The Research Of Gozan Literary Theory Under The Influence Of Confucianism

The Gozan literature,which arose in the Buddha Hall at the time of the communication of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty and the period of frequent exchanges among Sino-Japanese Buddhists,carried on the Chinese poems of the period of Heian Dynasty and opening the door to the Chinese poems in the Edo period and Meiji period,and was a period of great prosperity in the creation of Chinese poems.In this period,a large number of outstanding Buddhist monks emerged.They were intimate with the scholar bureaucrats,versed in the ancient Chinese Confucian classics of all ages,Buddhist classics and ancient codes and records of other schools and played the role of communication among literati and officialdom culture,mass culture and pop culture.In general,they were proficient in classics and the creation of Chinese poems in the same way as Chinese literati and officialdom were.The Buddhist monks developed literary thinking of their own,which is also inevitably affected by the Confucian thinking,in the process of learning Chinese culture,interpreting Confucian classics,interpreting and creating Chinese poems.The Gozan literary thinking is divided into the period of formation,maturity,great prosperity and decline in accordance with the trace of ups and downs of Gozan literature.The period of formation is represented by Kokan Shiren,a pupil of Ichinei,whose “Anthology of Jibei” and “Notes on Classical Poetry of Jibei” recognized the significance of literature and made relatively mature consideration on the relationship the content of poems and the times;the period of maturity and great prosperity were represented by – Chugan Engetsu and Zekkai Chuushin,two “figures”of Gozan literature,they set up their own sects to jointly maintain the Buddhist literature since the middle period of Muromachi.The Gozan literature thinking reflected the idea of seizing the day in its declining period.Poems of this period were lack of vitality.The poem style was splendid yet dejected,and poets were contented with the summation of poem collections.The paper carries out the discussion in terms of views on essence,values,literature style,creation,criticism and appreciation theory.In terms of the essence of literature,it considers that Gozan literature is the ribbon to maintain the social system and carrier for “expressing aspiration” and the essence of literature is evoking of emotions by scenes at sight.In terms of literary value,the Gozan literature believes that literature both plays the social function role of governance of the state at times of peace and the guiding role in the personality cultivation of the individuals,and finally,realizes the unity of the Confucian orthodoxy and the literary traditions on the basis of paying respect for classics and holding reverence for the saints.In terms of literature style,Gozan literature developed the view on literature style oriented by poetic proses,which was also used by the Buddhist monks in the creation of gatha to achieve the integration of gatha and poems.Such view on literature style carries forward the idea of emphasis on “educating by poetry” by Confucius.In terms of creation,it is thought by Gozan literature that the unity of content and form should be achieved in the creation of literature.It is an important creation technique of Gozan Buddhist to “make analogy of morality” by way of “symbols”,which not only satisfies the need of aesthetics,but also meets the requirement for the personality cultivation.“Rigorous in the creation of poems” and “consideration in meaning” are achieved by repeated consideration of Gozan literature.In terms of criticism and appreciation,Gozan literature considers that the idea of literature acceptance of restraint and standardization and the value criteria of reaching the acme of perfection should be established in the appreciation of literature.Gozan literature,which absorbed and integrated Confucian traditional literary and artistic thought,also made some breakthroughs and contributions to Japanese literature in Edo and later period.It promotes the emergence of more literature suiting both refined and popular tastes,greatly broadens the scope of literary expression and facilitates the emergence of Chinese literature.It also had a great impact on Japan's new Confucianism and determines the establishment of views on literature for persuasion and modern Confucianism.With the integration of Confucianism and Japanese Taoism,the Gozan literature gradually shed off the influence of established Confucianism and attached increasing importance to the "tanka" in Japan.The traditional Confucianism itself separated from the Gozan literature,gained independence and reached its heyday with efforts of Fujiwara Seika et al.The historical data containing Gozan literature thought also play an important role in promoting exchanges on Sino-Japanese Confucianism,and will continue to play due role in the future cultural exchanges.