A study of Wu Xiqi's literary works = Wu Xiqi wen xue yan jiu

Abstract

Wu Xiqi was an important litterateur in Qing Dynasty. With a good command of a variety of literary genres including poetry, parallel prose, Ci, examination poetry, rhymed Fu etc. Wu was highly influential at his time. This dissertation presents a comprehensive study of Wu’s literary world for the first time.

The first chapter focuses on Wu’s life history. He had an obsession with book and wine and showed a candid disposition. He came from an impoverished family and spent his early years studying in the village. In his middle age, Wu led an unfulfilling life serving the Imperial Academy and devoted to teaching later after his retirement in Yangzhou.

The second chapter discusses Wu’s poetry. Followed the tradition of the poetry in Six Dynasties as well as that of Du Fu’s poetry, Wu’s poems have a lyric nature. His works are characterized in blending artistic conception and private emotions.

The third chapter studies his parallel prose. Wu’s works of parallel prose opened up an approach of guiding the rhetoric of parallel style with the spirit of ancient style prose. His parallel Fu emphasized on bearing Confucian values; his travels could be deemed as textual research of history and geography; his letters were filled with affections; his argumentations were written clearly.

The fourth chapter analyzes Wu’s Ci. Wu was a representative of Zhexi School and inherited the tradition of Jituo(寄托) from Ci on objects. However, the fact that the emotions and thoughts expressed in his Ci on objects were rather private distinguished his tendency from those of Changzhou School in later generations.

The fifth chapter deals with his examination poetry and rhymed Fu. Wu applied his attainments in poetry and parallel prose in composing examination poems and rhymed Fu, and consequently changed the precedent practice of Bagu(八股) style in these literary genres, thus elevated the quality of the writings of examination poetry and rhymed Fu.

The sixth chapter explores the artistic expression in Wu’s works of different literary genres and reaches three conclusions. Firstly, due to the difference of the basic sentence pattern between Wu’s poetry and parallel prose, the chances of the verb to take up the stress position in a sentence are unequal, which results in the different effects in Wu’s works when describing the same scenery using two literary genres. Secondly, among his works on objects, the manners used to express emotions become more and more implicit and reserved as the subject changes in poetry, Ci and rhymed Fu. Thirdly, the density of allusions, especially the allusions of events, in Wu’s parallel prose is higher than in his poetry and Ci.

Wu made two major contributions to literature in Qing Dynasty, which earned him a considerable reputation. Firstly, his parallel prose created a new style which prevailed in parallel prose writing after the reigns of Qianlong and Jiaqing. Secondly, his examination poetry and rhymed Fu surpassed the literary achievements in Tang Dynasty and established a new literary canon.

吳錫麒是乾嘉時期重要的文學家，精通詩、駢文、詞、試帖、律賦等多種文體，在當時極具影響。本文是首次對吳錫麒各種文學體裁的分體和綜合研究，全文分六章：

第一章是對吳錫麒生平經歷的綜合論述。吳錫麒好酒耽書，性情直爽。他家世清貧，早年讀書鄉里，中年出仕翰林，晚年執教揚州。

第二章探討吳錫麒詩學。他的詩取法六朝，兼宗杜詩，以抒情為本色。其遊歷山水的律詩和直抒胸臆的五古藝術成就較高，呈現出意境塑造和情感表達相融合的特點。圍繞其歸隱情結，他的題畫詩構建起一個想像的歸隱空間。

第三章研究吳錫麒駢文學。吳錫麒的駢文開創了一條以古文精神驅遣駢體辭藻的道路。其駢賦注重闡發儒家義理；遊記嘗試考證歷史地理；書啟寫得情深意重；史論說理透闢。

第四章分析吳錫麒詞學。吳錫麒宗尚浙西詞學，繼承了詠物詞的寄託傳統。但他寄託於詠物詞的情感和思想比較個人化，與後世常州詞學宗尚不同。此外，吳錫麒還試圖借鑒蘇、辛詞風，拓寬浙西詞派後學的取徑。

第五章討論吳錫麒的試帖和律賦。吳錫麒將自己的詩學與駢文學修養運用於試帖、律賦創作，改變了過去以八股文法寫試帖、律賦的風氣，提昇了試帖、律賦的創作水準。

第六章綜合比較其諸種文體，有三點結論：一、五七言詩與駢文的基本句式不同，導致動詞在兩種文體中處於句子重音位置的機會不均等。因此，吳錫麒在兩種文體中對同一景物的表現有不同的功能和效果。二、吳錫麒詠物詩、詞、律賦的抒情方式隨着抒情主體的轉移而搖曳多姿。三、吳錫麒駢文的用典密度，尤其是事典的密度高於其詩、詞。但由於其用典方式靈活多變，故能化腐朽為神奇。

總體來看，吳錫麒文學主要的貢獻在於兩方面。一是他的駢文引領了乾嘉以後「以古為律」式的駢文創作風潮。二是他的試帖詩和律賦在唐人科舉文體的基礎上樹立了新的「時體」範式。由此，奠定了吳錫麒在清代文學史上的特殊地位。