6th century Literature in the south
6th century Chinese Literature in the South
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 cataloging, 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. These anthologies were generally created by and author or an authors friend of compiled work. The two most important works of this time were "New Songs of the Jade Terrace" and "Latter Collection of the Jade Terrace" which are the most important sources of pre-Tang secular literature. New Songs of the Jade Terrace was also a compilation that was specifically meant for female readership which is also fairly important for its time.
Literary Criticism also became a very important aspect of The Liang Dynasty as it was the first time that it appeared in Chinese History. Liu Xie wrote the revolutionary work "Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragon" which was a large text of fifty chapters that examines several literary genres as well as the nature of language and the creation of poetry and literature. "Liu Xie makes the claim that literature is an extension of the Confucian Classics and that writing literary criticism possesses the same intrinsic value as writing commentaries on the Classics and elucidating the words of the Sage" (258). Along with the work by Liu Xie the work "Gradations of Poets" was also created by Zhong Rong. The work was divided into three section and ranked 122 poets each into one of the sections (top, middle, and lower) this inspired more people to begin rating literary figures in many different ways.
Prominent figures
- Emperor Wu- changed the 6th century in the south by putting a greater emphasis on writing and writers during the time. He was also quite the prolific writer himself. He even boasted a collection of his own writing that contained of 120 scrolls. The scrolls contained political writing as well as his own fu and yuefu. Unfortunately the majority of those scrolls are now lost.
- Ren Fang and Shen Yue- These two men played an important role in the, “rise of this new cultural elite” (252). They helped the literary scene in their time flourish by being important men who acted as patrons and promoters of new and interesting literary work. They were both considered grand literary masters and if a writer were able to gain the favor of Reng Fang it was nicknamed “passing through the Dragon Gate” after the Chinese legend that claims that carps who can leap over it would be transformed into dragons. These two men, along with Emperor Wu managed to change the sixth century literary climate to something China had never seen before.
- 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 explored 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.
- Shen Jiong- A prominent writer who experienced the fall of the southern Chinese government and was forced to move to the north for some time. One important addition that he gave to Chinese literature was his poetry on returning to his southern home:
“Still apprehensive about the northern cavalry. I am ever wary of encountering barbarian troops. Only large trees remain in the empty village; deserted towns are left with crumbling city walls. None of my old friends is around; all my new acquaintances have different names. A hundred years, thirty thousand days in all, this heart-wrenching sorrow in each and every one of them” (269).
- Ruan Xiaoxu- Lifelong recluse who nonetheless created a very large catalogue of books which contained 6,288 titles as well as 44,526 scrolls. He also formed one of the most prestigious clans of the time period.
Important Works
Literary Mind and the Carving of the Dragon by Liu Xie- This work was the first emergence of LIterary Criticism in China and took CHinese Literature to places that it had never been before. Liu Xie explored language and poetry in ways that no previous Chinese author, and for that matter, any writer from anywhere, had ever done before. These short excerpts provide a strong example of what kinds of revolutionary thoughts and writing that Liu Xie was capable of: -"Human beings are the flower of the elements: in fact, they are the mind of Heaven and Earth. When mind came into being, language was established; and with the establishment of language, pattern became manifest. This is the natural course of things, the Way" (Liu Xie 344). -"Long ago someone said that a person's body might be on thee rivers and lakes, yet his mind could remain by the palace towers or Wei. This is what is meant by spirit thought. And spirit does indeed go far in the thought that occurs in writing. When we silently concentrate, thought may reach a thousand years in the past; and when the face stirs quietly, the eyes can see thousands of miles. When we sing, the sounds of pearls and jade come forth; right before our eyelashes the colors of clouds in the wind unfurl. This is something achieved by the basic principle of thought (Liu Xie 346)
The Garden of Classified Extracts- Liu Jun
Comprehensive Epitome of the Park of Lowering Groves - Liu Jun
Record of Buddha- Shen Yue
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