Centennial Soup (Tongcheng Article Tastefulness)

Author: Tian Wangsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: The pioneer of China's Self-Strengthening Movement, Li Hongzhang said: [Today, those who study classical Chinese must follow the Tongcheng School]. As a literary school of the Qing Dynasty, the Tongcheng School lasted nearly as long as the dynasty itself. Especially during the (Kang-Qian Prosperity), it shone brilliantly and was universally admired. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the small Tongcheng Prefecture alone produced 265 imperial scholars and 589 juren, truly deserving of the reputation [The peak of literature, with scholars filling the capital]. By the late Qing and early Republican era, the Department of Chinese at Peking University began to prioritize the Tongcheng School of classical literature. Mr. Zhou Zuoren recalled: [In the past, the lecture halls were dominated by the Tongcheng School of classical literature. However, with the establishment of the Republic of China, the school of Zang Taiyan rose in its place, and when witnessing the younger scholars like Yao Shujié and Lin Qinnan sitting in the lecture seats, they could not help but feel a sense of decline in literature]（《Zhou Zuoren's Memoirs》). Yet Mr. Lin Qinnan remained firmly convinced until his death: [Classical literature will never perish].