A Study On Shi Chengqian And His Xiaomianzhai Ci

Shi Chengqian (1707—1756), a famous Ci writer in middle Qing Dynasty, was born in Yixing County of Jiangsu Province. He has the secondary personal name "Weicun" and the assumed name "Lanpu". Among his works, there are 6 volumns of poems,4 volumns of Ci lyrics and 9 volumns of miscellanie. He was born in an influencial family which were well-known by literary achievements. He was intelligent from childhood but unsuccessful throughout his life. He absolutely devoted to his literary creation, which was original and out of the ordinary. There are 220 Ci lyrics in the 4 volumns of Xiaomianzhai Ci. The content in Xiaomianzhai Ci related to affection, trip, vagrancy, aspiration, objects, drawing criticizing, lament and more than ten categories. Among these, the lyric can be grouped into two major themes of "the gentle love between young men and women " and "the sadness of the brilliant who feel dejected about life experiences". Shi Chengqian was committed to writing lyrics. He maintained the lyric must be full of truth and respected for natural form. He harmonized vigorous and soft, clear and vague, sparse and dense, light and strong, leisurable and hurry, and other artistic elements in his lyrics, created his own on this basis, and posed an art style called "elegant beauty", which is Yazheng polished and affecting by its inner emotion.