| Abstract |
The Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song were the models of traditional Chinese literature. However, following the abuses of Collections of Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song by Maokun as well as its extended collection works, their value and positioning have been challenged. During Kangxi’s period, Chuxin’s Total Collections of Ten Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song was adopted as a first collection work to break the framework set by Maokun, in which the scholars were the focus, marking the argument towards it in early Qing Dynasty. How the court intervened and responded was decisive to the later direction of policies and literature, and therefore it was an essential issue. As a result, The Imperial Selection of the Mellow Writings of the Tang and the Song Dynasties by Emperor Qianlong is a quite excellent observation target. Improving Chuxin’s collection, Qianlong corrected its long-term abuses, which received rare notice. In this article, the forming background of the Evaluation was discussed, discovering the Emperor’s critics to the traditional literature as well as his perspective that fitted scriptural conceptions and universal uses. Secondly, the acceptance/rejection and re-discussion of Evaluation to Total Collections was explored, highlighting Qialong’s taste of the collection and emphasizing the contemporary values of traditional literature works during Tang and Song Dynasties. In addition, Qialong intended to use the literatures as the tool to have an insight to the forefathers, modeling the images of “virtuous officials” and “loyal servants;” this also expressed the monarch’s anxiety towards law and order and his actions of exerting powers of stabilizing his regime. |
