Includes bibliographical references (pages 201-213) and index.
Contents:
What Are Poems on History in Early Medieval China? -- Retrospective Memory and Self-Idealization in Zuo Si's 'Poems on History' -- Prospective Memory and the Reception of Zuo Si's 'Yongshi' in Early Medieval China -- Tao Yuanming's Perspectives on Life as Reflected in His Poems on History -- Cultural Memory and Xie Zhan's Poem on Zhang Liang -- Approaches to History in the 'Yongshi' Section of the Wen xuan.
Summary:
"Explores how poetry was used to disseminate and interpret history in early medieval China"-- Provided by publisher. Lore and Verse is the first English-language book dedicated entirely to studying poems on history (yongshi shi) in premodern China. Focusing on works by poets from the entire range of early medieval China (220-589), Yue Zhang explores how history was disseminated and interpreted through poetry, as well as how and why certain historical figures were commemorated in poetry. In writing poems on history, poets retrospectively crafted their own identities through their celebration of historical figures, and they prospectively fortified a continuous lineage for transmitting their values and reputation to future generations. This continuous tradition of cultural memory informs a poet's reception of historical figures, which in turn shapes that tradition through further intertextual connections. Lore and Verse questions the sweeping generalization of early medieval Chinese poetry as consisting mainly of exuberant images and an ornamental style--an inaccurate characterization repeated by later historians and literary critics--and it provides translations, close readings, and analyses of selected poems on history that will be useful for students, instructors, and general readers interested in premodern Chinese literature and culture--back cover.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.