The Historical Evolution Of "Nature " In The Theory Of Ancient Chinese Literature

The word "nature" originally only existed in philosophy field as philosophical field.This paper divides the historical evolution of "nature" into four periods. The first periodis about the beginning and evolution of it at Qin and Han Dynasty. The second is of theformation period in Wei Jin Nan Bei Dynasty. The third period is the promotion andinnovation in Tang and Song Dynasty and the last period is the summary in Qing Dynasty.The first period is developed around Taoism and Confucianism’s nature. The secondperiod is elaborated on the Wei Jin Metaphysics and the theory of "nature", Liu Xie andZhong Rong’ theory of "nature", Tao Yuanming’ new theory of "nature" and its renderingby the poetry. The third period is built around the aesthetic ideal of poetry in Tang andSong Dynasty. The last period use "Yi" and "Fa" to sum up the paper. With the change oftime and the development of thoughts, the word "nature" not only holds its originalmeaning, but also extends its meaning to other fields, such as in ontological field,literature field, esthetical field(connected with esthetical ideal and standard) and insurvival condition field. It comes to concern people’s living environment and condition.