A Study Of Yunnan Hui Literature In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

Taking the ancient Hui literature as the research object and putting the argument in the the specific temporal(i.e.the Ming-and-Qing periods)and spacial(i.e.the region of Yunnan)background in terms of theories from such disciplines as cultural geography,ethnic relations studies,religious science,and so forth,from the perspective of the regional culture,this dissertation,based on the case study,is conducted to examine and interpret the relationship between the regional culture in Yunnan and the ancient Hui literature concerned so as to enrich the literature studies of ethnic minorities both at home and abroad.The thesis consists of three parts:introduction,body,and conclusion.Part I,Introduction,is mainly the literature review from which the motivation to work on the present research can be found,the sort of and reflection on the studies of human-environment relationships and the relationships between regional culture and literature so as to recognize the rules and principles concerned and eventually function as the theoretical basis of the whole research.Part ?,the body,is made up of eight chapters.Chapter ? explores the regional distribution pattern of the Hui literature in Yunnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties together with its temporal-spacial conditions for growth.The Hui people of letters in Yunnan are geographically distributed in the form of "large-scale decentralization" and "small-scale concentration" which corresponds to the general distribution of the Hui people in Yunnan and conforms to the historical principle of the Hui development in China.The rising of the Hui literature during those periods is associated both with the political,economic,and educational practices and resource distribution of Yunnan society then and with the unique natural environment of Yunnan and its comparatively developed traffic facilities,both of which work together to bring up the ethnic awareness and regional cultural awareness of the Hui people so that their contribution is characteristic of remarkable regional culture.Chapter ? looks into the social communication among the Hui scholars in Yunnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties.As illustrated,it is mainly about the acquaintanceship of Ma Jilong's and Shan Jidi's in the Ming Dynasty and that of Sun Peng's,Ma Ruwei's,Shachen's and Ma Zhilong's in the Qing Dynasty.The characteristics of their social intercourse are summarized as follows:1)centered on the provincial city Kunming,two major groups of letters come into being;2)the identity and ethnic status of their communicating members are multi-fold;3)the way of their friends-making are multi-facet;4)the membership shares the same interest and similar literary concepts.The activities concerned play a key role in showing regional scenic values of Yunnan.Chapter? depicts the effects of ecological environment in Yunnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties on the Hui literati's cultural feelings.The geographical ecosystem has the dual impacts on the literates' spirit.On the one hand,it is the attractive landscape in Yunnan that brings about the Hui people of letters' state of being fond of traveling,living in seclusion,and worshiping Buddhism and Taoism;on the other hand,it is the geographical remoteness,scorching weather and heavy malaria in Yunnan that enable them to be equipped with the state of fear and worry about getting old.Taken together,it has been demonstrated that the Hui scholars' temperament and disposition are closely related to the natural geography and literature bridges the gap between the two.Chapter ?analyzes the three emotional traits of the Hui scholars in Yunnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties:1)the national feelings of concerns of their nation and people;2)strong feelings of missing their families and relatives;and 3)the brotherly feelings of fellow countrymen and the affection of their hometown.All these woven together result in the realist themes and emotional traits of the Hui literature concerned.Chapter ? on the whole examines the manifestation of the regional cultural features of the the Hui literature in Yunnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties.The Hui writers construct their literary world of imagery with reference to natural resources such as the beautiful mountains and rivers,places of historic interest and scenic beauty,flowers and fruits,peculiar to Yunnan,transform the corresponding natural cultural elements into the spiritual products condensing their aesthetic feelings,and reflect their profound passion for the local culture.Chapter ? investigates the artistic features of the Hui literature in Yunnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties both in subject matter and in genre.In the first case,it is rich in theme and the thesis mainly analyzes the content and artistic traits of frontier poetry,love poetry,poetry meditating on history and the past.In the second case,it is pluralist in style and the paper examines the artistic characteristics of pre-Tang poetry and modern-style poetry respectively,indicating that the regional culture of Yunnan does not simply influence the Hui Scholars' writing content but their literary aesthetic creative attitudes as well.Chapter ? discusses the influence of other national literature on the Hui literature in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Yunnan.Chapter? discusses the compilation of the Hui literature in Yunnan in the Ming Dynasty by Yuan Wenkui and Yuan Wendian in the district of Baoshan,the other is the collection and spread of the Hui literature in Yunnan in the Qing Dynasty by Zhao Pan in the district of Jianchuan.Part ?,Conclusion,manages to make a reasonable and rational location of the Hui literature in Yunnan during the Ming and Qing dynasties in the history of Ming-Qing literature together with Yunnan local literature and its significance in existence from the temporal-spatial and ethnic literature perspectives,points out the shortcomings of the present research and put forward some suggestions for the future study.