A Study On The Imperial Clan Ci Poets School Of Northern And Southern Song Dynasty

Among all the Ci poets in Song Dynasty there is a special group, consisting of imperial clan. Distingished by their royal blood and political role, they all have great achievements in literature. Ci is one the literature genres they are good at. Previous study on Song imperial clan mainly focuses on the history of their politics, economics. Their literature activity is not so often discussed as the others. This thesis is devoted to the study of the imperial Ci poets as a whole. The backgrounds that nourish the Ci poems will be discussed. The distinguishing features of the Ci poems by the Song imperial clan members will be sorted out by time sequence. Important Ci poets will be explored in detail. The features, which distinguish them from gentry classes, will be analyzed based on the above mentioned information. The influence of their imperial clan identity will be highlighted. This paper is divided into four chapters:The first chapter focused on the forming background of imperial clan Ci. Compared to gentry classes, the imperial clan have inherent advantages in the economic, cultural, policy and other areas. In other words the imperial Ci poetry has advantage in the social backgrounds. But, Song imperial clan Ci does not keep the same developing pace with the growing song Ci poetry in all. It is not until the Yuanyou area in Northern Song Dynasty that the real imperial clan Ci comes into being. The reasons behind the lag in imperial clan Ci poetry development can be explored.The second chapter is devoted to the phasing of Song Ci poetry writing and the study of the imperial Ci poetry of each phase. From Yuanyou period of Northern Song Dynasty to the end of Southern Song Dynasty, imperial Ci poetry lasts for about 190 years. The imperial clan Ci will be divided into five major phases in this paper, namely the Northern Song imperial clan Ci phase, the early Southern Song imperial clan Ci phase, the middle Southern Song imperial clan Ci phase, the late Southern Song imperial clan Ci phase, the end of the Southern Song imperial clan Ci phase. The dominant Ci poets of each phase will be discussed in detail. The brief information of their contemporaries will be provided.The third focuses on the responsory of the imperial clan Ci poets. Imperial clan poets, as a whole, keep frequent contacts with the literature figures of their time. The contacts with the Ci poets, especially Sushi and Xin Qiji, have great influence on the character of imperial clan poets and their writings. In this chapter, the period of Su and Xin, the peak of the ci history, and a particular case, the responsory between Zhao Xifeng and Hua Yue are chosen to explicate the meaning of responsory to imperial clan poets.The fourth will explore the uniqueness of imperial clan Ci poetry. As royal members. they are destined to be different from ordinary people. During the reign, their imperial clan background brings them trouble and limits as well as honor and superiority. The combined role of superiority and limit are always haunting their minds. The acceptance and of their imperial clan role and the contradicting feeling are expressed in one but disguised in another.As part of the Song Ci as a whole, imperial clan Ci has its own value and significance. Although there is no illustrious leader among the imperial clan Ci poets, their poetry as a whole still deserves our attention. Imperial clan Ci contributes its own magnificent value to the whole imperial literature in large.