| The thesis, which is a part of The Annalist-style Record of Li Yu's Life, has a traditional structure and studies the living condition, thought process and creative way of Li Yu, the great dramatist, novelist, publisher, connoisseur and social activist who lived in late Ming and early Qing dynasty. Based on Li Yu works, genealogy of Longmen Li Family and other materials, the thesis deeply researches family, birth year, early growing experience, official name, courtesy name and other names of Li Yu and gets clear images of activity of the first half of Li Yu's life. Li Yu was born in Rugao in 1611,and then moved back to his hometown Lanxi. The time of Li Yu's return back to Zhejiang has been a heated point of argument in the academic circle, the thesis makes an major achievement in Li Yu research field by giving the answer on the question, Li Yu came back to his hometown before he was 15 year's old. As to the origin of Li Yu's family, the thesis draws a clear and complete conclusion by referring to a series of materials such as historical records, collected works, sketchbooks and genealogy. Li Yu's ancestral home was Lanxi county, prefecture of Jinhua, Zhejiang province, the family people studied traditional Chinese medical science for generations. Li Rusong, Li Yu'father, who went out for business, maybe engaged in trade in Rugao, so Li Yu was born there. In Lanxi, the social status of traditional Chinese medical family was not high, so Li Yu's elders hoped that he could upgrade their family background and raise their social status when he grew up. They gave him an official name Xianlu and a courtesy name Zhefan, in order to encourage him to follow the example of Li Ying and Li Bai, a famous politician in Han dynasty and a great poet in Tang dynasty. Li Yu went to old-style private school and lived at home with his mother after their returning hometown. Around 1628, Li Yu married in Lanxi. Li Rusong died at 1629, Li Yu observed a period of mourning for his deceased father, after that he travelled far from home and suffered a great deal on passage, concerning investigations show that the travel was associated with the family business. In 1635 Li Yu participated in the primary imperial examination. Appreciated by Xu Zhi, the educational inspector of Zhejiang province, he became a xiucai. Li Yu continued to attend intermediate imperial examination, but failed twice. Li Yu's mother died at 1635, Li Yu was in deep grief and tried to build a villa in Yishan hill in order that he can keep watch for his mother. The plan failed because Li Yu was short of money at that time. In 1643, Li Yu was obliged to avoid the armed rebellion launched by Xu Du with his family. Ming dynasty fell in 1644, Li Yu's residence in Lanxi county town was burned by passing army. Then Li Yu was appointed as a private assistant to Xu Chenzhang, magistrate of prefecture of Jinhua. In Xu Chenzhang's Support, Li Yu built a villa in Yishan hill. Prefecture of Jinhua was occupied by Qing army in 1646, after that, Li Yu reclused to his Yishan villa and settled down, then abolished the original name Xianlu and renamed Li Yu. In 1652, Li Yu took his family to go to Jintan county where his friend Yu Wei lived in for shelter. During this period, Li Yu completed two plays:Close Female Companions and A Comedy About a Kite. Through Yu Wei's introduction, Li Yu became one of the reviewers of A New Collection of Southern Tunes Lyrics, a book compiled by Shen Zijin, a famous playwright and scholar, and the participation signified that Li Yu had successfully got into the writer and scholar clique. Li Yu moved to Hangzhou in 1654, he wrote and published, and entered a thriving phase of literary creation. |
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