Historical Writings Ballads from the Hanand Six Dynasties

1. Historical Writings & Ballads from the Han?and Six Dynasties?? 29.01.2007

2. Outline I. Sima Qian�s The Records of the Grand Historian II. Ballads from the Musical Bureau in Han Dynasty III. �Nineteen Old Poems� IV. Ballads from the Period of Disunion (Six Dynasties)

3. I. Sima Qian???(145-85 B.C): The Records of the Grand Historian/ Historical Records??(Shiji) Written in early Han. The emperor was strong under Emperor Wu??. Government policy: Mainly Confucianism, with the absorption of some other schools.

4. Sima Qian (145-85 B.C): The Records of the Grand Historian The Records of the Grand Historian: had a profound impact upon the style and structure of much later Chinese historical writing, one that has extended to the popular Chinese genre of �historical fiction.� In the Chinese tradition the boundary between �history� and �fiction� is even less clear than it is in the West, and this ambiguity derives from the influence of the stylistic devices of the Records.

5. Sima Qian (145-85 B.C): The Records of the Grand Historian Historical figures written by Sima Qian�s contain the characteristics of those in fictions. He not only describes what happened but also evaluates the characters and historical events. The Records of the Grand Historian has great influence for later writings: on the drawing the characters, on describing everyday live, on how to display a story, and on the usage of language.

6. Sima Qian: The Records of the Grand Historian Sima Qian was the son of Sima Tan, a scholar who served as a grand historian at the court of Emperor of the Han Dynasty (141-87 B.C.). Sima Qian succeeded his father to the post of grand historian and, in obedience to his father�s wishes, began work on history. Midway in his labor, he incurred the displeasure of the emperor by speaking out in defense of Li Ling??, a general who had failed in a campaign against the barbarians of the north and had been forced to surrender.

7. Sima Qian: The Records of the Grand Historian As a result Sima Qian was condemned to undergo castration, the severest penalty next to death. Rather than commit suicide, as was customary in such circumstances, he underwent the punishment in order to be able to finish his history, sacrificing honor and reputation for the sake of a work which he hoped would redeem his name in ages to come.

8. The Records of the Grand Historian To present a wealth of material, Sima Qian abandoned the simple chronological form of earlier works and created five divisions under which he arranged the 130 chapters of his work. The work ends with an autobiography of Sima Qian himself, his purpose of writing and his own standpoint and comments of every chapter.

9. The Records of the Grand Historian 5 divisions: 1.??biji: the lists of the emperors, state affairs (12 chapters.) 2.?biao: tables about the affairs of nobles in pre-zhou and Western zhou, Spring & Autumn Period, Warring Period (10 chapters), to provide additional information for buji.

10. The Records of the Grand Historian 3.?shu: analysis of the economic and culture (8 chapters). 4.??shi-ja: ups and downs of various nobles in Spring & Autumn Period and Warring Period (30 chapters). 5.??liezhuan: biographies of famous statesmen, generals, philosophers etc (70 chapters).

11. The Records of the Grand Historian Like earlier historical works, Sima Qian�s narrative is almost always focused upon the life and deeds of the individual. He gives far more attention than his predecessors to the influence of geography, climate, economic factors, customs, and institutions upon the course of history. He also include traditional sayings, folk songs and other important literature resources in his book.

12. �The Biography of Boyi??& Shuqi??� in the Records of the Grand Historian An example of ?? liezhuan Boyi and Shuqi were historical heroes. They refused to be king themselves and fled into hiding. When the world was unified by the Zhou dynasty, they became hermits and died of hunger. Question: how is Tian repay good men?

13. �The Biography of Bo Yi & Shu Qi� in the Records of the Grand Historian In the Analects, Confucius says, �Only in the cold of the year can you know pine and cypress are the last to turn brown.� �The man of virtue is pained by the thought of dying without his name being known.�

14. The Influences of the Records of the Grand Historian It was a model of writing for the further generations. It can be considered as the foundation of Chinese essays-writing, just like the Songs of Chu is considered as the foundation of Chinese poetry. Scholars of later generations know the book well. It is common for later poets (in Tong/Song dynasties) to write on characters in the Records of the Grand Historian. Many famous fictions and plays of later period base on the stories in the Records of the Grand Historian.

15. II. Ballads from the Musical Bureau in Han Dynasty In Early Han, Emperor Wu (140-87 B.C.) set up an office called Yuefu??/ Music Bureau. One of its functions was to collect folksongs from the countryside and use them to determinate the mood of the populace. Love, as an earlier times, continues to be an important personages. In late Han, war was common. Longing for one�s close relative was one of the most important theme.

16. Ballads from the Musical Bureau in Han Dynasty Because Confucianism was dominating, females were bound by its rules. �At home, she should follow the order of her father, after marriage, she should serve her husband�� Many of the Han ballads were the tragic stories of the local women. Some exceptions describe the everyday happiness. E.g. the happiness of picking up locus-seeds.

17. Ballads from the Musical Bureau in Han Dynasty The authors of the songs were expressing their own emotions. They expressed their own personal stories.

18. Ballads from the Musical Bureau in Han Dynasty The longest poem of the period is a ballad entitled �Southeast of the Peacock Flies�?????, which tells of a young couple who are forced by the groom�s mother to separate and who eventually commit suicide. It is the first love story in Chinese history. It is believed to have been based upon an actual tragedy of that nature that occurred in the Jian-an??period (196-220 B.C.).

19. II.1 Han Ballad: �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� A real love story was presented. A married woman could be sent back to her parents because of the �Seven-out principle�????: Not pleasing her parents-in-law Has no son Commit adultery Jealousy Serious ill Too talkative Theft

20. �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� Reflects the real life of the common people. The wife (Lanzhi??): learned how to weave and make clothes, knew how to play lute and learned the classics. She got married early, at the age of 17. After marriage, she was diligent one and worked hard everyday. She did not commit any fault. However, her mother-in-law did not like her and wanted her son (i.e. the husband), Chunghan, to marry another lady.

21. �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� The husband, who was a clerk in the government, did not want to separate with his wife. The mother-in-law, however, insisted her decision. The husband could do nothing but let the wife leave the family. In the next morning, the wife had to leave but she still blessed the family. She dressed up to show that she was well-treated by her husband�s family.

22. �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� The husband (Chunghan) rode off on horseback and met his wife. The two swore to each other that they would not leave each other. Lanzhi, the wife returned to her father�s home but did not know how to face her family. It was a shameful matter for a wife to be driven back to her original family.

23. �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� 10 days after the wife was back home, the magistrate sent his matchmaker. The family wanted the wife to get married again. Lanzhi refused, repeating the vow she made with her former husband. Her mother supported her decision. A few days afterwards, another proposal, this time, it was from the governor�s son. Lanzhi�s mother repeated her daughter�s refusal.

24. �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� Lanzhi�s older brother thought that it was a good opportunity. This time, she was going to marry the governor�s son, and her former husband was only a clerk. Lanzhi�s older brother, who was the head of the family, had made his decision. The marriage would be held in the same month, for according to the calendar, the month was good.

25. �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� A luxurious marriage was prepared. Lanzhi was sad but upon her mother�s request, she prepared her wedding dresses on the night before the wedding. The former husband heard about all these and he went to see Lanzhi. They could not longer kept their promise. Both of them were under the pressure and influence of their family. They were forced to be separated.

26. �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� The clerk returned to his home and told his mother that he would commit suicide. His mother�s respond was that she would arrange him to marry another lady. Lanzhi went to her new husband�s place and in the evening, she threw herself into the clear pond. When the clerk heard of this, he hanged himself.

27. �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� The two families agreed to bury them together. The branches of the plants of their tomb came together to make a canopy, leaf entwined about leaf. (This kind of ending is a blessing for their love)

28. Reflections on �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� The �boss� in the family: the mother-in-law, the older brother. Lanzhi did not have any choice but to obey to their order. The conflict between the mother-and daughter-in-law. Lanzhi did nothing wrong, rather the poet described her as a beautiful, diligent, good wife.

29. Reflections on �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� The poet described the true love between Chunghan and Lanzhi (when Lanzhi had to leave, she conveyed her ideas to Chunghan). It was shameful for a daughter to be sent back home. Even Lanzhi�s mother was angry with her first, then she could understand the sufferings of her daughter.

30. Reflections on �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� Not only the character of Lanzhi and Chunghan were nicely presented, but also the mother-in-law, the brother of Lanzhi Some dramatic scenes: the elaborate preparation of the second marriage vs. the determination of Lanzhi.

31. Reflections on �Southeast of the Peacock Flies� Note that Lanzhi had lots of opportunity to get marry again. The couple could do nothing to fight against their family, except death.

32. II. Ballads from the Musical Bureau in Han Dynasty Many of the songs are meant merely to amuse and entertain, pleasure accomplishments to the banquets, but others, such as those which complain of the hardships of military service or the poverty of the oppressed peasantry, are clearly intended as works of social protest in the old tradition of the Book of Songs.

33. II. 2 Ballads from the Musical Bureau in Han Dynasty: �Mulberry up the Lane� �Mulberry up the Lane�: a romantic poem A fine example of Han balladic art, with written with imagination and exaggeration. Lofu describes her husband as a warrior, then as a scholar. The descriptions of her husband is probably an exaggeration. Lofu�s beauty is reflected by the response of others.

34. III. �Nineteen Old Poems�????? 5-word poems of the late Han Dynasty These old poems are written in a subtle style, unlike folk songs, which are expressing feelings and emotions in a more direct way.

35. �Nineteen Old Poems� Some have been attributed to Mei Sheng Period (1st B.C.) and some to Fu Yi period(1st A.D.) They are manifestly not all by the same hand nor of the same date. These poems had an enormous influence on all sequent poetry, and many of the habitual style of Chinese verse are taken from them.

36. III.�Nineteen Old Poems� �Frail, Frail Lone-Growing Bamboo� The poet first wrote about the loneliness of �her� before her marriage, so as to show the hope of a kind of togetherness after marriage. Yet even after marriage, she was still lonely. She worried for the lost of her youth. In the last lines, she expressed the worry of her husband�s loyalty.

37. �Nineteen Old Poems� �They Fought South of the Wall� Despite its difficulties of interpretation, and fraught as it is with textual problems, this stark song of protest retains its age-old power to inspire admiration and sympathy. Describes the war.

38. IV. Ballads from the Period of Disunion (Six Dynasties) In the period of disunity (the Six Dynasties) that followed the Han, love songs like those of the Book of Songs appeared again. The Six Dynasties: northern China was in the hands of non-Chinese leaders, and the south was ruled by a succession of weak and short-lived dynasties that had their capital at the present-day city of Nanjing.

39. IV. Ballads from the Period of Disunion Perhaps, as traditional scholars would no doubt claim, their appearance indicates a decline of public morality; or perhaps it only means that literate men at this time felt daring enough to record what had existed all long but had earlier been passed over in silence.

40. Ballads from the Period of Disunion Whatever the reason, the impatient lovers who in the time of the Songs had slipped out to a meeting by the city gate or climbed over the walls and crept into midnight chambers once more make their entrance on the poetic scene. The love songs are brief and usually quite direct. They rely for their effect upon simple nature imagery, often indicative of particular season, puns and word plays.

41. IV.1 �The Ballad of Mulan�??? The Period of Disunion: Southern & Northern Dynasties (420-589 A.D.) The Six Dynasties period witnessed the rapid development of two types of yuefu ballad, the Northern and the Southern. The latter is generally erotic and the former reflects the simpler martial spirit of nomad people but lately settled in China. �The Ballad of Mulan� belongs to a piece in the Northern Dynasties.

42. Reflection from �The Ballad of Mulan� Our earliest account of this legend states that Mulan??, whose surname is unknown, lived during the Northern Wei??dynasty (386-534), when the north of China was ruled by other tribes. Reflect the fact that war was common and people were forced to join the army. The gender issue� The cleverness of Mulan. She loves simple life: after the war, she refused any reward from the king.

43. Reflection from �The Ballad of Mulan� �The Ballad of Mulan� reflects the fact that people were longing for peace and simple life. �To live with one�s family� is the wish of people in the wartime. We don�t know whether there was a Mulan in history or not, but her heroic character was probably found in many female.