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Title |
Discussion of the Tradition of “Yu Ting Geng Ge” And it’s Significance in Taiwanese Classic Poetry |
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Author |
Hou, Ya-Wen |
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Associate Professor, Department of Chinese Literature, National ChengChi University |
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Abstract |
“Yu Ting Geng Ge” (虞廷賡歌)is an ancient Chinese metaphoric saying to describe a specific type of tradition, whereas the first two characters “Yu Ting” stands for court of Yu Dynasty and the latter two characters “Geng Ge” particularly refers to interactive behavior of singing in chorus and poem chanting amongst monarchs and subjects. One can find relative information regarding “Yu Ting Geng Ge” in the Gaoyao mo (皐陶謨)"The counsels of Gaoyao" of the Shangshu (尚書) "Documents of the elder" also in Shangshu dazhuan (尚書大傳), a parallel tradition of Shangshu. In the past, literary figures see this song singing and poem chanting behavior as an earlier example of poetry than that of the Shijing (詩經), the “Book of Songs or Poetry” through which to express and reflect the ideal political, educational state that they had in mind. To Han people that are proudly watching over other ethnic groups, coming from central plains dominant part of China, this is a tradition that stands for integrity. However, factors such as the changes that occurs throughout time, other ethnic groups conquered and takeover the central plains, influence of western democratic political regime, how to respond to the rule of “foreign tribes” or a new political regime became a necessary issue for Han people to think about. Under these circumstances, the tradition of “Yu Ting Geng Ge” was proposed as the theoretical reference on how to respond to new political powers and regimes. Therefore, importance attached to the meaning of this tradition became a guideline of what directions to follow. In the past, Taiwan has experienced the rule of foreign tribes such as Qing’s people, Japanese colonization and so on. During these periods, many literary figures once again brought up the tradition of “Yu Ting Geng Ge” as the theoretical reference to follow in responding to the era of changes as well as reacting to the type of Chinese classic poetry creations that ones in power support and uphold. It is also important to look into the social functions of poetry and the political thinking of Yong Xia Bian Yi (用夏變夷), which means reforming foreign tribes using Chinese Principles. |
