A Research Into Cultural Causes Of "Valuing Moon Above Sun" In Poetic Images

It is a matter of fact that moon is valued above sun in Chinese classical images. Compared with the image of sun, that of moon not only prevails in quantity, but also far exceeds in variety as well as in connotations. Since the selection, application and transformation of images are deeply affected by the cultural idea, it is certain that "valuing moon above sun"has its origin in civilization, mythology, philosophy as well as aesthetics. First of all, Chinese unique geographical surroundings result in cultivation civilization, in which people's living and production were utterly influenced or even controlled by sun and such disasters as floods and droughts caused by sun made our ancestors much more dread and hate the moon. On the contrary, in the view of our ancestors, moon not only is beneficial to the growth of crops, but brings about brightness, coolness and enjoyment, which in turn makes moon much more popular than sun. As a carrier of national emotion, mythology also contributes to the development of "valuing moon above sun"in that the collective unconscious of hating sun but loving moon reflected in mythologies such as "Hou Yi Shot the suns"and "Chang E's fly to moon"easily finds its expression in the course of selecting poetic images. Philosophically, "masculine"and "feminine"are realized in many aspects of social life, but the trinity of sun, monarchy and father, which is identical with "masculine"dominates the political and ethical field while the trinity of moon, mother and daughter, which represents "feminine", plays a leading part in culture and art. So far as poetry is concerned, the image of moon has an overwhelming superiority. Aesthetically speaking, the moon spirit has been embodied in several ways. Moon is both the origin and the summit of such aesthetic standards as softy, sweetness and clearness, so it is reasonable that the image of moon has been regarded as aesthetic object in poetry much more frequently than the image of sun. All in all, "valuing moon above sun"in nature is a reflection of national collective unconscious in poetry.