Mourning And Sympathy-The “Family Writing” In Xianyong Bai And Hualing Nie's Literature World

Xianyong Bai and Hualing Nie,as the mainstays of Taiwan's contemporary literature and outstanding representatives of Chinese-American writers,have created plenty of works that enjoy great popularity.However,what's also notable is their special family background and life experiences.Bai and Nie were both born in a prominent family at the time.Thanks to an affluent family and good parenting,they have been richly exposed to traditional Chinese culture since a young age,which laid a firm foundation for their literature paths.Meanwhile,the tragic fate of sinking back to poverty during youth ages added a layer of sadness to their sensitives hearts,which also left a deep mark in their literature works.Dafu Yu used to say,“Literature works are nothing but the writers' autobiographies”.It's the same with Bai and Nie.This thesis mainly discusses about Bai and Nie's “family writing” so as to understand these two important writers from a systematic and comprehensive way.One of the purposes of this thesis is to manifest the historical microcosm reflected from their literature creation,where they stand in the contemporary literature world and their unique influence.The introduction consists of four parts: an overview of the writers' life experiences and literature creation,current researches on this topic in China,characteristics of this research and how it innovates,and research ideas and methodolog.This thesis expounds itself in three chapters.The first chapter discusses “family writing” from the aspect of respecting ancestors' teachings.These intellectuals with strong ancestor worships encouraged themselves to overcome difficulties and keep moving forward by praising and extoling their ancestors' strong will and hard work.The secondchapter focuses on the cultural influence of their family ritual.These elegant scholars,well-educated and dipped in a literary family,spent their childhood in the mainland of China.Therefore,when they looked back to the past glories,not only did they enjoy the happiness of family union,but also undoubtedly inherited the genes of the upper class.Chapter three concentrates on the feeling of desolation when the family declined.The vulnerable and changeable nature of individual lives,self-breakdown of traditional families and the chaos and damages in an age of turbulence deeply influenced Bai and Nie.The conclusion part mainly demonstrates the significance of Bai and Nie's “family writing” and how it impacts family ritual building in modern Chinese families.