Probing Into The Application Of The Book Of Songs In Fu Of Han Dynasty

The Book of Songs is an important academic writings of Han Dynasty, so is Fu in Han Dynasty. There are interactions and mutual penetrations between the Book of Songs and Fu. Based on the direct uses of The Book of Songs and comments on The Book of Songs, development of thoughts on The Book of Songs and with reference to Fu in various dynasties, the present paper focuses on three aspects. First, the use of The Book of Songs to honor Fu. In literary creation and criticism, stylistic "redemption" is a common phenomenon. When a style emerges and moves to literary classics or experiences ups and downs in its development, it always seeks protection from honoring the prevailing literary tradition. Fu has its origin in ancient poems and is one of the earliest literary styles. Fu in West Han Dynasty borrows its style from Feng in The Book of Songs with the embarrassing result of turning irony into persuasion. Ban and Zhang uses Ya and Song in their creation resulting in the awareness that Fu and Song are actually the same style. After the middle of East Han Dynasty, Fu takes the style of Bi and Xing resulting in Fu’s clear tendency towards poetic style. Fu’s honoring The Book of Songs in West and East Han Dynasties includes four cycling steps:style establishment, style recognition, style destruction, and style honoring. Because of its respect for the traditional literary style, Fu’s position in literary circle is established.Second, the use of The Book of Songs to enrich Fu. In West and East Han Dynasties, all the literary works originate from classics. Fu in Han Dynasty relies much on classics, which is especially obvious in quoting from The Book of Songs. This exhibits a clear awareness that Han Dynasty is an inheritance from Zhou Dynasty. The characteristics can be summarized as follows: 1). Imitation effect. Research has proved that Fu imitates a lot from classics such as The Book of Songs and Shu.2) utilitarian principle. The writers of Fu embody their current thoughts into their wirings.3) multiplicity of purposes. Due to different purposes of literary creation, some Fu writers write about kings in Zhou Dynasty hoping the later kings can learn from them. Some Fu writers help maintain the political orders and offer suggestions to the rulers. Some Fu writers simply use it to support their arguments.Third, the use of Fu to spread The Book of Songs. In Han Dynasty, stylistics is in a chaotic situation. Apart from having the characteristics of Zhuan, Fu also shows features of "using The Book of Songs to establish meaning" and "using Fu to spread The Book of Songs". Therefore, the use of The Book of Songs in Fu serves to enrich both the Fu and The Book of Songs. Not only does Fu borrow preface and biography from The Book of Songs, it also takes the line of thoughts of The Book of Songs in its own creation.