Research On Caoxueqin's Notions Of Poetics, Which Is Based On The Story Of The Stone

The Story of The Stone is not only a novel, but also a text from which we can extract series of notes on poems and, at the same time, a collection of Cao Xueqin's poetics. Nevertheless, works based on the study of poems in The Story of The Stone is not enough in the domain of redology. Commendatory of rhymes in The Story of The Stone written by Cai Yijiang is a complete book to some extent, however, it focuses on poems from the perspective of ideological content for revealing the function of poems in plot development and characterization instead of analyzing from the standpoint of art. With the constantly expanding of redology, poems and poetics in The Story of The Stone are gradually proved to be potential independent object of study, meanwhile, relative works and theses are raising as well as the attention of researchers. By the end of last century, there have been some theses focused on the art and theory of poems in The Story of The Stone. That is an important trend in redology, and also a potential area in poetics study.This thesis, based on the text of The Story of The Stone, extracts Cao Xueqin's notions of poetics from the plot and poem inditing and commentary of dramatis personae, moreover, establishes a complete system. The theories used in this thesis are mainly Chinese classical poetics before the era of Cao. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first one discusses the background in which Cao's notions of poetics form, including the poetics backdrop of Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as the back-to-the-ancients thought trends, the pursuit of disposition and emotion, the diversification of poets' style. It also expounds the cultural accumulation of the Cao family, especially Cao Yin's poem practice and poetry notions. Besides, the first part discusses Cao Xueqin's individuality and aesthetic pursuit, including his peculiar personality and exceptional poetry creation. The second part elaborates Cao's notions of poetics and summarizes his points of the authors, the origin, the conception, the ways, the specifications and the styles of the poems by seeking evidence from The Story of The Stone, then forms a theoretical system. The third part sums up the significance of Cao's notions of poetics, probes into his inheritance of Predecessors' achievements in conceptions of creation, criticism and development, and also discusses how, under the influence of Cao Yin, he set up different learning objects and formed different ideas and style from his grandfather. Finally, this article discusses the historical position of Cao's notions of poetics.