Social Sciences in
No.11, 2014
Name and Reality in Zhuzhi Ci and the Evolution of Fengtu Shi in
(Abstract)
Ye Ye
From the Tang and Song dynasties on, people’s awareness of zhuzhi ci (竹枝詞) has shifted from gathering folk songs to making a record of folk songs, or from expressing feelings to recording events. Subsequently, as the zhuzhi ci and the zhao ge (棹歌) converged in the early Qing, village anecdotes made a frequent appearance in poetry. The idea that “fengtu equaled zhuzhi” gradually emerged, and a pan-fengtu trend started that involved a myriad local forms. Za yong (雜詠), zashi shi (雜事詩), diming shi (地名百詠) and other local forms of local poetry drew closer to fengtu shi. What was on the surface of the formal convergence of different cultural forms was actually the functional convergence of jixing shi (紀行詩), fengtu shi (風土詩) and jingguan shi (景觀詩) in local writings since the Song dynasty. It represented the localization, de-familiarization and popularization of literary development in early modern Chinese literature. Only a dynamic clarification of the sequence and boundaries of the many types of fengtu shi, including zhuzhi ci, can reveal their developing themes, harmonize the value tensions between literature and culture and present their academic significance in a balanced and multi-dimensional way.