Difference between revisions of "6th century Literature in the south"

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= Overview =
 
= Overview =
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The 6th century in Chinese literature was probably one of the most important literary periods in chinese literature.  The area underwent many changes after Emperor Wu of the Liang retooled the social structure by making huge changes to the education system.  After reinstating the imperial academy he changed the rules of admission and allowed lower class people to join.  This changed the social structure greatly and eventually allowed people that were born in lower classes to make their way into higher levels of social classes.   
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Southern sixth century China is probably one of the most important eras in all of Chinese literary history.  Literature and the people writing it experienced important changes in the ways things had previously been done.  Starting with Emperor Wu of the Liang a man who reportedly had, “tireless devotion to literary and scholarly undertakings [and] went far beyond and of his imperial predecessors, both in terms of his personal involvement and in terms of the imperial sponsorship of various large scale cultural projects” (251).  Chinese literature experienced a huge overhaul directly related to social changes: “This period witnessed the redistribution of cultural capital in society and the rise of a new cultural elite” (249).  The reason for this is that the class system had been strictly defined by Gentry and Shu.  Gentry being higher up social figures who had the opportunity to take part in the literary world and the Shu being commoners who had previously not had much of an ability to participate in literary China.  Emperor changed this social system in 505 when he created an imperial edict that first, demanded people holding government positions to have deep understanding of at least one Confucian classic, second reinstated the Imperial Academy and third, changed the admission rules to allow anyone with exceptional abilities, despite their role in social society, to join the academy.  This decree was to have “a considerable impact on upward social mobility” (250).
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Literary scholars also started to compile extensive collections of literature.  The imperial book collection.  Private book collections became a trend that lead to large amounts of people being in possession of huge collections of books.  Several prominent literary figures of the age boasted collections thousands in numbers.  There was also a lot of literary anthologies put together at this time.  Several people were well renowned for compiling important literary collections of the time.
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Southern sixth century also holds the beginnings of very serious cataloguing, encyclopedias, and anthology compilation.  Shortly before the reign of Emperor Wu the imperial library had suffered a destructive fire and Emperor Wu ordered that the library be reconstructed to more than its former glory.  Private book collecting also became a prominent practice which is what eventually led to the creation of anthologies.
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Emperor Wu died in 549 which eventually led to the fall of the south.  This led to many of the southern writers making their way to the north which ultimately resulted in an important mixing off the northern and southern cultures.  The fall of the south also caused a lot of interesting writing from literary figures at the time who wrote quite candidly about the loss of their home.
 
  
 
=Prominent figures=
 
=Prominent figures=

Revision as of 04:56, 2 March 2013

6th century Chinese Literature in the South

Liang Wudi

Overview

Southern sixth century China is probably one of the most important eras in all of Chinese literary history. Literature and the people writing it experienced important changes in the ways things had previously been done. Starting with Emperor Wu of the Liang a man who reportedly had, “tireless devotion to literary and scholarly undertakings [and] went far beyond and of his imperial predecessors, both in terms of his personal involvement and in terms of the imperial sponsorship of various large scale cultural projects” (251). Chinese literature experienced a huge overhaul directly related to social changes: “This period witnessed the redistribution of cultural capital in society and the rise of a new cultural elite” (249). The reason for this is that the class system had been strictly defined by Gentry and Shu. Gentry being higher up social figures who had the opportunity to take part in the literary world and the Shu being commoners who had previously not had much of an ability to participate in literary China. Emperor changed this social system in 505 when he created an imperial edict that first, demanded people holding government positions to have deep understanding of at least one Confucian classic, second reinstated the Imperial Academy and third, changed the admission rules to allow anyone with exceptional abilities, despite their role in social society, to join the academy. This decree was to have “a considerable impact on upward social mobility” (250).

Southern sixth century also holds the beginnings of very serious cataloguing, encyclopedias, and anthology compilation. Shortly before the reign of Emperor Wu the imperial library had suffered a destructive fire and Emperor Wu ordered that the library be reconstructed to more than its former glory. Private book collecting also became a prominent practice which is what eventually led to the creation of anthologies.

Prominent figures

  • Emperor Wu- changed the 6th century in the south by putting a greater emphasis on writing and writers during the time.
  • Ren Fang- Played an important role in 6th century writing by serving as a prominent figure of patronage and promotion for up and coming writers. Even if their origins were more humble.
  • Shen Yue- Had a similar role as Ren Fang by promoting new writers.
  • Liu Xie- Writer of the first real Chinese literary criticism titled Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragon which was a fairly long piece of writing that looked a many facets of writing and the literary mind.
  • Xiao Gang- Son of Emperor Wu who was a fairly well known writer at the time.
  • Yin Keng- Prominent poet who boasted many poems.

Important Works

  • Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragon- Liu Xie
  • Gradation of Poets- Zhong Rong
  • Autumn Evening- Xiao Gang
  • Ballad of Joining the Army- Lu Sidao
  • Fu on the Returned Soul- Shen Jiong
  • The Lament for the South- Yu Xin
  • Ascending a Tower and Gazing toward My Homeland-Denglou Wangxiang
  • Ascending a Tower and Gazing toward my homeland- Yin Keng

References

  • The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume 1 - Kang-I Sun and Stephen Owen
  • An Anthology of Chinese Literature - Stephen Owen

Classroom presentation

Media:6th_Century_literature_of_the_South_by_Mat_C.pptx

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