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Pianwen
Pianwen ( zh, s=骈文, t=駢文, p=piánwén, l=parallel writing, c=, first=t) is a highly stylised prose style, prevalent throughout the history of Chinese literature. Its prominent features lie in its regular lines arranged in couplets; in its early history, these lines were mostly of either four or six characters, and so pianwen are also known as Four-Six Prose (). While the pianwen form was frequently utilised in official writings, or in describing scenery, its tight restrictions in metrical, tonal and thematic terms restricted its literary development. Subsequent movements, such as the Classical Prose Movement, were a response to these restrictions, but pianwen would continue to be written until the end of the Imperial Chinese era and the widespread use of Vernacular Chinese in writing. Name According to the Shuowen Jiezi, the word 'pian' (), with a horse radical and the character for 'aligned, in line', originally referred to a two-horse carriage where the horses run a ...
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Chen Weisong
Chen Weisong (陈维崧), also called Chen Qinian (其年) or Chen Jialing (迦陵), lived 1626 January 7-1682 June 13, was the first of the great Ci and Pianwen poets during the Qing dynasty. He was the leader and founder of the Yangxian poetry school ( 阳羡词派).清《河南通志 卷六十九》:“皇清陈维崧字其年宜兴人祖于庭前明左都御史父贞慧与商丘侯方域交善,同罹阮大铖之祸。方域避乱阳羡以女许字维崧弟宗石后,宗石入赘,遂为宋人,维崧亦寓宋,与弟同居。维崧为文长于排偶。长洲汪琬称为七百年一人,后以博学宏词徴除翰林检讨,纂修《明史》,卒于官。” Life Chen Weisong was born to Ming dynasty prince Chen Zhenhui ( 陈贞慧) in Yixing, Jiangsu. Chen's ancestor Chen Yuting ( 陈于廷) was a Ming dynasty royal court official (左都御史). Growing up, Chen had a long beard or ''ran'', so he was sometimes called Chen Ran (陈髯). He grew up healthy wi ...
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Classical Prose Movement
The Classical Prose Movement () of the late Tang dynasty and the Song dynasty in China advocated clarity and precision rather than the florid ''pianwen'' () or parallel prose style that had been popular since the Han dynasty. Parallel prose had a rigid structure and came to be criticized for being overly ornate at the expense of content. The aim of the guwen stylists was to follow the spirit of pre-Han prose rather than to imitate it directly. They used elements of colloquial language to make their writings more direct. The movement also had political and religious aspects, as Confucian scholars tried to combat the influence of Taoism and Buddhism on the emperors. Some also saw it as an effective tool to expose the reality of corruption and weakness in the central government. The first great promoters of the movement were Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan who were not only great writers but also great theorists, providing the foundation of the movement. Both were enthusiastic to promote ...
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Eight Great Prose Masters Of The Tang And Song
The Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song () refers to a grouping of prose writers, during the Tang Dynasty, Tang and Song Dynasty, Song Dynasties, who were renowned for their prose writing, mostly in the essay form. Almost all of the eight masters are also accomplished in other aspects of Chinese politics and culture of their time. Two of the writers (Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan) are from the Tang, while four are from the Song. Background The list of the eight writers was first drawn up in the Ming Dynasty. Zhu You (:zh:朱右, 朱右), a scholar during the early Ming, first collected the essays of the eight, but it was the late Ming scholar Mao Kun (:zh:茅坤, 茅坤) who coined the name in a book called "Compiled Transcriptions of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song"; the subsequent popularity of this book cemented the place of the eight as masters of Chinese prose writing. During the Qing dynasty, Wei Yuan had eight volumes on the Eight Prose Masters (《 ...
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Han Yu
Han Yu (; 76825 December 824), courtesy name Tuizhi (), and commonly known by his posthumous name Han Wengong (韓文公), was a Chinese essayist, poet, philosopher, and politician during the Tang dynasty who significantly influenced the development of Neo-Confucianism. Described as "comparable in stature to Dante, Shakespeare or Goethe" for his influence on the Chinese literary tradition, Han Yu stood for strong central authority in politics and orthodoxy in cultural matters. He is often considered to be among China's finest prose writers. Ming dynasty scholar Mao Kun () ranked him first among the " Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song". Biography Han Yu was born in 768, in Heyang (河陽, present day Mengzhou) in Henan to a family of noble lineage. His father worked as a minor official but died when Han Yu was two, who was then raised in the family of his older brother, Han Hui (). He was a student of philosophical writings and confucian thought. His family moved ...
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Su Shi
Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of the Song era, at times holding high-level political positions, Su Shi was also an important figure in Song Dynasty politics, aligning himself with Sima Guang and others, against the New Policy party led by Wang Anshi, gaining some level of popular support through his actions, and also sometimes experiencing politically motivated reversals to his government career. Su Shi is widely regarded as one of the most accomplished figures in classical Chinese literature, having produced some of the most well-known poems, lyrics, prose, and essays. Su Shi was famed as an essayist, and his prose writings lucidly contribute to the understanding of topics such as 11th-century Chinese travel literature or detailed information on the contemporary Chine ...
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Zeng Gong
Zeng (, ) is a Chinese family name. In Cantonese, it is Tsang; In Wade-Giles, such as those in Taiwan, Tseng or Tzeng; in Malaysia and Singapore, Chen or Cheng; in the Philippines, Chan; in Indonesia, Tjan; in Vietnam, Tăng. The surname Zeng is the 32nd most common surname in Mainland China as of 2019. It is the 16th most common surname in Taiwan. It meant "high" or "add" in ancient Chinese.The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland Zeng is also a German family name with another origin. Zeng was listed 385th on the '' Hundred Family Surnames''. Origin The surname originates from () an ancient state located in present-day Cangshan County (now Lanling County) in Shandong province, which was granted to Qu Lie, son of the emperor Shao Kang in the Xia dynasty. The state was annexed by Ju (located mainly in present-day Shandong province) in 567 BC. The crown prince of the state, Wu, fled to Lu. He later dropped the radical in the character and adopted 曾 as hi ...
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Ouyang Xiu
Ouyang Xiu (; 1007 – 1072 CE), courtesy name Yongshu, also known by his art names Zuiweng () and Liu Yi Jushi (), was a Chinese historian, calligrapher, epigrapher, essayist, poet, and politician of the Song dynasty. He was a renowned writer among his contemporaries and is considered the central figure of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song. He revived the Classical Prose Movement (first begun by the two Tang dynasty masters two centuries before him) and promoted it in imperial examinations, paving the way for future masters like Su Shi and Su Zhe. Ouyang Xiu's interests as a writer were remarkably diverse. As a historian, he was put in charge by Emperor Renzong of Song of creating the ''New Book of Tang'', which was completed in 1060 CE. He also wrote in his spare time the ''Historical Records of the Five Dynasties'', the only book in the Twenty-Four Histories to have been written in private by a single author. As a poet, he was a noted writer of both the '' cí'' and ''shi ...
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Liu Zongyuan
Liu Zongyuan (; 77328 November 819) was a Chinese philosopher, poet, and politician who lived during the Tang Dynasty. Liu was born in present-day Yongji, Shanxi. Along with Han Yu, he was a founder of the Classical Prose Movement. He has been traditionally classed as one of the "Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song". Biography Liu Zongyuan was born in 773. His courtesy name was Zihou (). Liu Zongyuan's civil service career was initially successful; however, in 805, he fell out of favour with the imperial government because of his association with a failed reformist movement. He was exiled first to Yongzhou, Hunan, and then to Liuzhou, Guangxi, where he eventually became the city Governor. A park and temple in Liuzhou is dedicated to his memory. His exile allowed his literary career to flourish: he produced poems, fables, reflective travelogues and essays synthesizing elements of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. He died in 819. Works Liu's best-known travel p ...
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Wang Bo (poet)
Wang Bo (; 650–676), courtesy name Zi'an (子安), was a Tang dynasty Chinese poet, traditionally grouped together with Luo Binwang Luo Binwang (, ca. 619–684?), courtesy name Guanguang (觀光/观光), was a Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty. His family was from Wuzhou, modern Yiwu, Zhejiang, but he was raised in Shandong. Luo is grouped with Lu Zhaolin, Wang Bo, and ..., Lu Zhaolin, and Yang Jiong as the Four Paragons of the Early Tang. He died at the age of 26, possibly from drowning, while going back from Jiaozhi (Vietnam, then under Tang rule) after meeting his father. He opposed the spread of the Gong Ti Style (宫体诗风) of the Sui Dynasty, and advocated a style rich in emotions. He was also famous for the essay ''Tengwang Ge Xu'', which is included in the Chinese middle school curriculum. Life Wang Bo was born in A.D 650 into a family with high literary status. His grandfather was the Sui dynasty Confucian philosopher Wang Tong (philosopher), Wang ...
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Northern And Southern Dynasties
The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as the latter part of a longer period known as the Six Dynasties (220–589). Albeit an age of civil war and political chaos, it was also a time of flourishing arts and culture, advancement in technology, and the spread of Mahayana Buddhism and Daoism. The period saw large-scale migration of the Han people to the lands south of the Yangtze. The period came to an end with the unification of all of China proper by Emperor Wen of the Sui dynasty. During this period, the process of sinicization accelerated among the non-Han ethnicities in the north and among the indigenous peoples in the south. This process was also accompanied by the increasing popularity of Buddhism ( introduced into China in the 1st century) in both northern and southern Chin ...
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Jin Dynasty (265–420)
Jin is a toneless pinyin romanization of various Chinese names and words. These have also been romanized as Kin and Chin (Wade–Giles). "Jin" also occurs in Japanese and Korean. It may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC * Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin * Jin (Later Tang precursor) (晉國; 907–923), Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period * Later Jin (Five Dynasties) (後晉; 936–947), Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period Jīn 金 * Jin dynasty (1115–1234) (金朝), also known as the Jurchen Jin * Later Jin (1616–1636) (後金; 1616–1636), precursor of the Qing dynasty Others * Jin (Korean state) (辰國), precursor of the Jinhan Confederation * Balhae (698–713), originally known as Jin (震) Places * Jin Prefecture (Shanxi) (晉州), a former Chinese prefecture centered on present-day Linfen, Shanxi * Jin Prefecture (Sh ...
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