Abstract：Eastern Zhejiang Literary School consisted of a group of closely related scholars from Eastern Zhejiang, including Lü Zuqian, Chen Liang, Chen Fuliang, and Ye Shi. It was the most prominent faction of essay writing in the Mid-Southern Song Dynasty. As a composite literary faction, the formation of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School adopted the thoughts of Zhejiang School as an ideological resource and the imperial examinations as the field and thrust for its rise. The Zhejiang scholars held to the literary theory of a fusion of Neo-Confucianism and literature and attached great importance to the function of literature, a theory which was the main manifestation of the thoughts of Zhejiang School and constituted the mainstream ideology and critical features of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School. The rise of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School was strongly associated with the success of the Zhejiang scholars in the imperial examinations and the popularity of the “Yongjia Literary Form”. The Zhejiang scholars not only assisted each other and shared a set of writing techniques in the imperial examinations but also continued to expand the influence of the thoughts of Zhejiang School and promote the rise of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School through activities such as teaching the imperial examination courses, compiling, selecting and composing imperial examination essays.The creative practice of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School was not only closely integrated with its academic studies, but it was also an external expression of its academic thoughts, which effectively demonstrated the creative path and the spirit of essay writing that “learning and writing interact infinitely”. The political essays of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School centered on the recovery of lost territories, reflected a practical character, and were good at discussing. The imperial examination essays were known for its technical virtuosity, novelty, and powerful style of writing. The creation of Xuji and inscriptions also showed a diverse pattern and multi-directional characteristics in terms of artistic style. Meanwhile, the creation of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School was generally influenced by Ouyang Xiu and Su Shi, presenting a pattern of various styles and genres. Eastern Zhejiang Literary School was the successor and promoter of the Northern Song prose tradition, which profoundly influenced the trajectory of the development of prose.Eastern Zhejiang Literary School has a special historical status and significance for literary history. The literary ideology of the fusion of Neo-Confucianism and literature was an orthodox and primary thought of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School, which had unique value and significance in the historical context of the split between literature and Neo-Confucianism since the Mid-Northern Song Dynasty. Eastern Zhejiang Literary School was a strong creative team, which was as important as the “Four Great Poets” and the “Xin School Lyricists”, and together they established the scenario of the literary history of the Southern Song Dynasty. Eastern Zhejiang Literary School has a certain reference and inspirational value in re-recognizing ancient Chinese literary factions. The composite and inclusive genre characteristics of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School, as well as the diversity of artistic styles and creative patterns within the group, are more in line with the connotative qualities and true forms of ancient Chinese literary factions than those in the modern Western sense. Eastern Zhejiang Literary School provides a relevant style for building up a theoretical discourse system for the study of ancient Chinese literary factions.
许和亚. 南宋浙东文派的崛起及其文学史意义[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2022, 52(11): 147-160.
Xu Heya. Rise of Eastern Zhejiang Literary School in the Southern Song Dynasty and Its Significance for Literary History. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2022, 52(11): 147-160.
2022, Vol. 52 
