Ming Dynasty Eight-legged Style Literature Exploration

Author: Gong Duqing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: The eight-legged essay was created by Zhu Yuanzhang when he established the imperial examination system. As a specialized literary form for imperial examinations, the eight-legged essay has a complete and rigorous structure, consisting of standardized formats such as breaking the topic, following the topic, analyzing the topic, introducing the theme, entering the topic, raising the first pair of parallels, the middle pair of parallels, connecting, the second pair of parallels, concluding the second pair of small parallels, and the grand conclusion. Its structure is strict, and its composition is meticulous. However, when the imperial examinations were reopened in the 17th year of the Jiazi era (1384), the eight-legged essay had just been created and largely followed the practices of the Song and Yuan dynasties in terms of Confucian interpretation. Except for breaking the topic, following the topic, and introducing the theme, which were fixed parts of the format, the eight-legged essay, although used by some, was not listed as a mandatory component in the regulations. The sentences could be either parallel or unparallel, and the rules of prosody were not considered, leaving it without a fixed form. The eight-legged essay flourished during the Ming Dynasty, which was an objective result of the continuous evolution of literary forms in imperial examinations. During the Ming Dynasty, the officially and socially recognized eight-legged essay was classical and pure, rather than bizarre or flamboyant. As an examination essay, since the knowledge of examinees varied, the eight-legged essays written in the examination hall ranged from excellent to poor. It is precisely because of this that talent selection could be carried out. Only by being more tolerant and rational toward the eight-legged essay can one gain an objective understanding of it.