A Study Of Huang Zhongze

This thesis deals with the poems of Huang Zhongze the Qing dynasty poet. Up to the present the research on this subject both in mainland and overseas stays weak, as is shown by the fact that there has not published one monograph on Huang, and the limited numbers of published articles are content with either the discussion of some special themes of his poems or the introduction of the poet's general style Such state is incongruous with the influence as well as the importance of Huang's poems Adopting the method of feelingly description collaborated with logical analysis, and referring to the politics, social circumstances and his contemporary writers' artistic experiments in the Emperor Qianlong era, this thesis tries to reach a true comprehension of the aesthetic qualities of Huang's poems and to define the status of the poet in the history of Qing dynasty poetry Based on the portrayal of the bitter experiences in Huang's life, the first chapter of the thesis mainly discusses the poet's character as "an unfortunate scholar in a grand time" and the factors that have contributed to its formation The second chapter analyses the thematic tendencies of Huang's poems, setting his "indignation poems" and "love poems" as the major topics. The third chapter examines the aesthetic qualities of his poems by viewpoint of style, image and language Approaching Huang's poems by the angle of "poems by poets", chapter four makes a comparison of the poems by Huang and by Yuan Mei, Hong Liangji, and Li Jian, his contemporary poets, with the merits of the earnestness and brilliance of his poems highlighted. Chapter five discusses the significance of Huang and his poems Huang was a representative of the unblessed group of men of letters in ancient China, whose lot epitomized the wretchedness of numerous scholars who were crushed of their dreams at the threshold of the court of national examination (kechang), and as a result of which hurled into a deplorable state of life hi the poetic circle of Qianlong era dominated by the taste of Song poetry, Huang's blowing loud of the trumpet of simple Tang style was so extraordinary that it calls for special academic attention. Attached to the thesis are two essays by the author A Brief Research on the Cause of Huang Zhongze's Going up North to the Capital and A Brief Research on Huang Zhongze Going to the North to Be a Transcriber. The former investigates the related circumstances of Huang's going up north to the capital and concludes that the profound motivation of Huang's going to the north was to obtain the qualification of attending the national examination as the citizen of Beijing (Shuntian); the latter points out that Huang's exact status in the project of the compilation of the Sikuquanshu was a "self-provided-for" transcriber, which clears up the ambiguities of people's different statements concerning Huang's move to and stay in the capital.