Fleeing the Dusty Net: Reclusion and Reclusive Ideals in the Poetry of the Wei-Jin Period
Cook, Johannah Mary
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Cook, J. M. (2015). Fleeing the Dusty Net: Reclusion and Reclusive Ideals in the Poetry of the Wei-Jin Period (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy). University of Otago. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10523/5844
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Abstract:
Reclusive poetry has been an integral part of the Chinese poetic tradition since ancient times. But it was not until the Wei-Jin 魏晉 period (220-420) that poetry written around the theme of the recluse became popular amongst the literary elite, as poets began to express interest in the life of a recluse to a greater extent than they had in the past. During the Wei-Jin period, the concept and definition of the recluse was influenced and broadened by the popularity of xuanxue 玄學 (Dark Learning/Studies of the Abstruse). It is mainly due to the influence of xuanxue that reclusive poetry written during the Wei-Jin period differs from the reclusive poetry that came before it in the sense that Wei-Jin reclusive poetry contains a metaphysical aspect. I will demonstrate in this thesis, by way of a selection of representative works from the Wei-Jin period, that it was primarily a reclusion of the mind, rather than a reclusion based on physical location, that would be explored and developed in the reclusive poetry of the Wei-Jin period and that this development was closely related to the flourishing interest in metaphysical philosophies by the literati of the time. This thesis aims to demonstrate that the Wei-Jin poets were all influenced, in some way, by xuanxue philosophies, which emphasized the desire of the individual to live in a way that accorded with their inner spirit, by detaching and lifting themselves aloft from their immediate environment. The reclusive ideals, as expressed in Wei-Jin poetry, evolved according to the cultural and political milieu in which they were produced. But throughout the Wei-Jin period, reclusive poetry conveyed the ethos of the Wei-Jin period itself in that it represented the right of individuals to live a dignified existence that accorded with their own conscience during a time of violence and despair. In this way, the reclusive poetry of the Wei-Jin period transcends borders and cultures and has relevance for us today.
Date:
2015
Advisor:
Moloughney, Brian
Degree Name:
Doctor of Philosophy
Degree Discipline:
Languages and Cultures
Publisher:
University of Otago
Keywords:
Reclusion; reclusive poetry; Wei-Jin period; Wei-Jin poetry; xuanyan shi; metaphysical lyric; abstruse learning; abstruse philosophies; studies of the abstruse; Jian’an poetry; Jian’an poets; Jian’an period; Cao Zhi; Zhengshi period; Ruan Ji; Ji Kang; Western Jin period; Zuo Si; Zhang Xie; Eastern Jin poetry; Tao Yuanming; Xie Lingyun; Eastern Jin period; 隱逸; 隱逸詩歌; 魏晉時代; 魏晉詩歌; 玄言詩; 玄學; 建安七子; 竹林七賢; 曹植; 正始時代; 阮籍; 嵇康; 西晉詩歌; 左思; 張協; 東晉詩歌; 陶淵明; 謝靈運
Research Type:
Thesis
Languages:
Chinese; English
Collections
- Languages and Cultures collection [25]
- Thesis - Doctoral [3015]