6th century Literature in the south

6th century Chinese Literature in the south 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. 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. 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 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

Link to Power Point Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Nr8rBGpTmJzOofQv_xCXXs7UU0spHhk46mb7C-yCiAU/edit?usp=sharing