The Family Tradition In Autobiographical Literature

" Family tradition" is the key word of the Wei and Jin literati culture,and is inextricably linked with the autobiographical literature flourishing during the period of the Wei and Jin Dynasties.This paper,taking the Autobiography of the Wei and Jin Dynasties as the breakthrough point,gives a holistic view of the main connotations and typical features of the Wei and Jin family traditions.And through the analysis of the famous writers and works,this paper makes a deep study of some important problems about the family tradition.The first chapter mainly discusses the attitudes of Wei and Jin gentry towards family and all kinds of human relations within and outside the family.The "filial piety"is the core to maintain the family ethical relationship of the Wei and Jin dynasties.Whether it is in the writing of articles,social activities or other life practices,respect for the ancestors and the sense of family responsibility are the most sacred and inviolable rules in the eyes of the Wei and Jin gentry.Compared with the sense of separation caused by admiration and solemnity when they praised their ancestors,the gentry’s description of the human relationship that really exists around him shows a real and touching power.The family relationship brings a kind of stability and solace to the gentry.Therefore,the scholars often show cherish the human nature and love of the family warmth in the literary works.This is also a concrete embodiment of the principle that the Wei and Jin gentry consciously abide by the principle of "filial piety".In the dual role of "family responsibility" and "family warmth"the close fraternity among peer brothers is the most important type of affection that gentry attach to,and it is also quite prominent in literary works.This is a concrete expression of "fraternity".The principle of mutual understanding and mutual enrichment also extends to social communication outside the family,and even has the tendency to penetrate the upper level ideology.The relationship of human relations based on filial piety is not only the most significant feature of the Wei and Jin family traditions,but also the guarantee that the social order can be maintained when the value chain breaks.The second chapter mainly discusses the evolution of the Chinese pen and sword arts in Wei and Jin dynasties.Scholars generally believe that the Wei and Jin family tradition has the tendency to "emphasizing civilization and ignoring martial arts".However,the actual situation cannot be simply summed up with it.For example,inthe autobiography of Cao Cao,Cao Pi and Cao Zhi,not matter the self-display or the instruction to future generations,they all show a kind of "military" style.The Cao family’s emphasis on "martial arts" was created through the joint action of Cao Cao’s own unique personality and the special social background during the late Han and the Three Kingdoms period.Throughout the period of the Wei and Jin Dynasties,the use of force to obtain military exploits on the battlefield was an important means of seeking social status and an important way to expand family power.However,the communist society pays much attention to literary talents and evade from talking about military affairs.This is because the mainstream social values at that time regarded civilization as the key to the maintenance of social status among the high gatemen,while military is an unstable factor that threatens the safety of life and disrupts the social order.Even so,in the social life of the gentry,the elements of"military" still have a clear embodiment in the family tradition.In autobiographical literature,it manifested itself as a face-to-face encounter with family ancestors andpraised the "virtue" of pacifying the world and preserving the nation,as well as forming the civil and martial arts.The most profound and timeless part of the style of the family must ultimately be applied to the personality of the gentry.On the one hand,the influence of the military on the family personality is manifested in heroic and angular.On the other hand,it is embodied in practical ideas and pragmatic spirit.From the literary works of Lu Ji(whose family generation had experience of leading troops),and Tao Yuanming(whose great ancestors had won the martial arts),we can see the clues of these two kinds of personalities.The third chapter mainly discusses the exploration of the way of life and the construction of family tradition in the advance and retreat.The inheritance of family tradition in traditional Chinese society mainly relies on "words and deeds" and"personal teaching".However,these two methods sometimes show a phenomenon of"self-contradiction".Take Ruan Ji and Ji Kang in the period of Zheng Shi as an example.When educating future generations,they often contend with their own self-image in the literary world.From the perspective of the literary works of Ji Kang,Ruan Ji and Ruan Yu(Ruan Ji’s father),the gentry in the Wei and Jin Dynasties all had degrees of misfortunes.The contradiction or disorder in their creation is the expression of this pain.In the pain and contradictions passed down from one generation to the generation,the scholars are constantly searching for the balance of life and ways of slowing the pain.The scholars of the Wei and Jin Dynasties often constructed the ideal life between the advance and the retreat in literary works.It is often embodied in the perfect planning of life which often retired after winning merit and the attitude of advancing with the flow.However,when the ideal is implemented in real life practice,new contradictions and pains are produced.Taking Tao Yuanming and Xie Lingyun as examples,even if reality gives them more room for choice,in their literary works,there are still difficulties in advancing the road,t the contradiction of the dilemma,and regret and heavyness after retirement.The record of contradictions in life,self-reflection,and expectation of future generations are attempts by gentry to answer the difficult problems of life between advancing and retreating in the context of a specific era.In the process of searching from top to bottom,they polished their personalities and styles that belonged to themselves,the family,and the entire society.They passed down their literary works from generation to generation and left them to be accepted and commented by later generations.