A Historical Study On The Plant Fu

As an important literary genre presenting the relationship between plants, human life and his culture, a Plant Fu, which describes one plant or more, including their characteristics and habits, and chants them on the basis of its organization & chapter structure, is an essential branch of Ci & Fu. Its literary works are centered in plants. In recent years, the researchers from ci&fu kingdom have gained fruitful achievements. So has the Plant Fu.However, the writers ignore the systematic studies on the their descriptive styles & emotional connotations, and let their fair evaluation alone especially after Ming Dynasty. Therefore, this dissertation makes a comprehensive and objective research on its historical evolution, its cultural implication and the authors’ lyrical modes & style, all of which is considered necessary. The whole dissertation consists of three parts.In the first part, the author endeavors to comb the Fu’s evolution. The plant fu begins with the development of Chinese ancient literature branch——Yongwu literature before-Qin Dynasty. It initiates in Han and several ones survives.Up to Wei-Jin-Nan-Bei Dynasty, the Fu flourishes as the number of writers and works is gradually increasing, and the chanting field expands.Over 40 plants,such as grapes, pomegranates & mulberries, become the singing objects. Meanwhile, the creation conceals new trend: writers pay much attention to the word, rhyme,rhetoric, and syntactic which benefit for their expression of the strong consciousness of life and noble personalities. By contrast, the pieces in Sui-Tang Period are relatively less, but the kinds more. There are Gelv Fu,New Wenfu,Saoti Fu,Poetic fu, Pian fu and so on, which are extensively used allusions, similes to sing high praise for the monarch, or to satire the dissatisfaction of the reality. The creators take an artistic way to present the relations much more closed between objects involved and self, life and ideal. Till Song Dynasty, the Fu writing-hands expore new thoughts,images & methods to express their ration &patriotism according to the tree, the flower involved. When King-Yuan-Ming epoch comes, Plant Fu revivifies to its lyric and rhetoric beauty, new contents,such as criticizing the reality,venting the complaint; and sensation and spirit of their own emerge, which promote the population of Xiaopin Fu & Groups Fu. During the period of Qing,the plant Fu reaches the peak of its development unprecedentedly. The number is as many as 2,450 whose subjects contain almost everything in the plant world. Those in the early Qing era, for instance, Wang Fuzhi, Huang Zongxi and Zhu Heling, show insight into the national tensions and individual will by the Fu. Anyway, their writings continue the former’s motif, just keep eyes on creating different patterns. That is, they focus on only a part or some character instead of the whole body to complete the Fu, or to rewrite the former’s masterworks.Due to the plants entrance into the literati’s knowledge & horizon, the Fu has an abundant cultural expectation with long-lived accumulation and endless carving and polish. It is closed related to the ancient food, medicine,philosophy,religion,politics, customs and aesthetic fashion. Meantime, zhiwu Fu relies on the author’s spiritual sustenance. Sometimes he links up the great changes and historical reflections in the name of sui di willow,the corn poppy and Zhuge cai. He can extol many plants,such as a pine tree, a bamboo, a plum blossom,an orchid, a sunflower,even a moss as a virtue of persevering,affable &obedient and sincere appreciation, and as the pleasure from human beauty and true friendship. Moreover, he describes the turn of seasons,ups and downs in the plant’s living with a sigh of life-flying in order to seek for the value of life. As a special emotion bridge, the Fu tells about the sad experiences, coming & going, missing and moving,etc. So many sentiments ignite the writer’s inspiration with the aide of plants which mingle with his own feeling from the object to himself.Furthermore, if the plant Fu transmits its imagery beauty, cultural implication and emotional connotation effectively and artistically, it bears relevance to expressive method and the author’s lyrical style.Its development begins with pure Yongwu,pursuit of personal feeling & expectation, then from object to spirit. The approaches increasingly perfect because of the widely applied ones including simple description, metaphors, personification,foil and contrast by which can indicate the object, activate the atmosphere and create the image. That makes up some basic models: expressive perspective of the Fu’s color, image, habit and function;the writer’s distinctive mode of aesthetic with combination to Yongwu;the comparison of a beauty to a gentleman and the author’s inclination for his voice, and so on. Meanwhile, on the long way to its trip, the Fu’s art of lyrical comprehension is steady-running. As to its textual structure, it falls into two categories: the straight-line and the jumping one. With regard to narrative design, the plant Fu has a variety of approaches:question & answer, fabricated illusion, objective narration and allegorical stories. In short, how to make a decision is essential to the Fu’s entirety.