Six Dynasties Four Masters Complete Collection

Author: Hu Fengdan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-01-01
Features: "Collected Works of the Four Masters of the Six Dynasties," published in the ninth year of the Tongzhi era. As for why only these four masters were chosen, he explains it very clearly in the preface through a self-posed Q&A, summarizing four key points: (1) Six Dynasties poetry is the "main trunk" of Chinese poetic history, inheriting the "roots" of the "Book of Songs" and the "buds" of the Han and Wei dynasties, while giving rise to the "flowers, leaves, branches, and twigs" of the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties; (2) Just as Tao Yuanming is to poetry what Han Yu is to literature, Han's prose can revitalize the decline of eight generations, while Tao's poetry can "set the example for the extravagance of the Six Dynasties"; (3) Bao, Xie, and Geng, though their poetry may not match Tao Yuanming's essence, surpass him in prose. The poetic sage Du Fu was deeply impressed by Tao, as well as Bao, Xie, and Geng—these four masters "will also leave an immortal legacy"; (4) By appending the works of Bao, Xie, and Geng to Tao's collection, it was done "to combine them as their eras were close in time."