Analysis And Comment On Urtext Of The Book Of Songs By Fang Yurun

Fang Yurun was an eminent scholar with distinctive characteristics in the study of the Book of Songs in the Qing Dynasty.His work,Urtext of the Book of Songs,integrates the essence of the study of Han and Song dynasties and creates a new literary genre with its own styles.It is in accordance with the poetic education of Confucianism---studying for application,and has established a new research pattern in modern times.Urtext of the Book of Songs attaches importance to the textual research and strive to seek its original purpose,has been playing an outstanding leading role in the Book of Songs’research.This thesis mainly comments and analyzes the merits of Urtext of the Book of Songs from three aspects:The first part mainly introduces the author’s life experiences and academic ideals.Fang Yurun was a repeated failure of the Imperial Examinations.He was not reused in the office of the commanding officer and lack of opportunities to full play his talents after becoming an official.Though in a troubled world,he was not short high aspirations.Urtext of the Book of Songs is a work of Fang Yurun’s study in his later years when he was living in Long(present Gansu Province).The book combines the achievements of the study of Confucian classics in the Qing Dynasty and fits the needs of a turbulent age that was poor and weak.Which reflects that he was above confining himself on traditional classics and was in the pursuit of learning for application and was attempting to to achieve his aim of writing for the time through the re-interpretation of the Book of Songs.The second focued on research pattern and unique features of this book.Through inheritance and transformation of Shi Xu,Shi JiZhuan and General Explanation on the Book of Songs,Fang Yurun interprets the Book of Songs in his own way and formed his interpretation pattern with distinct features.Urtext of the Book of Songs covers author’s preface,general notices,charts,notes and commentaries at the top of a page,marginal notes,phonology,exegetical studies and others.Having restored the original meaning of the author and the main purpose of the poems through the in-depth study of the text,the author fixed the existing research drawbacks of some Confucianists,which resulted from paying too much attention on phonological exegesis and neglecting the holistic study of the poems.The whole contents not only focus on Confucianism but also put emphasis on the aesthetic features of the poems,and is characterized by clearly and logically interpretation full of perceptual vocabulary.The third part discusses and elaborates Fang Yurun’s view on poetics and summarizes the academic value and deficiencies of Urtext of the Book of Songs.On the one hand,the book aims to uncover the original meaning conveyed by the author of the Book of Songs.From the perspective of literary appreciation,Fang Yurun went deep into poet’s spiritual world through his personal emotional experience,bringing in a new style for the study of the Book of Songs.Urtext of the Book of Songs,on the other hand,is still not free from the bondage of Confucianism due to the author’s pedantic indoctrination.In addition,the author’s lack of phonological knowledge resulted in many errors in this respect,by which the academic achievements of the book was badly affected.In conclusion,Urtext of the Book of Songs,which had absorbed the essence of the achievements of Han and Song dynasties,set up a new text-based research pattern in the form of literature studies for the later scholars,improving the study of the literary achievements of the Book of songs.At this point,the literary value of the Book of songs and its value as Confucian classics have become two parallel cognitive directions.