Essentials of Medieval Chinese Literary Theory

Author: Wang Yunxi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: This book consists of ten lectures, divided into five thematic sections, with closely related content. The central focus is on discussing the artistic characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages of the highly prosperous parallel prose literature in ancient times.
Lecture 2 points out that scholars at the time considered the linguistic beauty of parallel prose literature to be its most important artistic feature.
Lectures 3 and 4 discuss how parallel prose dominated the literary scene from the Wei and Jin periods to the Five Dynasties and was highly regarded by critics.
Lectures 5 and 6 analyze (literary elegance) as referring to the linguistic beauty of parallel prose literature. Excessive elegance can lead to softness and lack of vigor, so simplicity must be balanced.
Lectures 7 and 8 analyze (moral force) as referring to the simple style of writing, advocating for a combination of moral force and elegance, which is essentially the concrete embodiment of the principle of "harmony between substance and form."
Lectures 9 and 10 discuss the style and form, which is a major topic in medieval literary theory and holds significant importance in Liu Xie's The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons and Zhong Rong's Poetry Criticism. The style, form, and overall style are primarily determined by linguistic usage.