History of Literary Thought in the Song Dynasty -- History of Literary Thought in China

Author: Zhang Yi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: The history of literary thought should not only study the literary thought of individuals but also study literary thought trends. Sometimes, a literary thought tendency becomes an unstoppable force, driving the development of literature in a period. This can be illustrated by countless examples in history. The Jian'an period, where literature was used to express personal emotions and pursue a strong style, became a fashionable trend; the courtly poetry style of the Liang and Chen dynasties; the retro fashion in the poetic circles of the Liang and Chen dynasties; the craze for talent and beauty novels during the Ming and Qing dynasties—all are well-known examples. Behind these creative tendencies that became fashionable trends, what common literary thought was dominating? This is precisely what the history of literary thought focuses on studying. Literary thought should not only study the literary thought trends that shape an era but also study the literary thought of different literary schools. In the history of Chinese literary thought, we can observe an interesting phenomenon: in the early stages of literary development, the development of literary thought tends to be relatively singular, while later on, it becomes increasingly diverse, producing different literary schools within the same socio-economic and cultural background.