Clarity, brevity, and naturalness: Lu Yun and his works (China)

In Chinese literary history, the Jin dynasty (265–420) has attracted less attention from modern scholars than other dynasties. Like other celebrated periods, the Jin period has its own literary achievements and characteristic style. Moreover, it was creative era in the history of Chinese thought. At the same time, this period was extremely dangerous for members of the literati, and many of them lost their lives in the political chaos and social turbulence.; Lu Yun (262–303) has always been much in the shadow of his more famous elder brother Lu Ji (262–303). Nonetheless, Lu Yun distinguished himself through his prolific tetrasyllabic (siyan) and pentasyllabic (wuyan) poetry, in particular in the subgenre of “presentation and reply poems” (zengda shi). Lu Yun also wrote rhapsodies (fu), engaging both in lyrical and political oriented expression. Prominent in the writings of Lu Yun is his realization of the suffering due to his separation from his brother and his family in southern China. His values of clarity, brevity, and the expression of emotions, all of which are based on “naturalness,” also illuminate a variant strain in the literature of the Jin period. His views on literature exerted a great deal of influence on later critics such as Liu Xie (ca. 465–522).; This study has on two main goals. First, it seeks to shed light on the problems concerning Lu Yun's biography in Jin shu [The History of the Jin Dynasty], and second, it aims to elucidate Lu Yun's literary achievements and their historical significance and to explore and analyze his literary ideas and praxis by examining both his poetic and non-poetic compositions. This study comprises three parts: first, the Annotated Chronology of Lu Yun's Life and Related Events; second, the main text of the thesis, which contains four chapters; and third, two appendices, which contain a translation of Lu Yun's biography in the Jin shu and five illustrative tables. The main text discusses Lu Yun's life, his “presentation and reply poems,” his rhapsodies, and his views on literature.