A study of Wang Tao's early poetry = Wang Tao qian qi shi ge yan jiu

Abstract

Wang Tao (1828-1897) had significant contributions in various fields, including the press, education and translation. He spared no effort to introduce advanced western ideas to China. These contributions and his dramatic life aroused the interest of scholars. In recent years, scholars noted the achievements of his fiction-writing and and published a large number of papers on this topic. However, his achievements in poetry-writing did not receive much attention. In order to fill this gap, the present thesis focuses on Wang Tao’s poetry-writing, aiming to give a comprehensive survey of his poems written before his exile to Hong Kong in 1862. The thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter one illustrates the research background, the scope of the study and the research methodology employed. Chapter two is an analytical account of Wang Tao’s life with particular emphasis on how important events in his life influenced the styles of his poems. Chapter three illustrates Wang Tao’s concept of poetry-writing. Chapter four discusses the contents, artistry and styles of Wang’s poems in the specified period. Chapter five is the conclusion. It sums up the characteristics of Wang Tao’s early poetry and gives a critical account of the comments made by various reviewers. Wang Tao claimed that the style of his early poems was soft and plaintive（側媚）. It became “wild and unrestrained” （豪放粗獷）after he had experienced serious mishaps in his life. This drastic change has been fully addressed in the thesis.