Abstract
Critics since the Song Dynasty, inspired by Soto Zen theory, developed the concept of “host-guest” to analyze the composition of the ancient-style prose. Ouyang Xiu’s ancient-style prose is the representative of applying the concept of “guest as host,” or “guest before host,” or “reciprocal betwen guest and host,” or “hierarchy of guest and host.” Compared with Han Yu and Su Shi, Ouyang Xiu is better at expressing rich and fine emotions with the concept of “guest-host.” In the ancient-style prose, “guest” is prioritized over host, when the prose writings need to establish turns and twists in the textual composition and emotions in the text, before the guest position merges with the host position. By way of using guest position to support the development of ideas, the writings usually have a gentle start, with suffienct space to unroll the meaning, which enriches the writings with charm and elegance, thus a new style is formed with a new state for the ancient-style prose.
First Page
66
Last Page
73
Recommended Citation
Xu, Guang. 2021. "The Characteristics and Significance of Ouyang Xiu’s “Guest as Host” in His Ancient-Style Prose." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 41, (6): pp.66-73. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol41/iss6/15
