The Study Of A Miscellany Of The Western Capital

A Miscellany of the Western Capital is a Chinese ancient novel that records the anecdotes of the Western Han Dynasty.It’s author has always been controversial,and whether it is forged by Ge Hong is one of the points of contention.By examining the postscript written by Ge Hong,and contrast it with Ge Hong’s self-narrative in Outer Chapter of Bao Pu Zi,some inconsistencies can be found.This raises some doubts about the authenticity of the postscript.Therefore,whether A Miscellany of the Western Capital was compiled by Ge Hong is worth to be further discussed.A Miscellany of the Western Capital has three version systems,this study provides some new information on three versions of Ming Dynasty that were less discussed before.All this three editions are collected in the Shanghai Library,including Tang Lin’s Kuai Ge series and Lu Wenchao’s proof-reading manuscripts and the movable type version in Ming Dynasty.By comparing Lu Wenchao’s proof-reading manuscripts and the Bao Jing Tang series,it’s can be found that the “chao ben”in Lu’s proofreading is probably this proof-reading manuscript of Ming Dynasty.The “story” in A Miscellany of the Western Capital can truly become allusion,which depends on the constant use of writers.According to the characteristics of allusions generated from A Miscellany of the Western Capital,we can divide it into four categories.Among them,the most prominent parts are the class of court and anecdotal.By examining the poets of past dynasties cited it’s content to write poems,we can found that the use of A Miscellany of the Western Capital in the Northern and Southern Dynasties were relatively few,and Yu Xin was the first poet to use it a lot.In the Tang Dynasty,the allusions in this book were fully developed.The use of Li Bai,Du Fu,Li Shangyin and Du Mu further expanded its influence.Accompanied by the pursuit of innovation and change,the poets of the Song Dynasty developed some new allusions and changed the way of using allusions.In addition to following the usage of the previous generation,the poets of the Ming and Qing Dynasties are also paying more attention to the details of the story,and performing the story into poems.A Miscellany of the Western Capital shows special attention to Han Fu and its creators,and also shows attention to the names,that is similar to the Han Da Fu which lays out the names.The historical features of the Han Dynasty,the characteristics of the court and attention to the names in the stories of A Miscellany of the Western Capital affect the allusions generated by it,which is also attached with specific historical natures and have nominal manifestations.As the representative of the anecdote novels before Tang Dynasty,A Miscellany of the Western Capital shows the integration of various factors in novel.Secondly,it initiated a new novel style about recording the miscellaneous affairs of the capital.A Miscellany of the Western Capital has been continuously cited and recreated by various literary works ever since,and one of the most important aspects is to provide material for poetry writing.