang period of Qing Dynasty,Tanli Poetry Society was established.It was mainly based on Manchu literati,including Mongolian and Han Chinese literati,which could be described as unique in the history of the late Qing literature.This paper mainly explores the reasons of the emergence of this special group and its development under the historical turmoil by examining the background of the late Qing Dynasty and the environment of the poetry.At the same time,this paper studies its poetry to discover the Eight Banners literati image of late Qing Dynasty and their artistic pursuits.The main body of this paper consists of four chapters:The first chapter introduces the establishment of the Tanli Poetry Society.Tanli Poetry Society was a large group lasting for 13 years and was composed of more than fifty poets coming from different social classes and ethnic groups,which was characterized by great inclusiveness and multi-ethnic fusion.From the view of establishing purpose,Tanli Poetry Society was a purely literary poetry society.Of course,for literati who began to take the paths of their political career,it was inevitable to discuss the current situation.But on the whole,its political nature was not particularly obvious.And Tanli Poetry Society has its own poetry anthology called Rixialianyin poetry anthology,which is another important Eight Banners literati poetry anthology after Xichaoyasong poetry anthology and is of great value in our study on the Eight Banners literati creation of late Qing Dynasty.There are now three versions left.The second chapter analyzes the group interaction of Tanli Poetry Society mainly through the study on the preface and postscript of Rixialianyin poetry anthology and individual collections.The interaction among members of Tanli Poetry Society was very frequent,from large gatherings of more than a dozen people to small literary responsory between two or three people.The forms were various from joint-authorship poems and rhyme dependant poems and so on.Poets feasted for poems and enjoyed themselves.The third chapter depicts the collective group image of Tanli Poetry Society.This chapter mainly investigates the life of poets and their poetry creation to show poets' realsurvival situation and states of mind in the late Qing Dynasty.They were declining aristocrats of the late Qing Dynasty.They had inherent compromise and weakness of the Eight Banners literati.And as traditional literati,they concerned about the fate of country and people.They were eager to render meritorious service but things always went contrary.The hopelessreality let them turn to the poems and wines for solace,and to the mountains and rivers for inner peace.Although they lived a poor life,but they still maintained sober and clean spirits.Tanli Poetry Society was a spiritual flag of the late Qing Dynasty Eight Banner literati and a symbol of the times filled with tears and dignity.The fourth chapter discusses the artistic pursuits of Tanli Poetry Society.Tanli Poetry Society was deeply influenced by Han culture.The poets inherited the traditional poetic tradition of ancient Chinese poetry and expressed their real feelings.What's more,they also had their own innovation and development,forming a very unique aesthetic style,which reflected the late Qing Dynasty Banner literati unique aesthetic purpose.Tanli Poetry Society was established in a special historical environment and the poets were affected deeplyby the atmosphere in the vortex of the times.As a result,they insisted on the aesthetic view point of "taking sadness for beauty" and created a melancholy atmosphere with deep meanings in their poems.Of course,this kind of special aesthetic view point was also chosen consciously by themselves.In a word,Tanli Poetry Society was the last radiance of Chinese classical literature,just like the light of "Tongzhi Resurgence",weak but precious.