Abstract
In Su Shi's historical assessment, the Ming dynasty was the most unique era, experiencing extremes from obscurity and silence to utmost brilliance. The turning point began with the great admiration of Su Shi by Yuan Hongdao (15681610), a key member of the Gong'an School. In the Ming dynasty, it was popular for various schools to establish their respective leaders. The argument between schools focused inevitably on the comparison and competition between their respective leaders. In response to the literary view of the Revivalist School, Gong'an School, on its path of literary innovation, chose Su Shi as their major representative to combat the revivalists. In addition to being a literary representative of the Song dynasty, Su Shi was found to have a deep resonance with the Gong’an School in terms of the literary environment they faced with and their preference for satire and the popular. The twin aspects of revering Su Shi and embracing the popular, intertwined as one, permeated the entire path of literary innovation pursued by the Gong'an School. The reverence that the Yuan brothers held for Su Shi gradually informed to the entire literary circle of the Ming dynasty, becoming the precursor to the later veneration of Su Shi and the Song dynasty, even extending into the early Qing dynasty. As a result, the literary trends underwent a complete transformation.
Keywords
Su Shi, Gong'an School, veneration of Su Shi, embrace of the popular, literary representative
Recommended Citation
Dong, Weitong. 2024. "The Veneration of Su Shi and Embrace of the Popular in the Gong'an School and the Evolution of Late Ming Literary Trends: A Comprehensive Study on the Establishment of Su Shi's Exemplary Status." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 44, (1). https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol44/iss1/9
