| Lu Ji (261--303) was a renowned poet in the Jin Dynasty. His poems exerted profound influences on poets of the Southern Dynasties, and played a salient role in the development of classical Chinese poetic language. Traditional Chinese literary criticism has discussed the various aspects of Lu Ji's works; however, due to the lack of meticulous linguistic analysis, the linguistic significance of Lu Ji's poems has not yet been fully revealed and the contributions of Lu Ji to classical Chinese poetic language are still under-estimated.;This study applies the theories and methodologies of modern stylistics to the analysis of Lu Ji's poems. The author proposes and argues that: (1) Lu Ji was a major figure in the transition and development of classical Chinese poetic language from the Wei and Jin Dynasties to the Southern Dynasties, and (2) Stylistic analysis offers a valuable complement to traditional Chinese literary criticism and can provide insights and room for the linguistic study of classical Chinese poems in both research and teaching.;The thesis begins with an introductory account of the background, rationale, fundamental concepts and arguments (Ch.1), followed by a review of Western and Chinese stylistic theories and related precedents (Ch.2). It goes on to compare stylistically the different versions of Lu Ji's poems and to synthesise a reference text which includes all the variants (Ch.3). It then adopts this text for the stylistic analysis of four main types of Lu Ji's poems (Ch.4) and discusses the overall stylistic features from the perspective of foregrounding and deviation (Ch.5). The thesis further compares the related works of different poets with Lu Ji's to reveal the significance of the latter in the development of classical Chinese poetic language (Ch.6). It ends with a commentary on the pedagogical implications of stylistics for classical Chinese poems and a conclusion of the study (Ch. 7).;The study strongly emphasises that Lu Ji's linguistically-oriented talents enabled him to explore and create new forms and patterns of poetic language on the basis of traditions. It also argues that stylistics is an adoptable, applicable and effective complement to traditional Chinese literary criticism. |
