On The Relationship Between Evolution Of Ci Styles And Literary Trends

As one of the popular literary styles in Song Dynasty, Song Ci was in no way separated from the contemporary literary trends and thoughts involved. Actually, the refining or poeticizing process of the Song Ci was a process of infiltration into Ci by the literary thoughts embodying a preference for tradition, ration, image, grandeur, refinement and achievement and also by the literary trends emphasizing the refinement of both poetry and prose. Based on this knowledge, this paper goes beyond the traditional field of Ci study by presenting an overall diachronic and synchronic view of the relationship between evolution of Ci styles and literary trends and penetrating into the cultural motivations in the development of the literature of Song Dynasty. While broadly oriented, this paper focuses on the Ci of the Northern Song Dynasty. Viewing the phenomenon from a peculiar perspective, the author introduces some unique insights in the course of the elaboration of the theme.The paper initiates the notion of "Song Style" in Ci, which is strictly differentiated from that in Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, either in denotation or in connotation, in terms of both content and art. As the theoretical point of departure, the paper divides the development of Northern Song Ci into three phases: earlier, middle and later, each consisting of three modules: literary view(mainly of Ci) under the influence of philosophy and general moods of society, the mentality of literati and officialdom and case study.This frame of elaboration boasts of a sound inherent logic. Synchronically, the first module serves as the background and theoretical basis for the other two modules. Following Han Dynasty, Song was another epoch of the overall revitalization of Confucianism. Influenced by the inward nature of the Song cultures, the revitalization of Confucianism, while forging the mentality of literati and officialdom, was converted into a socio-psychological factor. Since the general moods of society are closely related to the fate of a nation, its talents and its governing system, a discussion of the literary view thereby influenced is therefore not only theoretically necessary but also of practical significance. The second module tackles the mentality of literati and officialdom, which belongs to the sphere of the content of Song Ci. The third module focuses on studying the artistic forms of the Ci writers who made great contributions of the evolution of styles of Northern Song Ci. Diachronically, modules of the same type in different phases can be linearized in the same frame of axis, by means of which comes a clear view of the evolution of literary trends and Ci styles in the Northern Song Dynasty: The Neo-Confucianism, originated at earlier Northern Song and prevalent in the whole course of Song Dynasty, intertwined with the political practices of the literati and officialdom who weredevoted to cultivating their moral character and making their country stable and strong. This naturally resulted in the restoration and deepening of the Confucian literary view which emphasized political admonitions and utilitarian function. Along with the revitalization of Confucianism came the perfected and idealized mentality of literati and officialdom. With the comprehensive infiltration of the mentality of literati and officialdom, the refinement of the content of Song Ci was achieved. By the same token, the strong infiltration of Confucianism into the generation, development and maturation of Song literary styles also dominated the process of refinement in the artistic forms of Northern Song Ci. This refinement process is again classified into two: purely poetic and, on this basis, Ci-oriented, which merged into one at the later Northern Song. What's more, with the later involvement of fine content into the fine form, the refinement process of Northern Song Ci had a tendency to converge with philosophy. In the whole course of elaboration, the author tries to demonstrate that while the "Song Style" in Ci was developing its own properties, it...