| This study discusses early Song poetry from the founding of the dynasty (960) through the reign of emperor Zhenzong (998--1022). It focuses on the transition from Tang to Song poetry by highlighting the elements of continuity as well as the main differences in the poetry of these two periods. My discussion is based on the hypothesis that there existed a relationship between the evolution of the shi, identified as the learned elite which formed the pool of potential civil servants, and the changes that intervened in poetry writing as an activity characteristic of this group. This study shows that alongside the rise of the bureaucracy's power vis-a-vis imperial authority, poetry gradually evolved into a medium partially disengaged from imperial patronage and increasingly expressive of the elite's ethical and cultural values. Meanwhile, in the second half of the period under consideration one witnesses an unprecedented rise to literary notoriety by poets who were active outside or at the margins of the elite, such as members of the Buddhist clergy, hermits and recluses, and country gentlemen.; This hypothesis has been tested and illustrated through the analysis of three poetic styles, which, according to Song sources, formed the principal poetic trends at the outset of the dynasty. These were: (1) the Bai style or Yuan-Bai style, based on the imitation of Bai Juyi (772--846) and, in particular, on the exchange of poetry between Bai and Yuan Zhen (779--831); (2) the Xikun style, that is, the poetry of Yang Yi (974--1020), Liu Yun (970--1030) and Qian Weiyan (977--1034), who were admirers of the Tang poet Li Shangyin (813--858) and whose work is collected in the anthology of exchange verses titled Xikun chouchangji; (3) the Late Tang-Five Dynasties style (Wantang-wudaiti), inspired by the late Tang poet Jia Dao (779--843).; Through the study of these three styles it has been possible to trace a developmental trend in early Song poetry. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
