东晋文学的主题变迁与地域分布

On the Changes of the Literary Subject of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Regional Distribution

东晋百余年的文学发展,从时间上看可分为初期、中期及后期三个阶段;从空间即地域角度来看,与三阶段相对应,主要分布在建康、会稽、寻阳三地。时间更替与地域转换的叠合,使东晋百余年文学发展呈现出阶段性的特点:东晋初期主要是以建康为中心的京都地域的“中兴”文学主题的兴起,中期主要是以兰亭诗会为代表的会稽地域“玄言”文学主题的兴盛,后期主要是以庐山为中心的寻阳地域“遁世”文学主题的兴盛。其中文学主题的变迁与地域中心的更替与东晋的政治动荡密切相关。

The literary development of the 100-odd-year-old Eastern Jin Dynasty can be divided into the early, the middle, and the late period. The change of the literary subject and that of the related regional center in each period are closely connected with the political unrest of the dynasty. In the early period （317-339） during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, along with the establishment of the new dynasty whose capital was Jiankang, cifu （a genre known as descriptive prose interspersed with verse） composition with “the resurgence” as the subject became the main stream of literary creation. To demonstrate their expectations for and sing the praises of the Jin resurgence, Guo Pu, Wang Yi, Yu Chan and others employed santi dafu （a kind of cifu ） whose dual function is highly useful in both literature and politics and culture. Owing to the internal struggle for political power among the ruling clique and the containment of the family interest, the subject of “the resurgence” fell into decline very quickly. The change of the political situation of the time also directly affected the direction in literary development and the change of the literary center in the mid-dynasty. In the middle period （339-385）, the literary creation featured the prosperity of mysterious discourse poetry, which is represented by the Orchid Pavilion Poets＇ Gathering in the Kuaiji region. The literary form was the 37 poems composed at the Orchid Pavilion and 2 prefaces to the Orchid Pavilion poem collection written by Wang Xizhi and Sun Chuo. One of the important features of the Orchid Pavilion poetry and prose distinguished the union between the natural scenery and xuanxue （a branch of philosophy created in the Wei and Jin dynasties, which combined the doctrines of Taoism and Confucianism） and these noted intellectuals＇ thorough apprehension and esthetic experience of abstruse words. However, it was the change of politics and environment that led to the decline of the metaphysical talks and the creation of mysterious discourse poetry and prose in the late dynasty, thus bringing to an end the mysterious discourse literature which had occupied the central position of the middle-period literature. In the late period （385-420）, the Xunyang region of the Jiangzhou Prefecture in today＇ s Jiangxi Province witnessed the appearance of Buddhist philosophical poetry of Lushan monks represented by Hui Yuan and pastoral poetry of Zhan Fangsheng and Yao Yuanming. They were monk-poets and hermit-poets respectively who ranked as the type that left the world and their glory behind. They produced literary works characterized by the subject of withdrawing from the world. In other words, they advocated xuanxue and Buddhist philosophy by means of natural landscape, and demonstrated their joys of life and their free and contended mentality by means of pastoral scenery. This literary subject also gradually faded out of literary circles along with the establishment of the following new dynasty. In the three regions of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the literary subject changed from “the resurgence” first to “mysterious discourse” and then to “withdrawing from the world”, while the regional center changed from Jiankang to Guiji and finally to Xunyang, with the 100-odd-year-old Eastern Jin Dynasty undergoing the early period, the middle period, and the late period. All these changes reflected the reality that the powerful family politics of the dynasty gradually became dark, and the society gradually became turbulent. They were a mirror of the gradual separation of the changed subject of literary creation, the changed literary subject, and the regional distribution from reality and political power.