The Study Of Lao Xiaoyu’s Poetry Talks Of Spring And Autumn Annals

Compiled by Lao Xiaoyu,a scholar in the Qing Dynasty,the Poetry Talks of Spring and AutumnAnnals was a compilation of notes that commented on the Poetry and related rhythmical languages of Zuo Zhuan(the Zuo’s Spring and Autumn Annals)under the background that notes on classical poetry were prosperous at that time.Although it did not specially make a systematic poetic study of the Poetry,it,to a certain extent,presented the real state of applying Poetry and related rhythmical languages in the Spring and Autumn Period,thus reflecting Lao’s interpretation of applying poetry in the Spring and Autumn Period in the form of notes on classical poetry.By breaking through traditional notes on classical poetry,this book was unique and it had the value of documentation.In the academic circle,many academic studies about Lao were based on the Poetry Talks of Spring and AutumnAnnals and there were few researches based on Lao’s collections of works.According to investigation,Lao’s collections of works Ruan Zhai’s Poem and Ruan Zhai’s Essays had not disappeared,and they could be traced in the collection of the National Library and these two books could provide plenty of materials to support the Poetry Talks of Spring and AutumnAnnals.There is still room for research in the exploration of poetics reflected in this book.Although predecessors have studied the styles of this book,important factors including the background of the era,the master-apprentice relationship and the classified structure of Lao’s collections could be combined to discuss the reason for the formation of its styles when discussing its unique styles.Therefore,based on previous studies,by combining with Lao’s collections,this thesis focused on the style characteristics of this book and the tendency of thought presented in this book to further conclude some characteristics demonstrated in Lao’s poetics so as to grasp the value of this book.Firstly,the introduction part summarized the research achievements of the Poetry Talks of Spring and AutumnAnnals and Autumn Period and the research significances of this research.The main body was discussed from the following aspects.Firstly,based on sorting out the author’s life and works,this thesis discussed the styles of this bookand the phenomenon that the classification of this book conformed to the application of poetry in the Spring and Autumn Period,pointed out the its standard that “all poems are rhythmic” and classified 11 types of rhythmic languages including ballads and proverbs into the unique style of “Shi Poetry”,from which it could be known that this book not only had the characteristics of commenting on poetry,discussing poetry but also the characteristic of “storing poetry”.Besides,based on this book’s standard of selecting Poetry and related rhythmic languages from Zuo Zhuan,this thesis supplemented 13 omissions of this book.Secondly,this thesis discussed 3 obvious tendencies of thought presented in this book: 1.viewing the poetry of the Spring and Autumn Period based on historical facts;2.interpreting the application of poetry from the perspective of morality;3.commenting on the application of poetry from the perspective of literature.Thirdly,this book not only inherited the opinions of the predecessors but also demonstrated the characteristics of Lao’s poetics as follows.1.Poets do not have fixed poems and poems do not have fixed references,from which it could be known that importance is attached to the characteristics of “poetry application” rather than making poetry in the Spring and Autumn Period.2.The purport of writing “Poetry” is exactly the purport of writing the Spring and Autumn Annals.The purport of writing Poetry proposed by Lao had the same characteristics of the purport of the Spring and Autumn Annals.The Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan were historical records that aimed at storing historical data while poetry not only had the characteristic of recording but could also reflect the world affairs and trends of that times.Zuo Zhuan had some characteristics of “poetic history”,i.e.,“sublime words with deep meaning” of the Spring and Autumn Annals.History aimed at praising or censuring while poetry aimed at satirizing or eulogizing.The purport of writing Poetry was to convey the profound truth of praising or censuring through writing poetry.3.The thought of valuing etiquette.4.The thought of incorporating both the Song Dynasty and the Han Dynasty.5.Affirming the poetic method of “interpreting out of context” in the Spring and Autumn Period.6.Valuing the relationship between poetry and feeling.Lao’s poetic thoughts were reflected in the styles of Zuo Shi Chun Qiu.Based on it,this thesis discussed the important factors that formed the styles of this book from three perspectives including the academic atmosphere of esteeming Zuo Zhuan in the Qing Dynasty,the Hui’s Spring and Autumn Annals by Hui Shiqi and the structural classification of Lao’s Ruan Zhai’s Poems.Finally,this thesis discussed the literature value of the Poetry Talks of Spring and Autumn Annals.