The Creation of a “Magnificent Literary Style”: Stylistic Innovation in Borrowings in Han Rhapsodies from The Classic of Poetry

Abstract

The emergence of the practice of quoting The Classic of Poetry (Shijing) is the result of a separation in the ethical function of rites and music. At first, quoting the Poetry is a means to correct people’s pronunciations, but gradually its function changes from the rectification of sound to the rectification of social norms, and by the time of the Warring States period, Qin dynasty, and Han dynasty, the expression “the Poetry says” (Shiyue) has become an emblem of social values through which the writer justifies his own arguments. But although more than 400 cases of such use of the Poetry can be found in Han rhapsodies (Fu), none of the rhapsody-titled works contain expressions such as “the Poetry says.” On the one hand, this results from the sound and rhythmical requirements of chanting the rhapsody. On the other, this shows the gradual reawakening of the writers’ self-consciousness in a period when old political and social orders are restored. This stylistic change releases the creative energy of the literary language that helps reconstruct the artistic conception of rhapsodies and stimulates the emergence and flourishing of new literary genres such as five-syllable-line poetry (Wuyanshi), seven-syllable-line poetry (Qiyanshi), parallel prose (Piantiwen), and Chu-style prose (Saotiwen).

Keywords

Han rhapsody / The Classic of Poetry / creation of magnificent literary style / innovation

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