Research On Liu Yuxi’s Prose Narratives

Liu Yuxi’s life spanned eight dynasties. He has made his name since his early 20 s, and created considerable influence in the Mid Tang Dynasty. He was given the name of the "Poem Hero". But for a long time, his achievements in literature are covered by his achievements in poetry. He wrote two hundred pieces of prose during his life, including a series of genre such as Fu, Bei, Lun, Ji,Shu, Biaozhang, Zhuang, Qi, Jiji, Epitaph eulogy, etc. Liu Yuxi’s personal views in politics,philosophy and literature are reflected, as well as his mentality. Based on the fact that there is no special study of narrative in Liu Yuxi’s prose, this paper focuses on the analysis of Liu Yuxi s prose from the angle of narration. With the background of the Literature’s Transform in the Mid Tang Dynasty, this paper discusses the relationship between Liu’s prose and the Literature’s Transform, analyses the variability of his narrative techniques, and thus reflects the exquisite of his narratives.In this paper, we firstly adopt the method of text analysis, and studies the narrative of Liu’s prose by genre; and then adopt the method of comparative study, and compares Liu’s narrative prose with Han Yu’s and Liu Zongyuan’s. This thesis is composed of four chapters. The first chapter is a brief overview of traditional Chinese narratives and Liu Yuxi’s narratives such as Shu, Qi, Biao,Zhuang, etc. It paves the way for the following concrete analysis of Liu’s narratives. The second chapter focuses on analyzing Liu’s narrative technique in Beizhi article, Jiti article and Jiji article.Based on historical figures and historical events, the characteristics of each genre of Liu Yuxi’s works are inquired into. In this part, the paper analyzes the narrative method of the Beizhi article from three aspects: the combination of Syria and song, the precise tailoring, and the supplementary narration. The Jiti article’s narrative method is analyzed from the typical event description, the combination of the past and present and the narrative rhythm & plot. The Jiji article’s narrative method is analyzed from the historical supplement, the unity of humanity and article and the argument & statement structure. Based on the research result of chapter two, the third chapter focuses on the general narrative characteristics of Liu Yuxi’s narrative feature in different literary styles. In chapter two and chapter three, by analyzing the narrative techniques of these three genres, the characteristics of Liu Yuxi’s prose can be induced as the combination of statement and argument, the combination of positive and lateral description, and the use of before and after contrast. And then explore the advantages and disadvantages of Liu Yuxi’s prose narratives. The last chapter analyzes the relationship between Liu Yuxi’s prose and the Literature’s Transform under the background of the Literature’s Transform in the Mid Tang Dynasty. The thesis carries out a delicate analysis, and through the comparison with other articles, the unique characteristics of Liu Yuxi’s prose are summed up. The research result put forward a reasonable position for Liu Yuxi’s prose in the history of prose literature in the Mid Tang Dynasty.