Researches On Wang Jiusi's Literary Works

Wang Jiusi, as one of "the former seven talented Scholars", a distinguished dramatist, a major poet and scholar in the middle Ming Dynasty, has made outstanding achievements in various literary creations such as poetry and drama.This paper makes a thoroughgoing study on his life, literary ideas and works. To be based on the deeper understanding of the special atmosphere of the day, the social environment, his family background and personal opportunities, it gives a rational analysis and demonstration of the writer's state of mind and individuality in his literary creation so that an overall, fair and realistic evaluation of Wang's achievements in literature. The article has 7 chapters. The introduction looks back the history and status quo of studies on Wang. Now researches on him have almost come to a standstill, which is not very worthy of his achievements. Chapter One deals with his life and circle of friends so as to make certain how external environment, family background, influences of his teachers and friends had produced effects on his character and creative style. Chapter Two makes a first-step sorting of his literary ideas, including his respect for returning to the old ways of Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty , the position of taking Su Shi and Song ci poems as his model and the view of qu which should be written in natural feelings. Chapter Three analyzes five subjects of his poem creation: concerns about the people and sad about the time; accounts of historical events; self-pity about his own hard lot; wandering in nature and love for rural life; feelings of friends and family happiness; and prefaces, singing praises of things, leisure and other subjects. His artistic achievements on poetry are also quite outstanding. This paper mainly sums up and demonstrates his achievements from five aspects: style, feeling, writing, language and choice of path. Chapter Four analyzes his prose creation. He left a number of essays, but mainly on courtesy. In the paper, travels, prefaces and inscriptions of more literary values are selected to be discussed. Chapter Five is mainly about the tendency of Wang Jiusi's ci poems to poems and non-dramatic songs, based on the categories of his ci poems. Chapter Six makes an analysis of his san qu. The six subjects of it are about the feelings of literati and officialdom, real records of hermits who wandered in nature, feelings expressed in verse among the flowers and on courtesy at banquet, birthday songs, boudoir-plaints, etc. with a rich variety of artistic styles. 1. straightforward and unreserved, spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings; 2. fresh and pure mood created by elegant dictions; 3. make popular literature refined, native and literary colors well blended, and both tone and diction graceful; 4. stick to metrical patterns with harmonious meters and rhymes. Chapter Seven makes an analysis of his merits of zaju Du Fu Goes on a Spring Outing and The Script of Zhongshan Wolf and their far-reaching influences upon the rising of literary plays in the Ming-Qing period. The rest of the paper concludes that Wang has a very important position in the literary history of Ming Dynasty and his influences are great on the literature of later ages.