Research On Yang Menggun’s Proses

Yang Menggun(1574?-1632)was an important writer in the Shandong region in the late Ming dynasty.He held high official positions,wrote extensively,and had the honour of being「the master of the literary world」 in Jinan at that time.For a long period,however,Yang Menggun was not well known,and his writings are rare in history of literature and critical history writings,with information about him being mentioned sporadically in recent studies.His writings are poorly introduced both in the history of literature and the history of literary criticism,as well as some related information are rarely mentioned in recent studies.In fact,Yang Menggun’s surviving works,especially his proses,have comprehensive genre and rich connotation,are quite representative of the history of the development of late Ming literature and have a high research value.Taking the collation of Yang Mengun’s Dai Zong Cang Gao as an opportunity,this article aims to investigate his proses by referring to historical biographies,local chironicles,various general collections and compilation of individual writings,through the research methods of mutual evidence of literature and history,knowledge of people and literature of the region.The thesis is divided into five chaptersThe chapter one studies Yang Menggun’s life through the retrieval and sorting of various literature materials.Yang menggun was born in a declining official family.His birth year has been unclear for a long time,and even there are errors.This thesis verifies that his birth year should be 1574 through the information in Yang’s collection of works,and further restores his life track of growing,studying,attending the imperial examination,being an official,removing from office and living in seclusion.The chapter two examines Yang Menggun’s literary companionship and political identity through his correspondence,replying writing,historical documents,and investigates the version and circulation of his works Daizongcanggao,Daizongxiaogao,Shuangqing,Jinzhu,as well as the basic situation of other works such as Caoxuantingmanyu,Liyinmeng.The chapter three analyses Yang Menggun’s proses in terms of the genre of the essay.In this section,Yang Menggun’s prose works are divided into four major parts: narrative writing,argumentative writing,preface and postscript and biography,using the division of literary genres in Yao Nai’s Compilation of Ancient Literary and Collection of Essays to clarify the content of the texts and to summarize Yang Menggun’s own conception of literary genres.The chapter four examines Yang Menggun’s prose in terms of its literary ideology.Yang Menggun’s writings are rich,and the ideology and artistic expression of his works vary.In general,Yang Menggun’s prose is clearly influenced by the idea of literary restoration,with a smooth and ancient style.The prose of Yang Menggun is often characterized by the traditional concept of writing as a way of life,but he did not abandon the polishing of his craft.However,a considerable part of Yang Mengun’s prose works is unconventional,casual and interesting,reflecting the characteristics of noble sentiment and truth.The chapter five focuses on Yang Menggun’s aphoristic proses.In the late Ming dynasty,aphoristic prose were on the rise and became a fashionable phenomenon.Yang Mengun,in imitating of and learning from the aphoristic prose of Tu Long and others,also produced a considerable number of aphoristic prose.In the practice of this genre,Yang Menggun displays a literary character that is reclusive,individualistic and pessimistic in mood,which is quite different from what he shows in his general prose works.On the basis of the main text,this thesis collates the documents used,completing a brief genealogy of Yang Menggun,a sketch of the Yang family lineage,and an appendix of the collection of Yang Menggun’s extra-textual writings to supplement the previous description.