A Study Of WenZhengMing's Poetry And Article

Wen Zhengming is one of the most important characters who represent the spirit of the Literature in Wuzhong district in the middle of Ming dynasty. Learned and versatile, he was famous for his poetry, handwritings and paintings. However, literature of Wuzhong district is neglected in literary history, let it alone the studies about Wen Zhengming, some of which are just centered on his handwritings and paintings, as well as a few literary works for appreciation. By analyzing and criticizing his literary works such as poetry, Ci-poem, Sanqu as well as prose, this paper attempts to show Wen Zhengming's talent and characteristics he shows in literary creation so as to fill the gaps of the studies about him and to make some basic preparations for further researches.In the introduction, the author deals with the Literature of Wuzhong district and the current state of the studies about such key characters as Wen Zhengming, pointing out the importance and value of this study. The main body of the paper is made up of five chapters. Chapter one introduces Mr Wen's life story in which some anecdotes represent Wu's upright and noble character. Chapter two aims at the forming process of his artistic talent such as poetry, handwriting and painting from his relationship with his teachers, the other talented artists in Wuzhong district as well as the writers in southern Yangtze River district; also discusses his ideal, hobby by analyzing his different kinds of friends. Based on the analysis of "secreting man" in his poems and "stone lake" poems, chapter three divides his poetry into a few broad categories, and then summarizes the artistic characteristics of his poetry as follows: his poetry show sincere feelings just like himself, simple and plain, elegant and graceful; peaceful and reserved; concise and fluent; full of philosophical theories. In chapter four, Wen's Ci-poem and Sanqu are discussed critically from the state of creation and its artistic characteristics. Chapter five is centered on his prose by classifying prose and representing its artistic characteristics such as valuing the virtue of documentary characters, expressing feelings sincerely, narrating along with comments, using exquisite language and classical rhetoric. In the concluding chapter, the author first makes a summary of Wen's personality as a literary representative of Wuzhong district and Chinese south, and then puts forward that Wen's poetry and prose are of significance though they did not have a definite status in literary history.