| Six Chapters of a Floating Life is the record of past relationships and life experiences of Shen Fu,it is an autobiographical prose.It is full of the author’s feeling nostalgic about the peaceful life time in the past,and the feeling of the helplessness,perplexity and pathos because of the ill-fated.Western romantics focus on human emotions,they emphasize that we should hold the aesthetic attitude to live poetically.They also regard as a romantic human being,we have the super power of creating the world.However,what they thought decides that they lack the courage and the ability to face the objective world.They will feel painful and puzzled when they suffer the cruel reality blow.And they would be caught in the contradiction between ideal and reality.So,Qian Zhongshu defined this western romantic thought as the the circumstances of admiration in the literature.It refers to the great admiration and liking for something,it is can be looked at but don’t get forever.This thesis tries to unscramble the circumstances of admiration in Six Chapters of a Floating Life,and the reasons of their failure to eager for perfect life,and the aesthetics of life in their pursuits.This book reflects Shen Fu and Chen Yun’s the sentiments of admiration.They hope that love and marriage will last forever;they pursue the daily life with ease;they want to earn their life with the means of livelihood which is based on their interest.However,all of their wonderful visions broken in the reality,and turn to the feeling of sad in the end.The reasons are three spots,firstly it encumber by their temperament,such as romanticism is rampant,and the sense of family responsibility is weak.Secondly,the Chinese feudal traditional etiquette restrict their own behaviors and words.Thirdly the Mu-Fu’s life is every anguished,furthermore,they have no choice but to be a private adviser.When Shen Fu describe his own experiences,he reveal more about the meaning of life at the same time.It displays people’s relentless pursuit of ideal life,the truth of an imperfect life,and an illusory feeling that life is like an dream.This circumstances of admiration has life’s mysteries,it is the common life experiences and aesthetic experiences of all humanity.So it shows that the value and significance of Six Chapters of a Floating Life.Shen Fu and Chen Yun’s aesthetic attitudes and value pursuits embody in the circumstances of admiration in the book.It reflects that hey yearn for the individual’s freedom of life and the unswerving desire to worldly ideal in their prayerful wishes.They strive for the taste of spirit and theartistic as well as aesthetic life-style,so their specific aesthetics of life is showed.It is about the beauty of natural disposition and the intelligence,the beauty of daily life-style,and the beauty of works which bears the author’s value orientation. |
