Ding Yaokang Research

The Change of dynasty from Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty had tremendous impact on people’s life, no matter scholar-officials or the hard working imperial examinees. Ding Yaokang(1599-1669),the important writer in the early of the Qing Dynasty. He had been living through the two dynasties, most parts of his activities roughly coincided with the Dynastic change for forty years. He was not only the witness of this history, but also took a part in it. The Dynastic change hit his personal and family life a lot, to protect himself, he wandered in the whole country, visited some officials, while learning and teaching, then he was made a magistrate. At those periods, Ding loved to make friends with poems, but he was not to be valued by the government, sadly he could not realize his ambition. As the famous contemporary scholar Yuan Shishuo said "The country had broken, worse than ever, I have strong concern for the whole nation, anxiety for the inequality fate, so I express it through my poems, through my dramas, through my novels, not boasting my talent but expressing my desperation."Ding Yaokang recorded his own experience in the history of the dynastic change form Ming Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, involving his pain suffered from the change, his efforts, and his deep thinking above the whole country. From fully investigating Ding’s life and his literatures we can better know the life of the intellectuals in lower grade.In this paper, we combine all Ding’s literatures with some other works from the same period, get to know the living conditions of those intellectuals in lower grade, grasp their thought and inspiration, it will draw our reflections above the history and do good to our literary creation.The Introduction is an overview of Ding Yaokang, we have gotten some achievement in research of Ding’s life, thought, and his literature. There are still some academic fields for us to study in-depth.The Chapter One is the research of Ding’s squire life. One part is seeking knowledge and taking the imperial examination. Ding had taken the examination for7times but has no achievement. In his spare time, Ding managed his manor and did some farming to live a life, he also went to other places to learn, it was Ding’s peaceful life period. The other part is before and after the December Incident of1884, Ding’s nephew and brother died in the war, what’s more, his family financial situation got worse, Ding had been suffered a lot from the war. It could be revealed from Ding’s literature, revolving the December Incident of1884, the revolution initiated by Li Zicheng, in such circumstances, the people’s life and property was threatened and suffered great loss, so Ding’s literature has a high historical value.The Chapter Two is about the period that Ding went to the capital to take imperial examination while he made friends with others at the same time. One part is Ding make friends with kinds of people such as ones surrender of Qing Dynasty, adherents from Ming Dynasty and some learners who dedicated to be successful in one’s official career. Another part is to discuss three characteristics of Ding’s making friends:self evaluation, others’ comments on him, these two characteristics reflect inequality in society, and the scholars couldn’t realize their ideal under such surroundings. The third one is from the perspective of Ding Yaokang, We can investigate the amateur life and spiritual life of scholars in northern city during the early Qing Dynasty.The Chapter Three is about Ding’s official career. One part is that Ding used to be a teacher in aristocrat school, Ding had change his Han people, and joined to Man minority people, his job was survey test cases about imperial examination, through this part we can know inner conflict in Han Chinese, and the inequality between nations. Another part tells Ding’s teaching life as a common teacher. Ding gave good education to people around, and as a common teacher, Ding earned a little and had a rough time, what’s more, in order to be recommended to be an official Ding had taken some money to devote, or to write some articles, or to visit someone, etc. Actually, it was really hard for an ordinary scholar to be an official in Qing Dynasty. The last part discuss the reason that Ding was sent to HuiAn, we conclude that current politics was not stable, and the war was still continued, at that time Ding was old and weakness, dispirited and discouraged in all his life made him somehow desperate. Though Ding’s whole life, he tried his best to succeed in his official career, to support his family, but he was hit again and again, his anxiety reflects what imperial examination has brought to the people of low grade.The Chapter Four shows Ding Yaokang’s creature of poems. One is the selected works of important poems from beginning of Qing Dynasty, it shows the influence of the poetry of Ding Yaokang gradually be regarded in quantity. The early ones were somehow romantic, while the later ones were realistic. Another one is the creative thought of Ding’s literature, the description of history could be complemented by poetry, the practice of kinds of ways of writing is also should be commended. The last but not the least one is that Ding’s literature has a distinct tendency to adore the famous poet Du Fu. So the creature of Ding’s poem pays great attention to the peasantry, and in the creation it used many Chinese-poetry descriptions methods as’Bi’,"Xing’, sometimes those may destroy the poetry’s artistic conception, but this phenomenon is connected with the social trend and time influence.The Chapter Five is research of Ding’s traditional opera creature. One research is about his theory and ideas of opera. Ding learned a lot from forefathers, and then he brought his own theory, he concerned a lot on structure theory, emphasized layout, simplified the expression words, etc. Another one is his research above dramas creature. Ding’s dramas have strong subjective doctrine color, it reflected Ding’s thoughts.The Chapter Six is the research of Ding Yaokang’s creative ideas of writing. The paper has two focuses, one is Ding’s early work Tian Shi and the other one is his later work Jin Ping Mei Continued. Tian Shi was finished at the fifth year of Emperor Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty, the book aimed at reminding people of history, and using the history as a mirror to reflect the society at the late Ming Dynasty. This topic ran through all Ding’s the history works and got further strengthened in Jin Ping Mei Continued. Jin Ping Mei Continued expressed introspection in the form of novel. Through this novel it came to the purpose that the reflection is confirmed and brings enlightenment to the mass.The last part is both the overview of the objects of study and the extension of its significance. Throughout Ding Yaokang’s whole life, especially literary works created since Qing Dynasty started, although he was an official of Qing Dynasty, he mourned for Ming Dynasty secretly, which we can call it "erchen psychology". What’s more, he always persist the Confucian moral attention to the reality. From Ding Yaokang’s friendship and all his work, we can see many scholars accepted the Qing Dynasty politically, but not culturally. Influenced by the Confucianism’s conception of loyalty, they feel ashamed to serve the new dynasty. Compared with north-south "Betrayer" scholars in the early Qing Dynasty, there are great differences in their self-redeem and three factors are mainly account for those. Firstly, it is the geopolitical difference of Manchuria and the influence extent of Ming Li’s regime. Secondly, Qing government’s policy of honoring Manchu men and depressing Han Chinese while other parties’fighting with each other make it worse. Lastly, the moral and the external of pursuit are different between the scholars from different parts of the country.