A Study on the Inheritance Relation from Banquet Literature of Han Dynasty to Jian'an Literature

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K02593
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Chinese literature
• Research Institution: Prefectural University of Hiroshima
• Principal Investigator: Yanagawa Junko 県立広島大学, 人間文化学部, 教授 (60210291)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 建安文壇 / 宴席 / 詠史詩 / 五言詩 / 歴史故事 / 語り物 / 楽府詩

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Jian’an literary circle, formed under the rule of Cao Cao (who later became Wu-di of Wei), gave birth to numerous literary trends in the beginning of the 3rd Century AD. This study has especially focused on five-syllable poems (history-praising poems), which were literary tributes to historical tales or events, clarifying its development of this new genre by examining its inheritance relationship with preceding banquet literature of the Han dynasty.
Banquets were a common stage for Jian’an literary writers. However, in banquets of the preceding Han Dynasty, while five-syllable poems were actually created, one of the most popular themes for narrative literature at the time was praise for historical events. It was through such banquets that brought poetry and narrative literature together to form what is known as “history-praising poems” and it was later refined by the Jian’an literary circle into a literary genre for knowledgeable men. The above is the finding of this study.

Free Research Field

中国古典文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

中国中世の初めに位置する建安文学は、後世の文学に大きな影響を及ぼしたことで広く知られる一方、先行する漢代文学との関係性は多く未解明であった。これに対して本研究は、文学活動の場というものに着目し、建安文学の本質を、長らく伏流してきた漢代宴席文芸を発展的に継承し、知識人の文学に昇華させたものと捉えた点で画期的である。これにより、建安文学の歴史的位置は定まったと言えるだろう。一例として、詠史詩という新ジャンルの成立経緯を、詩歌と語り物という異なる分野の文芸が、宴席という場を介して出会って誕生したものと解明し得たことは、上記の視座が有効であることを示している。