Research On The Writing Couplets Of The Jiangnan Literati In The Late Qing Dynasty

It is in the Qing Dynasty that the Chinese literature comes to the culmination,that is to say,the poetry,prose,opera and fiction in the traditional sense were all flourishing.Some styles which were once regarded as "sketches" and "paths" were also becoming popular.Literature in Jiangnan is the main area of the Qing Dynasty,so does the couplets.In the Middle and Late Qing Dynasty,Couplets,as a literary style,became an important way of social and cultural exchanges,which rooted in the excellent Chinese traditional culture and had a literary charm eompatible with elegance and vulgarity.Its types are becoming more and more abundant,its scope of use is becoming wider and wider,and its creative team is becoming larger and larger.We should not neglect the fact that the Grassroots Literature is also a treasure house to be excavated while paying attention to the study of elite literature.Zhao Zengwang's The Series of Talks on Zhao's Couplets in the South of the Yangtze River is composed of two volumes.The text records about 400 couplets and their related stories.The appendix contains about 500 couplets.These couplets covers a wide range of contents,such as marriage and funeral in interpersonal communication,interchange gifts between the officers or the teachers and friends,as well as various anecdotes.They are recorded in the school hall,scenic spots,Pavilions,temples,taverns,villas,restaurants,tea houses,shops,bedrooms,kitchens and bathrooms,and so on.The Appendix describes the speechless couplets written and collected by Zhao Zengwang and his son Zhao Zongxue.The subjects include longevity couplets,happy couplets,elegiac couplets and idle couplets.These speechless couplets reflect the style and level of the father and son.Zhao Zengwang's writing concept and aesthetic taste for couplets are reflected in his appreciation and evaluation of couplets' works,which is of great significance to the critical practice of couplets.Compared with the previous Monographs on Lianhua,Zhao's masterpiece is more like a literary work in a Note-taking style.It depicts various social states in the Late Qing Dynasty with the literary style of Lianhua,reflecting the ideology and folklore of the characters in different social strata at that time.As a window of the times,the couplets show us the details and the aesthetics of the daily life.