Written at imperial command : panegyric poetry in early medieval China / Fusheng Wu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wu, Fusheng, 1959-

Series:

SUNY series in Chinese philosophy and culture

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

Chinese poetry--221 B.C.-960 A.D--History and criticism.

Chinese poetry.

Laudatory poetry--History and criticism.

Laudatory poetry.

Physical Description:

ix, 289 pages ; 24 cm.

Other Title:

Panegyric poetry in early medieval China

Place of Publication:

Albany : State University of New York Press, [2008]

Language Note:

Quoted poems in Chinese and English.

Summary:

This is the first book-length study of panegyric poetry-yingzhao shi or poetry presented to imperial rulers-in the Chinese tradition. Examining poems presented during the Wei-Jin Nanbeichao, or early medieval period (220-619), Fusheng Wu provides a thorough exploration of the sociopolitical background against which these poems were written and a close analysis of the formal conventions of the poems.

By reconstructing the human drama behind the composition of these poems, Wu shows that writing under imperial command could be a matter of grave consequence. The poets' work could determine the rise and fall of careers, or even cost lives. While panegyric poetry has been largely dismissed as perfunctory and insincere, such poems reveal much about the relations between monarchs and the intellectuals they patronized and also compels us to reexamine the canonical Chinese notion of poetic production as personal, spontaneous expression.

Contents:

1 Han Epideictic Rhapsody: The Prototype of Panegyric Poetry 13

2 Self-Foregrounding in the Panegyric Poetry of the Jian'an Era 23

3 Archaic Elegance in the Panegyric Poetry of the Jin Dynasty 49

4 Addressing the Best and Worst of Rulers: Panegyric Poetry of the Liu Song Dynasty 75

5 Praising Rulers throughout Calm and Conspiracy: The Southern Qi Dynasty 103

6 The Flourishing of Panegyric Poetry during the Liang Dynasty 123

7 Poetry's Embarrassment: Panegyric Poetry of the Chen Dynasty 147

8 Becoming Chinese: Panegyric Poetry during the Northern Dynasties 165

9 Matching Poems with a Cruel but Talented Ruler: The Sui Dynasty 185.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 273-282) and index.

ISBN:

9780791473696

0791473694

OCLC:

145431663