A Research On The Compilation Of Miscellaneous Biographies Of Reclusion Subject In Late-Ming Dynasty

The miscellaneous biographies of reclusion subject in this paper refer to those books written in late-Ming dynasty that specially compile the works of the recluses throughout the history.The creation of the miscellaneous biographies of reclusion subject(hereinafter referred to as reclusion biography)begins and booms in Southern and Northern Dynasties,neglected during the period from Tang,Song to Ming Dynasty,rejuvenates in Late-Ming Dynasty of the period of Emperor Jia Jing and Wan Li.What rejuvenates the reclusion biography is the special historical context of Late-Ming Dynasty.The political corruption,rigid imperial examinations along with the social ideological trend of the combination of heart-mind theory,Zen and Taoism promote the prevalence of reclusive ideology among intellectual group.Besides,the regional cultural tradition of great popularity of reclusion in Jiangnan region and the abrupt rise of the Shanren group also push forward the process of compiling reclusion biographies in Late-Ming.As the collection way changes from private collection to circulation,there are abundant document literature available to compile and the upsurge of the personnel historical compilation directly promotes the flourishment of the creation of reclusion biographies.According to the document type,the reclusion biographies in Late-Ming belong to the compiled ones,whose materials are mainly derived from history and philosophy.Historical documents,especially those written in biographical style,are the main literature resources for the reclusion biographies during the period of Emperor Jia Jing.With the development of the novel concepts in Ming Dynasty as well as the improvement of the status of novel writing styles,massive unofficial history notes and archaic novels come into the compilers' sight.Philosophy,therefore,gradually has replaced Historical documents to become the major literature resources for reclusion biographies since the period of Emperor Wan Li.The significant change of the literature resources reflects the fact that the novelized character of the reclusion biographies in Late-Ming has been unceasingly enhanced.When it comes to subject and content selection,it tends to demonstrate the following characteristics:"well versed in ancient and mode","excerpting from various biographies" and "revealing recluse ' s morality".According to the layout of this compilation,the reclusion biographies find their reference from variety of stylistic resources,which include biographical style based on chronology and personage as well as the classification style of class books.In the process of writing,they use reference of historical biographies which combine narration and comment and always adopt the ways used archaic novels that narrating events and portraying characters through fragmentation and contextualization.The recluse characters portrayed in the reclusion biographies in Late-Ming Dynasty along with their reclusive ideology are characterized by stages.The works written during the period of Emperor Jia Jing take pains to portray the character of misanthropic and poor recluses,mainly reflecting the inheritage of reclusive ideology of Taoism and seeking for the freedom of individual spirit.The works written during the period of Emperor Wan Li,however,spare great effort in portraying the character of elegant and secluded recluses.The latter contains the reclusive ideology that combines Confucianism and Taoism,which both enjoys the joy of the secular and the bless of reclusion,and bears the social responsibility while seeks for the spirit freedom.