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BULLETIN OF THE DEPARTMENT OF CHINESE LITERATURE NATIONAL CHENGCHI UNIVERSITY NO.23
Publication date： 2015-06
Tao Yung-Ming’s pastoral poetry bespeaks and embodies the way he lives, his life’s pursuit, and his poetics. This paper aims to examine how Tao turns to a rural life and pastoral poetry after all the frustrations and disappointments, especially his relation between Huan Xuan in terms of family and religion. Through the discussion on the context of family, religion and literary climate during his time, I will go further to explore how he learns to transcend reality and life experiences through poetry, which helps him attain high levels of spiritual insights.
Theme Thesis The Philosophical Structure of Zhou Dunyi’s Metaphysical Theory and Its Impac on North Song China
Ever since Zhu Xi（朱熹，1130-1200 compiles his Yi Luo Yuanyuan Lu （伊洛淵源錄）, Zhou Dunyi（周敦頤，1017 1073）has long been considered as the first philosopher who pioneers the philosophical breakthrough that eventually forms the tradition of Neo-Confucianism in the North Song China. Yet critics have been long divided for several centuries on certain controversial issues which the aim of this paper is to examine and deal with, in the hope it may shed new light on the study of Zhou Dunyi’s ideas, especially the philosophical system which is formulated in his famous article “Taiji Tushuo.” （太極圖說） Several related issues will also be carefully discussed in the article.
Lin Li is famous for his important work Zhouyi Jingzhuan Jijie. The core of his Yi theories lies in his distinctive thoughts on Xiang-Shu Yixue and on Yili of Confucianism. He and Zhu Xi have conflicting views not only on politics but also in their understanding of Yi. The present study mainly focuses on Lin’s Yi theories, and makes a comparison between Lin’s and Zhu’s thoughts. First, there will be an analysis on how Lin’s personality influences his academic development and his career as an official in the Song Dynasty. Then Lin’s and Zhu’s theories will be compared and contrasted, which include the issues of explaining Yi by Jingzhuan xianghe, the variation order of the 64 Gua, and the use of Xiang in terms of Taiji producing Bagua. The study aims to provide a close examination on Lin’s Yi theory and show how it is different from Zhu’s, in the hope that Lin’s Yi theory can be fairly recognized.
Theme Thesis A Study on Yu Yan’s Yijing Learning and characteristics in Collection on Yijing and Abstraction of the Yijing
Yu Yan was one of the most important Yijing Scholars in the late Song-Dynasty and the early Yuan Dynasty. The academic community affirms Yu’s Daoist Yijing Learning. However, criticism on Yu’s Yijing Learning is mainly based on his Collection on Yijing and Abstraction of the Yijing. Those previous studies mainly focus on three perspectives: Yu’s commentaries on the image-number system and reasons, his comprehensive understanding of different schools and celebration of Zhu Xi’s theories, and his significant discussion about the image-number system. However, they do not discuss about the style and characteristic of Yu’s Collection on Yijing, and Yu’s opinion on the commonly interested issues in Yuan-Dynasty. Although Yu partly inherits Zhu Xi’s doctrine, he has his own opinion on the part one and part two of the Yijing, the Hetu, and the Luoshu. Yu’s discussion on the theory of image, such as the image of Gua and Yao, provides an unique insight. His interpretation of Yijing is according to the ideal of interpreting reasons based on image. Yu does analysis through Gua and Yao, and combines general principles. In this way, he develops his own unique insights of reasons. In conclusion, it is important to recognize Yu’ Yijing Learning due to its unique contribution in Yuan Dynasty.
Zhang Jixian, usually known as Heavenly Master XuJing, is a legendary Daoist in the Song and Yuan Dynasties. He can be seen as the key to the formation of authority of Dragon and Tiger Mountain, the sacred mountain of Daoism in Jiangxi Province, as the centre of the heavenly masters. Based on the studies by Koichi Matsumoto, Nikaido Yoshihiro and Wang Jianchuan, this paper aims to examine how the legendary figure of Heavenly Master Zhang is created and the authority of Dragon and Tiger Mountain is established through certain notebooks, stories and Taoist scriptures. The most renowned story of Master XuJing in Song Dynasty is about how he vanquishes a flood dragon with his powers. The archetypal story shows how a Heavenly Master is able to dispatch the gods and exorcise demons, and thus reinforces his religious influence over the masses. During Song and Yuan Dynasties, Heavenly Master Zhang is also celebrated as the chief ritual master of Thunder Magic and of Marshal Guan’s Apotropaic rituals preserved in Daofahuiyuan（道法會元）. At the same time, enjoying the honors offered by the imperial court, this legendary figure gradually becomes an embodiment of religious and political authority. As Marshal Guan’s rites grow more and more popular, the influence of Master XuJing on the common people grows deeper and deeper. Thus the hagiography and rites repeatedly reinforced the Master Zhang’s images of proficient in magic, and formed the authority of Dragon and Tiger Mountain.
“Genuine people” refer to those who are sincere, truthful, kind, and responsible. There are numerous examples of “genuine people” in the stories of “Sanyan,” but, they did not receive enough attention in past studies. This article seeks to examine three stories in “Sanyan” where the character of certain people is clearly recognized as being “genuine.” In this article, I will trace not only how these vernacular novellas followed the destiny of these genuine people by reflecting upon the meaning of existence, but also how they escape from their miserable circumstances and build a happy life. In having a positive attitude and the ability to stay happy, the stories of these genuine people turn out to have happy endings. These stories are in fact all based on the idea of “universal justice” and this is expressed through the narration of happiness fables.
The present paper aims to analyze Li Yu’s 李漁 (1611-1680) chuanqi play The Paired Fish (Bimuyu 比目魚) as a case study and explore the significance of Li Yu’s cross-genre adaptation task from a political viewpoint. Revision and adaptation of popular texts had been the major means of cultural production since the late Ming period. The adaptation between vernacular novels and plays, among the many cross genre adaptation practices, was the most commonly seen during late Ming and early Qing. Li Yu, the cultural celebrity who was versed in writing both novels and plays, was the most typical practitioner of this art of cultural production. The Paired Fish, or Bimuyu, was adapted from Li Yu’s own short story “Tan ChuyuConceys His Love through the Play, Liu Miaogu Dies to Defend Her Honor as the Song Ends” in The Silent Play collection. Instead of examining and evaluating the techniques of cross genre adaptation involved in the composition of Bimuyu, the present study attempts to read The Pair Fish against the context of text production and political milieu from which the text emerged. By analyzing the play in this way, the paper tries to demonstrate that Bimuyu, unlike his other chuanqi plays that are strongly entertainment and profit oriented, has a profound political implication.
Liu Yong collected and compiled jokes from classical jest books and contemporary sources. Liu published two books on the same subject in terms of different readership. He categorized those stories and meticulously analyzed them from the viewpoint of rhetorical skills. As well, Liu rewrote the classical jokes in the vernacular in order to reach modern audience. This treatise is intended to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of Liu’s works. By tracing the origins and variables of funny stories cited by Liu, we are able to compare Liu’s versions with the others, through which his categorization and interpretation of jokes will be fully discussed. In addition, since Liu’s attitude toward eroticism has very much to do with the nature of his two books, we will explore that point in the conclusion.
