A Study On The Life-and -death Outlook And Artistic Features In Wang Fanzhi's Poems

It may result in inadequate and inappropriate explanation if we apply the conventional ways in studying literaor poesy to the researches on Fanzhi's poems, which is just like cutting feet for fitting shoes. Previous studies on his poems lack intensive discussion and analyses on the life-and-death outlook in his poems and its significance, and less attention is given to the argumentation technique and structure arrangement in these poems and the importance of their production. The abnormal psychology of dejecting life and detesting death is correspondent to the wearing-socks-inside-out method, an artistic technique which means thinking from an opposite perspective. This thesis includes both his life-and-death outlook and the above mentioned technique with an aim of providing a comprehensive view and a better understanding of Fanzhi and his poems. The essence of the life-and-death outlook in Fanzhi's poems is that living is no better than dying and survival is no better than death. Both are piteous wailing on arduousness of life, such as lacking food and clothes, heavy taxes, forced labor, inequality, moral degeneration and corruption of government officials and so on. The lower class people were overburdened by these. Thus they called loudly for death. Buddhism doctrine mainly reveals the hardship of living by the metaphor that the entire life is like a sea of woes and people suffering in it long for nirvana.. But it rarely reveals the misery of social reality and gave vivid description of experience. However in Fanzhi's poems, the enchanted theme death means the real end of life. And different from Buddhist nihilism of ego, there is an entity in Fanzhi's poems who is an over tortured individuality. Fanzhi's poems hold the idea that life is as awful as death which contrasts with the Buddhism dogma that life should be cherished. What's more, the life-and-death outlook in Fanzhi's poems also differs from the views of Taoists and poets in Han and Wei dynasty. There are following collaborative forces contributing to the unique life-and-death outlook in Fanzhi's poems: First, the feeling of disgusting life in Buddhism is the direct cause; Second, the miserable situation of lower society deepens the perception and understanding of this Buddhism doctrine and becomes the best media for propagation of this life-and-death outlook; Third, the abnormal and morbid psychology is the underlying element which influences the unique view on life. Fourth, the ideology of Zhuangzi and Taoist school and other predecessors is also an inalienable component in the unity of forces. The Uniqueness and originality in Fanzhi's poems lies in designing and conception, structure arrangement, ways and techniques of expression and stylistic features. The so-called "wearing-socks-inside-out method"used in his poems exhibits the following advantages: bitter satire, humorous mockery, express in oppositive, vivid and simple language, outweighing of argumentation over emotion stimulation by such rhetorical devices as figure of speech, comparison ,analogy and so on. Besides simplicity and popularity, his poems also show elegance by appropriate use of allusion, patterns of level and oblique tones in some words and lines. At the beginning part of his poems Fanzhi often uses the following styles: appealing attention, bringing out the theme, writing deliberately from opposite perspective and Xing, which means referring to relative materials to serve the theme. He often ends his poems by the style and structure of warning, demolishing, summarizing and rhetoric questions, etc. The life-and-death outlook in Fanzhi's poems has great significance. For the first time if displays the real life of lower class to a much greater extent than previous literati. By the better-death-than-living view and a negative, cynical attitude towards reality he criticizes reality incisively. All these help to relieve the pains in the heart of the lower class. The life-and-death outlook shows a unique way of contemplating and viewing. The wearing-socks-inside-out technique is also of great importance. It penetrates into the life and society thoroughly and realistically. The sarcasm frequently used directs at the evil and black side sharply and straightly and shows strong sense of self-criticism like dagger and spear. It starts the application of argumentation to poems and intends to demolish and guide, which remedies the lack of cultivation in previous poems and thus sets a model for all the poems in argumentation style. The frankness, vivid description and simple language featured in his poems can meet the need and taste of lower class, this will naturally be followed by the easy entrance of poems into common people's family.