Zhonggu wenxue zhong de shi yu shi

Abstract

This volume of essays on medieval Chinese literature and culture is part of Fudan University's series of books on Chinese civilization. It is based on a successful international workshop organized by Zhang Yue 張月 of the University of Macau and Chen Yinchi 陳引馳 of Fudan University in 2018. The edited volume and the workshop were sponsored by the International Center for Studies of Chinese Civilization at Fudan University. The first of its kind, comprising essays written by scholars from China and the United States, this volume investigates six clusters of multidisciplinary topics on the relationship between poetry and history in medieval Chinese literature.The essays in this volume examine the vibrant and diverse relationship between poetry and history carefully and clearly, such as how the lore of historical figures and events is circulated among various literary subgenres and the role poetry plays in historical narratives and anecdotal collections. The book is divided into six themes according to the relationships between shi 詩 (poetry) and shi 史 (history). The first theme concerns the hermeneutics of poetry in intellectual history. Wang Chunhong's 汪春泓 chapter compares Cao Pi's 曹丕 (187–226) and Cao Zhi's 曹植 (192–232) poems neatly in the context of poetics in the Han dynasty, while Fan Ziye 范子燁 innovatively offers a new interpretation of Tao Yuanming's 陶淵明 (ca. 365–427) poems by placing them in the context of intellectual history. The second theme concerns the effects of reading history on poetry composition. Zhang Yue's essay focuses on historical memory and Zuo Si's 左思 (ca. 250–305) “Poems on History” (Yongshi shi 詠史詩).1 Bian Dongbo's 卞東波 chapter highlights the influence of Tao Yuanming's reading of miscellaneous histories, particularly Gaoshi zhuan 高士傳 (The Biographies of Lofty Recluses), on his poetry. The third theme in this volume concerns the relationship between poetry and historical narration. Qian Nanxiu's 錢南秀 contribution meticulously examines poetic competence and function in shaping the narration of main characters in the well-known anecdotal collection Shishuo xinyu 世說新語 (A New Account of the Tales of the World). Hao Ji's 郝稷 chapter also adeptly investigates the relationship between poetry and historical narration, emphasizing the reception of Du Fu's 杜甫 (712–770) poems in the Song dynasty (960–1279).The fourth theme is poetry in the context of literary history. Chen Te's 陳特 chapter investigates the relationship between Tao Yuanming's choice of literary genres and his position in literary history. Yang Xiaoshan's 楊曉山 chapter skillfully explores the late style of Du Fu's poems in the Song cultural context.2 The fifth theme focuses on poetry and rhapsody in relation to cultural history. Wang Ping 王平 adopts a creative multidisciplinary cultural approach to reinterpreting Xie Lingyun's 謝靈運 (385–433) landscape poetry. Wang Xibo 汪習波 deftly examines another Six Dynasty (220–589) poem, Yu Xin's 庾信 (513–581) famous rhapsody “Ai Jiangnan fu” 哀江南賦 (Rhapsody of Lamenting Jiangnan), and the construction of Jiangnan in the cultural history of Chunqiu 春秋 (Annals of Spring and Autumn) and Zuozhuan 左傳 (Zuo tradition) hermeneutics. Finally, the sixth theme examines the fusion of poetry and history in broad terms. Guo Yanru's 郭晏如 chapter reevaluates Sun Chuo's 孫綽 (314–371) literary achievements, while Wu Zhan's 吳湛 piece examines the clan concept and north–south identity of medieval literati based on the example of the Xu 徐 clan.This volume has been favorably reviewed by Zhong Shulin 鍾書林 in the Journal of Oriental Studies. In his discussion of the importance of this book, Zhong states, “This book presents new developments in the study of medieval Chinese literature, the highlights of which are too numerous to list exhaustively. It establishes a new model of an in-depth exchange between Western approaches and Chinese scholarship.”3 This book was also selected by Zhongguo shixue 中國詩學 (Chinese Poetics) as a featured book for discussion. Among the many excellent contributions in this edited volume, this reviewer would like to highlight two chapters. Zhang's chapter on Zuo Si is related to his recently published book on the poetic subgenre of poems on history, which “explores how history is disseminated and interpreted through literary writing, as well as how and why certain historical figures instead of others are repeatedly commemorated in Chinese poetry.”4 Zhang's chapter demonstrates his rich and nuanced understanding of Zuo's famous “Poems on History” through a meticulous analysis of these poems, based on the approach of historical memory. Yang Xiaoshan's chapter on late style in the Song dynasty was later developed into a separate chapter in his recent book on Wang Anshi 王安石 (1021–1086). Yang places Wang's literary works in the milieu of medieval literati culture and contextualizes Wang's late style in the reception of Du Fu's poetry, arguing, “The late style in the Song is largely the extension of the canonization of Du Fu.”5In summary, the essays in Zhang and Chen's edited volume present a creative and original investigation of important academic matters in literary writing as they are reflected in historical accounts, including official history, pseudo history, anecdotal history, and miscellaneous history. The essays in this volume have advanced scholars' understanding of the complexity of medieval Chinese literature, especially the sophisticated relationship between poetry and history. It is highly recommended for scholars of Chinese literature, advanced undergraduate classes, and graduate seminars on Chinese literature, particularly premodern Chinese literature between the Han and Song dynasties.