Birth of Ming Dynasty Sanqu Poetry in Ling Long Chang He and the Poetry Circle

Abstract

Based on the analysis of Ling Long Chang He Vol. 1, this paper discusses the intellectual birth of Ming Dynasty Sanqu poetry. The forward and postscript of this book demonstrate that it is a record of the interaction among the associates surrounding Yang Shen. This book logically raises the following question: why was this book edited during the Ming Dynasty?During the Ming Dynasty, the vulgarity and verbosity characteristic of Yuan Dynasty Sanqu poetry disappeared, and this phenomenon has been considered to represent a decline of the genre of Sanqu. However, the number of literary works categorized as Sanqu poetry increased. How should this fact be explained? This paper argues that the intellectuals during the Ming Dynasty analyzed the Yuan Dynasty Sanqu poetry, and subsequently, this analysis provided a framework for the Ming Dynasty Sanqu poetry. Put differently, the intellectuals’ domestication of vulgarity and verbosity common in Yuan Dynasty Sanqu poetry created the Ming Dynasty Sanqu. In addition, the Ming Dynasty Sanqu works showed sublimity not found in the works of the Yuan Dynasty. Therefore, the Ming Dynasty Sanqu poetry, which included both vulgarity and sublimity, was more polyphonous than Yuan Dynasty Sanqu poetry.