|
|
|
| A Retrospect of the Advancement of Ancient Yuefu Movement and Reshaping of Literary Landscape at the End of the Yuan Dynasty with Yang Weizhen’s Four Trips to the Wu Region as a Clue |
| Liu Zhaoming |
| College of Chinese Language and Literature, Zhejiang Yuexiu University, Shaoxing 312000, China |
|
|
|
|
Abstract Throughout his life, Yang Weizhen travelled to the Wu region including Gusu, Huzhou, Songjiang and Kunshan for many times. He first set foot on the land in the fifth year of Taiding (1328 A.D.) after leaving the then capital and composed ancient Yuefu poems and responded to those by Li Xiaoguang. In the years that followed, Yang Weizhen visited the Wu region for several times and even settled down in Songjiang later on in his life until death. Yang’s trips to Wu directly fueled the advancement of the ancient Yuefu movement and reshaped the literary landscape at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. With his influence, not only was the center of the ancient Yuefu movement moved from Hangzhou to Songjiang, but also the literature community in Southeast China emerged in the late Yuan Dynasty, leading to the highlight of the literature arena moving to the south and the shift and redirection of the development of literature.There are four most important visits to the Wu region of Yang that have great significance on the poetic style at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, especially with respect to the ancient Yuefu movement, namely, the 1328 and 1346 visits to Gusu and the 1349 and 1359 ones to Songjiang. The reasons why Yang paid repeated visits to the Wu region and eventually chose to live in Songjiang were rather complex. To name just a few, first, the profound historical legacy, rich cultural heritage and long literary tradition are critical in attracting Yang to the Wu region and Songjiang, in particular; second, the stunning natural scenery strongly interested Yang; third, the Wu region provided a relatively tranquil living environment for Yang; besides, Yang’s relocation to Songjiang was also aimed at promoting the ancient Yuefu movement that he led, extending its influence and gaining more attention; finally, the maritime cargo shipping allowed by the Yuan Empire alongside China’s southeastern coastal line vitalized the urban economy of cities like Songjiang and Taicang. Scholars from other places of the country tended to settle and gather in Wu for its prosperous business, soaring local population, cultural diversity and an environment featuring openness, inclusiveness and freedom. Through multiple times of teaching, visiting and eventually settling down in the Wu region, Yang convened a large group of local poets and those came to study and hide from disasters from the outside, which further enlarged the scope where the ancient Yuefu movement exerted influence, transferred its center from Qiantang to Songjiang and climaxed the movement.Yang’s travels to Wu pushed forward the ancient Yuefu movement, enabled its thriving and also left far-reaching impact on the reshaping of the literary landscape at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. On the one hand, the Southeast China centered in Wuzhong suddenly became the highlight of the poetic arena of that period. Relying on the platform and finance offered by Gu Ying, an affluent businessperson and scholar in Kunshan, Yang actively engaged himself in hosting salons and academic meetings by fully utilizing his talent, ingenuity, temperament and influence as the leader of the scholars. Renowned scholars from the southeast and even across the country came over because of Yang. Together, they versified relentlessly, making it the center of China’s poetic arena. On the other hand, large groups of general citizens and scholars who did not work as officials participated a lot in the literary movements initiated by Yang, writing Yuefu poems in response to each other. This contributed to the popularity of poetry in the lower class and more of those people became the backbone of the poetic community. During his stay in the Wu region, Yang mostly presented himself in the community as an ordinary scholar with no big difference from the general public. Moreover, the pursuit of poetry being regular and available to everyone had always been part of his poetic ideal. Also, the majority of those who communicated and travelled with Yang were scholars without official titles and ordinary people were often found as the protagonists or receivers of the articles and poems in his collection. Therefore, it is fair to say that Yang’s literary activities in Wu helped the formation of the literature with the general public as major contributors, rendering the focus of literature closer to the grassroots.In terms of the major trend of the development of the Chinese literature, it is true that immense historic changes took place at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but regrettably, literature embraced again the development mode with upper-class scholars as main contributors and political education as the primary goal after the low ebb at the beginning of the newly established Ming Dynasty and the intensified tyrannical monarchy. Later on, literature took on a new look characterized by an increasingly elegant and formal style that better met the needs of the ruling class.
|
|
Received: 18 April 2022
|
|
|
|
1 黄仁生： 《杨维祯与元末明初文学思潮》，上海：东方出版中心，2005年。
2 李孝光： 《李孝光集校注》，陈增杰校注，杭州：浙江古籍出版社，2016年。
3 永瑢等： 《四库全书总目》，北京：中华书局，1965年。
4 杨维祯： 《杨维祯全集校笺》，孙小力校笺，上海：上海古籍出版社，2019年。
5 赖良编： 《大雅集》，见《影印文渊阁四库全书》第1369册，台北：台湾商务印书馆，1986年。
6 何良俊： 《四友斋丛说》，北京：中华书局，1959年。
7 方岳贡： 《（崇祯）松江府志》，北京：书目文献出版社，1991年。
8 王欣夫： 《蛾术轩箧存善本书录》，鲍正鹄、徐鹏标点整理，上海：上海古籍出版社，2002年。
9 胡翰： 《胡仲子集》，见《影印文渊阁四库全书》第1229册，台北：台湾商务印书馆，1986年。
10 支伟成、任志远辑录： 《吴王张士诚载记》，韩国钧审定，杨镰、张颐青整理，北京：中华书局，2013年。
11 顾嗣立编： 《元诗选》，吴申扬等点校，北京：中华书局，2021年。
12 邵亨贞： 《野处集》，见《影印文渊阁四库全书》第1215册，台北：台湾商务印书馆，1986年。
13 贡师泰： 《玩斋集》，见《影印文渊阁四库全书》第1215册，台北：台湾商务印书馆，1986年。
14 顾瑛辑： 《草堂雅集》上册，杨镰、祁学明、张颐青整理，北京：中华书局，2008年。
15 陈田辑： 《明诗纪事》，上海：上海古籍出版社，1993年。
16 顾瑛辑： 《玉山名胜集》，杨镰、叶爱欣整理，北京：中华书局，2008年。
17 黄仁生： 《试论元末“古乐府运动”》，《文学评论》2002年第6期，第148-159页。
18 黄宗羲辑： 《明文海》，见《影印文渊阁四库全书》第1455册，台北：台湾商务印书馆，1986年。
19 李修生主编： 《全元文》第39册，南京：凤凰出版社，2004年。
20 日］吉川幸次郎： 《元明诗概说》，郑清茂译，台北：幼狮文化事业公司，1987年。
21 孙小力： 《论铁崖派以及元季东南文化思潮》，《上海大学学报（社会科学版）》1993年第5期，第18-24页。
22 查洪德： 《元代诗学通论》，北京：北京大学出版社，2014年。
23 章培恒、骆玉明： 《中国文学史》（下册），上海：复旦大学出版社，1996年。 |
|
|
|
2023, Vol. 53 
