| The subject of this dissertation is Chung Hsing (1574-1625), a Chinese scholar/official whose life corresponded almost exactly with the years of the politically-tumultuous Wan-li era (1573-1620) of Ming dynasty China. Self-conscious pursuit of and establishment of name through literati activities is the theme that frames the events of this poet's life. My thesis is that the effective substance and significance of Chung Hsing's life lie in the wealth of detail that he deliberately embedded in his writing in order to record and thereby preserve his own name.;Chung Hsing's own works, selectively edited by their author, richly document his comings and goings, particularly for the years of his official career and retirement, 1610 to 1625. His prose and poetry in their several generic forms detail (a) the effect of politicized dissension on individual lives in early-seventeenth century China; (b) the diminishing enthusiasm for official service experienced by many, including Chung Hsing; (c) his own deep disappointment over his failure to father a son who survived him, and his anticipations for and irritations about relations with women; (d) the wearying and the exhilarating aspects of travel for official and for personal purposes; and (e) many facets of literary socializing.;Chapter One surveys the extreme intensity of the responses of the critics to Chung Hsing as a person and as a writer, with special attention given to the controversial and outspoken critic Ch'ien Ch'ien-i (1582-1664), who became a metropolitan degree holder in 1610 the same year as Chung Hsing did. Chapter Two first overviews briefly the political background of the Wan-li reign period; and second, based on an idiosyncratic record that Chung Hsing wrote of his family's history, the chapter documents his family background and his early years of preparations for pursuit of an official career. Chapters Three and Four, within the framework of a biographical narrative, unfold the events of Chung Hsing's active career years, 1610 to 1622. Chapter Five concludes the biographical narrative with a look at his activities during his aborted, last official position and the period of mourning for the death of his father, which ended shortly before his own death at his home in Ching-ling, Hu-kuang.;Included are my translations of many prose and verse pieces by Chung Hsing and a few by his contemporaries as well. The writings of these literati, and specifically here those by Chung Hsing, verify the determined pursuit of name, first through a place and ranking in the metropolitan and palace examinations and second through writing, editing, and publishing. Important in the lives of their authors, these exchanges of poems, letters, essays, prefaces, calligraphy, and paintings, in addition to providing the factual material of Chung Hsing's life inadvertently reveal Chinese literati of the first half of the seventeenth century unmistakably focused on self and on personal concerns and further, inextricably encompassed by the context of their lives. |
