Abstract
Paid writing referred to a special creative form that writers were commissioned to compose with a material reward. Paid writing concerned expectations of both the patron and the author， and was subject to other readers’ evaluation of its fairness. The material concern often trapped the author into multiple moral and technical dilemmas. As an exemplar to have solved these dilemmas， Yuan Haowen completed a huge amount of paid writing during the Jin and the Yuan dynasties， due to the particular social environment， his personal identity and experience. For different types of patrons， Yuan Haowen used different writing strategies to maintain fairness and the independence of paid writing， and managed to keep a balance among patrons， authors and other readers. All these exemplified the prowess of excellent writers to mediate between material pursuit， favoritism， and literary value. In this regard， paid writing could be seen as a great driving force for the creation of ancient Chinese literature.
Keywords
paid writing, dilemma, Yuan Haowen, strategies, significance
First Page
196
Last Page
205
Recommended Citation
Yu, Min. 2023. "The Dilemma of Paid Writing and Its Solution： On Yuan Haowen’s Prose Production." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 43, (1): pp.196-205. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol43/iss1/22
