Abstract
The Imperial Examinations in the Qing Dynasty encompassed two primary components: the Eight-part Essay and examination poems.. While they exhibited distinct styles and forms, they shared significant commonalities including the interplay between constancy and variation within deductive themes, an emphasis on formal symmetry, and a structural approach involving “opening, development, change and conclusion”. These shared characteristics, initially rooted in broader literary and poetic practice, became solidified, reinforced and at times mechanized. Regrettably, these commonalities were erroneously disregarded as being exclusive to either the Eight-Part Essay method or examination poems. In reality, they posses universal value and significance necessitating a fresh examination and reevaluation within the context of ancient literature and literary criticism.
Keywords
Eight-Part Essay, examination poems, internal mechanism, revaluation of values, history of literary criticism
First Page
62
Last Page
71
Recommended Citation
Chen, Shengzheng. 2024. "On the Common Traits of Poetry and Prose in the Qing Dynasty's Imperial Examination." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 43, (5): pp.62-71. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol43/iss5/7
