Abstract：The term “rhetoric studies” appeared in the era of Tang Gaozong. But so far, the academic circle has not made a careful examination and definition of this concept. In fact, rhetoric studies belongs to the important research category of ancient article studies. It does not only highlight the charter character and generic characteristics of “parlance”, which was different from poetry, rhymed prose, and other literary genres, but also profoundly restricts the academic circles’ cognition on multiple values and vicissitude rule of “applied literature”.
The original meaning of “rhetoric” was “explanation” and “interpretation”. From the “six kinds of rhetoric” contained in the Rituals of Zhou to the “words of Kings and ministers” in the Annals of Spring and Autumn, all can be described as “rhetoric”, also as “diction”. Since the Historical Records, the connotation of diction has been basically fixed as imperial documents. After the Han Dynasty, the so-called “good at diction” was mostly related to the ministry of “imperial edict”. In the first year of Huang Chu (220 AD), Emperor Weiwen set up a general secretary to “take charge of the edict”. Since then, the diction of the imperial court was in the charge of specialized officials. During the Tang and the Song Dynasties, the discussion of diction or imperial edict gradually surpassed the use of substantive and grammatical skills, and covered a wide range of disciplines such as meaning, exegesis, and rhetoric. A person of “rhetoric” was not only one of erudition but also a competent secretary of the imperial court.
The object of concern for rhetoric studies in the Tang and the Song Dynasties was applied literature. On the one hand, the scope of its training covers many fields such as classics and history, astronomy and calendar-making, laws and regulations, and even topographical genealogy. The so-called “well-known writers of the imperial court”, such as Zhang Yue, Su Ting, Zhang Jiuling, Lu Zhi, Li Deyu, Xia Song, Wang Gui, Song Xiang, Song Qi, etc., were familiar with “the six scriptures”, profoundly good at historiography, well versed in the theories of ancient philosophers, also involved in calendar-making, and the book of the Buddha. On the other hand, the famous scholars of rhetoric studies especially emphasized that “the article should be based on the system”, and required that the formulation of official orders must be sonorous, the law should be strict, the discussion should be accurate, the matter should be clear, and the style should be decorum. That was quite different from those insisting on emotional expression, narration and discussion of poetry, rhymed prose and ancient literature.
The academic elements contained in the rhetoric studies of the Tang and the Song Dynasties were diverse and complex. First was the establishment and inheritance of the classics. As the originator of imperial edict, The Book of Documents has an unshakable status. The imperial edicts of the Han Dynasty were elegant and profound. The resignation was full of meaning. Its classic value was highly appreciated by rhetoric studies. The applied words in the Zhaoming Wenxuan were also regarded as the standard by the author. In addition, with the continuous enrichment of the practice of rhetoric studies, many well-known writers were also recognized by the sages and later generations, and gradually became models, and Yan Xu, Ouyang, Dongpo, were all prominent examples. Secondly, as a link between the study of “classics and history” and “diction”, the compilation of encyclopedia plays an extremely important role in the construction of the rhetoric studies system. There were countless public and private encyclopedias in the Tang and the Song Dynasties, and there were often a huge disparity in the number of articles. But on the whole, they were rigorous and precise, and the dictionaries compiled mostly can be applied. It was very convenient for the author to search by category. Thirdly, a large number of special works on applied or parallel prose, and special works of rhetoric studies emerged, which not only accumulated rich experiences for the writing practice and evaluation research of applied literature, but also indicated that the rhetoric itself had come mature.
张兴武. 唐宋“辞学”考绎[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 0, (): 1-.
Zhang Xingwu. A Textual Research and Interpretation of “Rhetoric Studies” in the Tang and Song Dynasties. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 0, (): 1-.
