Study Of Sun Zhiwei's Poetry

Being an influential poet in the early days of the Qing Dynasty, as well as an adherent to the Ming Dynasty, Sun Zhiwei led a legendary life. He created 21 volumes of"Gai Tang Poems", in which show us not only many content-rich poems, but also the change of dynasties and the ups and downs in his life.This thesis discusses Sun Zhiwei and his poetry from the following five parts.The preface briefly introduces the study of Sun Zhiwei's poems, which divides into two phases: one is prior to the the Republic of China's establishment and the other after the 1970s. Generally speaking, the study of Sun Zhiwei's poems is relatively weak and needs further researches.Chapter one investigates the life of Sun Zhiwei, concentrating mainly on his relations with the Li Zicheng peasant uprising and the Examination for Erudition and Learned man in the eighteenth year of Emperor Kang Xi. In expectation to deepen the understanding of his poetry by knowing the people and the time, his status as an"adherent to the Former Dynasty"and his special relation with Yang Chou are also discussed in details.Chapter two inspects the main content of Sun Zhiwei's poems, indicating that he traveled among the mountains and waters to ask for help and spend time, and his talents had been improved at the same time. Sun Zhiwei's travel, sometimes, however, was indeed a last resort. Sun Zhiwei expressed his adherent mentality to the Former Dynasty through the history commenting poems; his object-chanting poems reflect major objects from minor ones, showing us the feelings of a poet. Sun Zhiwei could not return to his hometown even in the declining years, which was a regret that always clung on him. Being far away from relatives and friends also added some loneliness to Sun Zhiwei's later years.Chapter three explores Sun Zhiwei's poetics theory and features of his poems. Begin with his backwash of the argument of"following Tang or following Song",pointing out that although Sun Zhiwei's poems looked like the Song poems, but himself doesn't"following Song". His eclectic studies enabled him to form a style of his own. Sun Zhiwei called for"simple writing"and"real emotion"in writing. This theory permeated through his writing and characterized his poems with"simplicity"and"genuineness". Sun Zhiwei didn't comment the poems by the order of the ages, he insisted that poems of different ages and different areas had different values and that people shouldn't make fish of one and flesh of another. In addition, Sun Zhiwei held the opinion that in poetry writing, speed shouldn't be the only pursuit, instead, the quality should be guaranteed.Chapter four sums up the value of Sun Zhiwei's poems. Historically, Sun Zhiwei's poems reflect faithfully the social reality of Late Ming and early Qing, possessing an important status as the history of poetry. Moreover, they reflect the life of the adherents to the Former Dynasty, providing us a typical life sample of the adherents to the Former Dynasty. Artistically speaking, his language is concise, humorous, and has meaningful aftertaste .He is also good at rewording ancient poems. Lashed by various kinds of poetry genres, Sun Zhiwei maintained his distinctive feature. As an eclectic leaner, he was singled out as being self-reliance. The anti-feudal thoughts sprouted in his poem also contribute to his irreplaceable value in Chinese poetry.