The Fu Genre of Imperial China: Studies in the Rhapsodic Imagination

Front Cover
Front matter
	Half-title
	Series information
	Title page
	Copyright information
Table of contents
	Preface
Body
	Chapter 1. Introduction: The Rhapsodic Imagination
	Part One. Recitation and Display
		Chapter 2. The Origins of the Term “Fu” as a Literary Genre of Recitation
			The Puchen .. Theory: “Directly Displaying”
			Challenging the Puchen Theory
			The Recitation Theory
			The Liu shi and the Recitation Theory
			An Etymological Approach by Jia Jinhua
			Another Etymological Approach by Chen Yunzhu
			Fu as a Literary Genre of Recitation61
		Chapter 3. Into the New Realm of Belles Lettres
	Part Two. Lyricism and Form
		Chapter 4. The Assimilation and Dissimilation of Fu and Shi Poetry up to the Tang Dynasty
			The Pre-Qin Period and Han Dynasty
				“Fu Is an Outflow of the Ancient Songs”: Canonizing a Genre Through Assimilation
				“To Recite without Singing Is Called Fu”: Establishing Self-Identity through Dissimilation
			The Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties
				Shi and Fu Pieces with the Same Title
				Lyricization of the Fu in the Southern Dynasties
				The “Fu-icization” of Verse and the Rise of the Fu de ti
			Conclusion
		Chapter 5. Xu Wei’s Early Modern Rhapsodies: Catalogue and Critique, Lyricism and Logic
			Dreams of Good Taste: “What Others Ignore, I Alone Study  in Detail”
			The Garden of Metaphors: Xu Wei’s “Rhapsody on   (Poems about) Peonies”
			Evoking the Self as Aesthetic Object: Evolution of the Yongwu Mode
			Influence
			Conclusion
	Part Three. Philosophy and Dialogue
		Chapter 6. The Metaphysical Rhapsody of  the Six Dynasties
			The Rise of the Metaphysical Rhapsody: In Search of Nonbeing
			The Buddhist Conquest of the Metaphysical Rhapsody
			Coda
		Chapter 7. Argumentation and Generic Change in the Mid-Tang Fu
			Li Guan’s “Ku yu fu”
			The Interplay of Modes: Readings of “Ku yu fu”
			Textual Affinities
			Further Lexical Considerations
			Rhyme
			Reconsidering the Fu/Shelun Relationship
			Conclusions
	Part Four. Critique and Protest
		Chapter 8. The Hidden Message of Zhang Heng’s “Contemplating the Mystery”
			The Imaginary Journey in the “Contemplating the Mystery”
			Comparing the Five Imaginary Journey Poems
			The Journeys to the Four Cardinal Points
			Conclusions
		Chapter 9. A New Discourse on “Lament for the South” in the Fu of the Ming–Qing Transition1
			The Collective Understanding of “Lament for the South”
			The Yu Xin Controversy
			“What Soil Remains Untainted?”
Back matter
	Bibliography
	Index