"This book is the first comprehensive study of the twelve New Music Bureau poems by the influential poet-official Yuan Zhen (779-831) in comparison with the response poems of Bai Juyi (772-846). Its new perspective on music and ritual reveals connectionsbetween Yuan's poems that otherwise appear to have no logical relation. While Bai's poems are celebrated for their simple and direct style, those by Yuan are criticized for being abstruse and overloaded with historical and literary allusions. This study uncovers the inner mechanism of Yuan's poems, his role in both the revival of Confucianism and the so-called "New Music Bureau Movement" in the Mid-Tang, his vision of the significance of music and ritual in securing lasting order after decades of military conflict and political upheaval, and his innovative use of New Music Bureau poetry as memorial"-- Provided by publisher.
This book is the first comprehensive study of Yuan Zhens (779831) twelve New Music Bureau poems in comparison with those of Bai Juyi (772846). It argues that Yuans poems are logically connected by music, ritual, and benevolence, and that he uses them as memorial to revive the Western Zhou order.
This book is the first comprehensive study of the twelve New Music Bureau poems by the influential poet-official Yuan Zhen ?? (779831) in comparison with the response poems of Bai Juyi ??? (772846). Its new perspective on music and ritual reveals connections between Yuans poems that otherwise appear to have no logical relation. While Bais poems are celebrated for their simple and direct style, those by Yuan are criticized for being abstruse and overloaded with historical and literary allusions. This study uncovers the inner mechanism of Yuans poems, his role in both the revival of Confucianism and the so-called New Music Bureau Movement in the Mid-Tang, his vision of the significance of music and ritual in securing lasting order after decades of military conflict and political upheaval, and his innovative use of New Music Bureau poetry as memorial.
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Chapter I Introduction
Chapter II Literary and Political Background
Chapter III Music and Ritual as Means of Governance
Chapter IV On Musical Instruments
Chapter V On Dances with Accompaniment
Chapter VI On the Imperial Transgression of Ritual
Chapter VII On the Transgression of Subjects
Chapter VIII On Benevolence
Chapter IX Conclusion
Appendix Prosody of New Music Bureau Poetry
Bibliography
Index
Mei Ah Tan, Ph.D. (2008), University of Wisconsin, Madison, is Associate Professor of Chinese, Programme Director of the Master of Arts in Chinese, and Associate Director of The Institute for Chinese Language and Culture at The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. Her research is multidisciplinary, exploring the intersection of linguistics, literature, and history. She has published on classical Chinese language and literature. Her work includes articles on Yuan Zhen and Han Yu and A Dictionary of High Frequency Function Words in Literary Chinese (Routledge, 2023).
