Research On Biography Of Varied Women

Liu Xiang is a famous Confucian Classics researcher, a thinker, a philologist, and an outstanding litterateur in the late Western Han Dynasty. He wrote plentiful works in his life, their topics related to the Six Skills, the representatives of the Hundred Schools, poems and arithmetic, according to the historical records. He worked on expostulations in his late years, producing Biography of Varied Women, On Historical Events and Tales, etc. These influential books"Comment on gains and losses, propose to follow or abstain". The former book is the first one to break away from the systemic classical works and be treated as an independent biographical book, which, with great ideological and academic value, is also the first specialized history book for women in Chinese history. This thesis analyzes Biography of Varied Women from views of the writer's ancestral lore descent, his writing and thinking, the composition of the book and its descending, his pursuit of ideal female moral character, the portrayed characters, the literature features and its influence on the later ages.The thesis includes five sections:The Introduction firstly describes the predecessors'explanation, appraisement and extension of the book. No predecessors wrote monographs, all the comments and conclusions are just written in its commentary, preface and postscript. Secondly, it introduces the scholars'research in the new era, dealing with the summary of the research work, including its compilation, editions, descending, historiography value and literature achievements. Thirdly, this section briefly introduces the research priorities, the research significance and the research approach of this thesis.The first Chapter discusses Liu Xiang's origin of ancestral lore, his main thoughts, the background of the compilation of Biography of Varied Women, the composing approach, the type of literature, and the spreading of different editions. Liu Xiang was born in a scholarly family, with the mastery of Confucian Classics and the advocacy of Confucian being its family tradition. Liu Xiang's thought is mainly Confucian, and contains idea of Taorist, Jurist, Yin and Yang as well as Five Elements, etc. The composing of Biography of Varied Women not only has a deep history background, but also complex factors from real life. The setting of women's role and the form of propriety in the Early Han Dynasty contributed to the birth of women's moral standard. Empresses and concubines having autocracy and emperors'maternal relatives arrogating power threatened the stability of the nation seriously. All these contributed to the birth of the book. The material of the book mainly came from Confucian Classics, historical records, and the representatives of the Hundred Schools and anecdote and tales. Liu Xiang processed and even fabricated these materials; this made the book have both characters of historical records and novels. The structure of Biography of Varied Women has experienced great changes in its descending, and different editions came up as well.The second chapter analyzes the imagery of different women in the book. The imagery of mothers is divided into mothers of the country, loving mothers, mothers with intelligence, step mothers, and upright mothers; the imagery of wives is divided into those of sapience, of loyalty, and of chastity; the imagery of daughters includes daughters of virtuousness, of filial piety, and of intelligence; the imagery of evil women includes evil mothers and evil wives. The first three types are positive images Liu Xiang set up, showing women's ethics matching Confucian tradition. The latter types are negative images Liu portrayed to warn the governors to keep away and do not follow.The third Chapter analyzes its literature features. For its literature style, Biography of Varied Women both inherits and innovates the previous classical works. For its artistic conception, the book applies a creating approach of seven tenths reality and three tenths fantasy, selecting materials according to the major idea both typical and interesting. For its specific expression manner, this book combines character's description, narration, argument, and emotion expression, and portrays character's images through details description, and rhetorical devices are used to promote the figurativeness.The fourth chapter evaluates the book's ideological and academic significance. The appearance of Biography of Varied Women had a positive influence on the society at that time; its social and political thinking and the ethical and moral consciousness are of practical significance even today. For its historical influence, the Biography of Varied Women served as a leading role for the appearance of separate biography and women biography. For its literary influence, the book had positive effects on the subjects and themes of different literature styles, and the structure of novels as well as the writing approaches.