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by Chan, Man-sing

Abstract of thesis entitled "A critical study of Yu Hsin's

!.h!h and !J! poetry" (

) submitted

by Cnan Man-sing for the degree of Master of Philosophy at

the University of Hong Kong in September, 1918.

Mucn has been done on the .!!h!h (1 ~ ) and !J! ( ~~ ) poetry-

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of Yu Hsin .(513-581) in the past; much yet is to be desired.

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Students of Yu Hsin tend to concentrate on his place in the

development of a particular genre, the l{l-shih ( ~~!~ ), and on the theme of 'nostalgia for the old country', which

is said to be typical of his worta. Bis exeroise of literary

8ki1).8, thQugh not unmentioned, still cries out for a oareful,

overall e:xamination, and .v~n his contribut:l.011 to the grQwth

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of lu-shih deserves a closer scrutiny.

This study is done with the purpose of filling the gaps

mentioned. It begins with an elucidatiol1 of certain aspeots

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of Yl1 Hein t 8 life and personality. Then it moves on to an

analysis of the tones, rhymes,'rhlthms, allusions and parallel oonstruotions as they occur in It. Hain IS poetry. My usual

p+,oced\l.reis, firstl)';, to give an aocount of the nature of the

various literary devioes or skillS, and then by noting and

enumerating the oocurrences of these dev.ioee as they appear in

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IuHs~n's work, I try to disoover those characteristics which

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Dlay be supposed to be typioal of Yu Hsin. Finally, the exeroise

ot these devioes is seen in relation to the expression of

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~.aning, the intention being to assess whether Yu Hsin's

employment of such skills is no more than a glamorous display of virtuosity, which it is commonly supposed to be.

Certain conclusions seem tenable. Patterns are discover-

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able in Yu Hsin's technique. For instance, YU Hsin is prone

to use. the 'back low vowel' ( l..k) in rhyming. Again the

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regularity of Yu. Hain's tonal distribution pre-dates that

in lu-shih poetry and differs from it. Indeed, in a sense, I!'

Yu Hain as poet, looks before himself and after.

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~n'1;he last but one chapter, I .,.t out to compare and contraet the two genres, shih and ~, as they stand in YU

Hein's work. Their similarities and differences in formal

features are explained first. Then I explore how the formal

differences affect thematic treatment in the two genres.

The last ohapter is a conclusion in which an attempt is

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made to assess Yu Hein's work as a whole.

The purpose of this study is to explain rather than to offer value judgment. But then it is obviously true that a

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wher oritical judgment of Yu Hsin' 8 poetry oan only come

from greater knowledge than was available.