A Study Of Zhou Gongchen 's Poems

Zhou Hongchen (1589?—1657?), with the literal name of Menghou, was a senior licentiate in the third year of Emperor Shunzhi’s reign. He was born in Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province. He built up his legacy with his masterpieces such as the history of Chuang-tzu, history of Li sao vegetation, history of Nan Hua Zhen Jing and the anthology of Sheng Yu Zhai. Zhou enjoyed high acclaims when he was young yet he still kept reading all year round. The poems he wrote covered a whole variety of subjects, reflecting the poet’s attitude towards life and ideal. They were of profound meaning and accordingly attained great achievements. Based on current studies, the majority are focused on his academic thoughts while ignoring his poems and articles. This article dives into Zhou’s poems, tries to identify their subjects and traces back where they are originally from. In this way, this article gives Zhou’s works a proper status among the history of China’s poems.This article includes the introduction, the main body and the conclusion. There are four parts in the main body. The first is research and verification of Zhou’s life, upbring and social intercourse based on current studies. The second part is the discussion of the ideologies of his poems. The third part probes into the sentiments of his poem. The last part tries to study the artistic characteristics and the origin of his poems.