Ming Poetry 1522–1644: New Literary Traditions

From the foundation of the Ming dynasty until the early sixteenth century, archaism, and its emphasis on the supremacy of Tang poetry, dominated poetic thought. As time passed, however, literati were increasingly confronted by the question of how to modernize Ming literature. While the literati strived toward contemporaneity, Wang Yangming’s 王阳明 (b. 1472–d. 1529) xinxue心学 (Philosophy of Mind) emerged as the leading mode of thought in opposition to archaism. Xinxue, stressing the importance of “mind” over “learning” and emphasizing the importance of contemporaneity and spontaneity, strongly resonated with the literati’s concerns. Due to its consistency with xinxue thought, xingling性灵 (native sensibility) poetics began to attract special attention in literary circles. The early sixteenth century was an important age for Chinese vernacular literature. During this period, public literacy reached a new historic high and was accompanied by significant development in the publishing industries. Consequently, vernacular literature, particularly drama and fiction, grew in popularity, drawing a large readership and attracting a considerable number of poets to the two genres. In response to the flourishing vernacular literature, Ming poets began to adopt popular literary devices and subjects as part of their project of modernization. By incorporating the devices of popular literature into poetry, Ming poets promoted considerable dialogue between poetry and other literary genres, which significantly influenced the poetic transition following 1522. Just as xinxue and xingling poetics were prevailing among literati circles, the archaist Later Seven Masters became the leading school of poetics. Shortly after their archaism became mainstream, however, a robust anti-archaist movement commenced. This literary movement was initiated by Xu Wei 徐渭 (b. 1521–d. 1593), Li Zhi 李贽 (b. 1527–d. 1602), and Tang Xianzu 汤显祖 (b. 1550–d. 1616), who were succeeded by the Gongan 公安and Jingling 竟陵 schools. During this stage, xingling poetics developed substantially and laid the foundation for further literary development in later centuries. During the final two decades of the Ming dynasty, after xingling poetics had prevailed in literati circles for some time, a new popular archaist movement headed by Chen Zilong 陈子龙 (b. 1608–d. 1647) rose to preeminence. This final rise of archaism not only opposed xingling poetics, but also asserted the urgency of promoting traditional cultural identity. Restating the importance of the past allowed poets to sustain their cultural identity in the face of distressing political crises, particularly the imminent Manchu military invasion, and the cultural threat that these entailed.