Bai Ju-Yi's Feminist Poems And Feminism

Based on detailed analysis of some 170 feminist poems selected out of near 3000 poems by Bai Ju-yi, famous poet of Tang Dynasty, the thesis tries first to present the artistic features of the feminist poems, and the cultural implication and time impulse reflected by them. And then it continues to explore Bai's attitude towards the women of the time. The poet was either personally involved in the stories told by the poems or rather a commentator of them.The thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter is the content analysis of Bai's feminist poems of different historical periods, mainly looking into the writing process and motives behind. The author finds that the features of poems somewhat reflect the life stages of the poet. However, as the poet grew older, the theme of the poems witnessed a steady shift from humanistic concerns to love and sentiments.The second chapter discusses the artistic features of Bai's feminist poems primarily from the perspectives of theme, language and rhetorical skills to conclude that Bai's feminist poems boast of unique characteristics and charming glamour.The third chapter is devoted to the discovery of the cultural values and their importance to the history of poetry of Bai's feminist poems. The marriage rituals, the fate of women and changing aesthetic trend of mid-Tang Dynasty and the development of music and dance of Tang Dynasty as a whole are the topics of this chapter.The fourth chapter digs into the elements contributing to the formation of Bai's feminism. By avoiding the stereotype of traditional analysis approach, the author endeavors to capture the interior and exterior elements combining to forge Bai's seemingly self-contradictory attitude towards women either implied or exposed by his feminist poems written in different life stages, under various motives.