Re-discovering literature in medieval China: Mid-T'ang literary theories and political discourse.

摘要

This dissertation examines the mid-T'ang (ca.750–ca.850) discourse on wen (composition), with special attention paid to how literati theorized wen in relation to their discourses on politics. The objective of this exercise is to unravel the mid-T'ang intellectual world in order to understand how literati acquired a conscious awareness of their identity. This one-century period has been considered a watershed in Chinese intellectual history. Under the pressures of the time leading literati found themselves having to articulate their views on wen. A careful assessment of this discourse is therefore essential to our understanding of the intellectual world in medieval China. The thesis begins by displacing the authority of the “ku-wen yün-tung” (ancient composition movement) in order to broaden our sense of the period. It argues that the discourse should not be seen solely as a response to the An Lu-shan rebellion (755–63), but as something more broadly rooted in the changing politics and culture of the period. Through a survey of remarks on wen made by leading literati—Hsiao Ying-shih, Li Hua, Tu-ku Chi, Liang Su, Ch'üan Te-yü, Liu Mien, Lü Wen, Liu Tsung-yüan, Liu Yü-hsi, Han Yü, Li Ao, Huang-fu Shih, Po Chü-i, Yüan Chen, Tu Mu, and Li Shang-yin—this study demonstrates that the underlying stress was placed on the literary value of wen. A force of reversal was at work. While many literati worked to “re-activate” wen's relevance in politics by both emphasizing its political function and recommending reform in the civil service examinations, many of the key figures in the discourse came to think of wen as a literary construct. The arduous attempt to promote a politicized wen, at the end, receded to the background. Signs of a conscious awareness of wen's literary value suggest a “re-discovery” of wen mainly as a mode of artistic expression rather than as a political construct. Literature became a personal quest for meaning in life and its immediacy had little direct relevance to politics. This points to a moving away from a court-centered orientation of the literati, and suggests a more inward looking attitude among the mid-T'ang literati.