2017, Vol., No.75

Journal of Chinese Language and Literature 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.28

pISSN : 1225-083X
https://journal.kci.go.kr/clsyn

This paper focused on analyzing Du Fu(杜甫)’s Aesthetic view of calligraphy and Evaluation of future generations. Through Du Fu’s poems on calligraphy, it can be seen that Du Fu liked handwriting since childhood and already made some achievements in big letters in childhood. Besides, it is also seen that he had a high proficiency in calligraphy and a lot of critical insights into the calligraphic works of past and contemporary calligraphers. Among Du Fu’s poems, almost as many as 100 poems contained at least one line about the content of a poem on calligraphy, and four poems were filled with contents about calligraphy. So it can be said that Chinese poems on calligraphy began with Du Fu. In addition, his poems on calligraphy make it clear that the introduction presented by him became the standards for the calligraphy theory in the Tang Dynasty. Du Fu’s viewpoint like this became the standard for evaluating a style of handwriting in the Tang Dynasty before Yan Zhenqing(顔眞卿)’s style of handwriting became popular. Also, this paper introduced the evaluations of Du Fu’s calligraphy after the Song Dynasty period.

Most of the research admit no doubt that the Tongcheng school is a literary one, on this basis, and its key figure Yao Nai(姚鼐) resigned from the compilation of Siku Quanshu(四庫全書). Many researchers pointed out that the reason for his resignation was no longer acceptable to the philology-centered academic environment. This paper aims to reconsider the problems of existing perspectives. First, he emphasized the reason and the writing, however, these never his ultimate goal. Looking closely at his words, the reason and the writing were viewed as a medium to reach the essence of the sage. The important thing is that Neo-Confucianism and Zhengzhou were not his final destination in terms of his methodology. He paid much more attention to the realization of the will of the sage, which prove his sense of responsibility as a nobleman. In addition, he insisted on the importance of all of the reason, the writing, and the philology, but it should not be ignored that his emphasis was not put on any one of them, but that the ultimate purpose of his academic activities is rather beyond that. His intention was in “actual practise”. Therefore, his support for the neo-Confucianism was not just the adherence to it, rather originated in the interest in the realization of the purpose of the sage by restoring the balance through correcting the academic bias of its region. It can be understood from the extension of this recognition about his view of Eight-Legged Essay(八股文). In this sense, the definition of literature clique, and the evaluation in history of literature can be said to have been a hindrance to a thorough understanding for the academic purpose of the Yao Nai. As a result, there still are lots of problem to understand issues associated with him and his school, this is the reason why we have to reestimate them.

In the Ancient Chinese society, the State Examination System was a critical factor that determines individual's honor and disgrace and ups and downs of life. In traditional community where Confucian politics, humanities, status order worked as a dominating ideology, it is true that the examination system was an employment system that had a near perfect form that has not been seen in anywhere in the world. However, the desirable means of it faded and it created a special class by marriages between higher classes as it became formidable meaning of eminity in family, kin, hometown and clans rather than individual itself. Eventually, it is abolished to the end that even the most educated people call theirselves ‘the most useless group’. Examination in ancient China was an ideology that is maintained for over a century. It is shown in many different aspects in novels and plays and worked as a key factor that winds and unwinds the plot. It is proved by many history that it is a very true and possible faces that the system can have. Studying, competitions and classes formed by the system plays a important role in the people living more than a thousand years later in confician culture apart from right or wrong. The universal value it has did not vanish in today’s society but prospers in perverted forms such as ‘spoon theory’.