Listen to this articleA classic work that reversed the decline of literature in the eight dynasties
Overview
Chinese Name: 昌黎先生集
English Name: Mr. Changli Sets
Author: Han Yu 韩愈
Originally Published: 781 A.D. – 907 A.D. (Tan Dynasty 唐朝）
Genre: Literature, Corpus
Brief Introduction of Mr. Changli Sets
Mr. Changli Sets 昌黎先生集 is a classic work that reversed the decline of literature in the eight dynasties. It is a collection of essays written by Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty. Its author is Han Yu. Because Han Yu is also known as Han Changli or Mr. Changli, the work is named Mr. Changli Sets.
Mr. Changli Sets consists of forty volumes. It has more than seven hundred works of various genres, such as Fu 赋, ancient poems, couplets, rhymes, miscellaneous books and so on. These poems discussed politics, benevolence and justice, put forward the Confucian classics for the first time, expressed his sorrow and angered over his unrecognized talents, and praised the heroic deeds of defending the city. The structure is rigorous, the writing style is varied and the language is novel, concise, vivid. His poems are characterized by the peculiar and dangerous nature of literature.
Han Yu applies the new style of “ancient prose” to various styles and created many excellent prose. Essay plays an important role in Han Yu’s prose, such as Yuan Dao 原道 and Shi Shuo 师说. Han Yu’s lyrical prose is closely integrated with narrative. His prose is magnificent, completely breaking away from the restraint of parallel style prose since the six Dynasties.
Author of Mr. Changli Sets
The Changli Sets was written by Han Yu and edited by others.
Han Yu (768 — 824) was a native of Mengzhou city 孟州市, Henan Province 河南省. He was also known as “Han Changli” or “Mr. Changli”. He was an outstanding litterateur, thinker, philosopher and statesman in Tang Dynasty. Together with Liu Zongyuan 柳宗元, Ouyang Xiu 欧阳修 and Su Shi 苏轼, he was one of the eight masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
In the eighth year of Zhenyuan 贞元 (792), Han Yu began his political career. Zhenyuan nineteen years (803 years), because of the matter was banished to Yangshan 阳山, and later served as Wailang 外郎, historical repair writing and other positions. In the twelfth year of Yuanhe 元和 (817), as a general adviser, he took part in the “Huaixi Rebellion 淮西之乱”. In the 14th year of Yuanhe (819), he was demoted to Chaozhou 潮州 again. In his later years, he was the minister of Civil Affairs 吏部侍郎. Changqing 长庆 four years (824 years), Han Yu died of illness, 57 years old.
Han Yu made great achievements in philosophy, politics and literature all his life. He advocated Confucianism 儒学. He advocated the restoration of the tradition of the pre-Qin 先秦 and Han dynasties 汉朝, and called for the establishment of a kind of “ancient prose” with rich content, original meaning and unobstructed style. As a result of his and Liu Zongyuan’s advocacy and efforts, it formed the ancient prose movement of the Tang Dynasty, and directly inspired the literary innovation of the Northern Song Dynasty 北宋.
Excerpts From Mr. Changli Sets
业精于勤，荒于嬉。
STUDIES ARE MASTERED BY INDUSTRY, BUT THEY CAN BE WASTED IN PLAY.
闻道有先后，术业有专攻。
KNOW THE TRUTH FIRST, SKILLS AND ACADEMIC STUDIES HAVE SPECIAL RESEARCH.
千里马常有，而伯乐不常有。
TALENT IS ALWAYS THERE, AND NOT MANY PEOPLE FIND IT.
Evaluation of Mr. Changli Sets
Han Yu’s prose and Du Fu’s poetry, can be called Du Fu’s poetry han Yu’s prose, they have a great influence on me.
Du Mu 杜牧
It is a classic work that reversed the decline of literature in the eight dynasties.
Su Shi 苏轼
