The Mixture Of Tradition And Alteration

Cai Xianchen(1563-1641),authored the book Manuscript of Qingbai Hall(《清白堂稿》),was a writer who lived in Tong’an Fujian in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.The thought and literary schools of the Ming Dynasty were constantly changing,and on the whole,the tradition and the alteration were opposed to each other.Cai Xianchen’s thought and literature integrated the tradition with the alteration,which was the epitome of the change of thought and literary schools in Ming Dynasty.This paper explores the unique significance of Cai Xianchen to the history of literary thought in the Ming Dynasty by combing the alteration and traditional elements in his thought and literature.This paper is mainly divided into four parts:The first chapter,starting with the change of ideological trend,discusses Cai Xianchen’s acceptance of the Cheng-Zhu philosophy and the Yangming philosophy,respectively analyzes the reasons and manifestations of acceptance,as well as the changing mentality from adhering to Cheng-Zhu philosophy to devoting to Yangming philosophy and the specific ways to reconcile the two.The second chapter starts with the transmutation of literary schools,combing the communication and correspondence between Cai Xianchen and the writers of the literary reversion school and the literary new change school,and focusing on the analysis of the same part of his theory.Through comparison,it can be found that Cai Xianchen’s acceptance of the theory of the literary reversion school was relatively limited,showing some flexibility in his acceptance,while he was more accepting of the theory of the literary neo-change school.The third chapter discusses Cai Xianchen’s literary creation and theory.Cai Xianchen’s literary creation is divided into two sides.The traditional side is reflected in his social poems and eight-part essays,while the new side is reflected in his poems with emotional color,expressing leisure life,returning to the pastoral landscape and expressing reality.In terms of literary theory,the author analyzes three parts:"Should the writing style be straight or strange","Emphasis on practical theory",and "Poetry and eight-part essay are composed in the same way",from which it can be seen that Cai Xianchen tends to new literary theories,some of which can even be regarded as the preludes of literary theories in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties.On this basis,the deviation between Cai Xianchen’s literary creation and theory is compared and the reasons are analyzed.The fourth chapter examines the significance of Cai Xianchen from the perspective of literature and culture.In terms of literature,Cai Xianchen is not only a representative of the traditional literary style of Fujian,but also a true portrayal of the era of "heaven collapsing and earth touching" in the middle and late Ming Dynasty.His literature presents an "intermediate state" of reversion and alteration,and is constantly encouraged by "new".In terms of culture,Cai Xianchen followed the tradition of Confucianism,Neo-Confucianism and the Min School,and was influenced by Wang Yangming’s philosophy of mind,Buddhism and Western learning,showing the dawn of "modernity".