BAI JUYI AND MID-TANG CONFUCIAN REFORMATION

Abstract

It is widely believed in the academic circles that the the cardinal drive behind Confucianism’s revival during Mid-Tang’s cultural transformation was the “Ancient-Style Prose Movement” led by Han Yu. Meanwhile, the “New Yuefu Movement” advocated by Bai Juyi is also and expansion of this very “Ancient-Style Prose Movement”. If we re-examine Bai Juyi’s propositions concerning poetry and his own verses, we can find that he highly praised the radition of Confucian poetical education and imitated this canon in his works. Combining studies over Confucian Classics and literature, Bai Juyi reinvented the Confucian theory of human nature and emotion. His emphasis on “Yi Lei” (rhetoric rules and types of poetry) and “Shi Shi” (current affairs) as well as expressions of social and cultural sentiments in poetry, enriched the connotation of “Liu Yi” (Six Formations) in studies over The Book of Songs. And his thoughts do bear the characteristics of Mid- Tang Confucianism Reform.