Fu in the Han Dynasty

Fu，sometimes called rhyme prose or rhapsody in English，is the distinctive predominant literary form of the Han Dynasty.It was a new poetic form of rhythmic prose particular in itsliterary grace and cadence，containing elements of both prose and poetry.There have been more than 300 Fu writers，producing more than 3，000 Fu works.The Fu usually describes natural scenery，magnificent buildings，court life，high praise of the powerful Han Empire and even sufferings of the masses and political corruption.As a literary form，Han Fu can be allegorical，didactic and descriptive，lyrical，romantic，or epic.In style，it is usually very long，typically in the form of questions and answers.Most lines of Han Fu works usually have four or six characters，with few having five or seven.Fu is usually meant to display the poet’s rhetorical and lexical skill rather than express personal feelings.Thus，it appears to be epideictic，using excessively rich decorative expressions to describe a subject exhaustively from every possible angle.In the early Western Han Dynasty，famous Fu included Jia Yi’s”Lament for Qu Yuan” and“Ode to the Roc”，marked a transition from the former style of Chu Ci.In the Mid-Western Han Dynasty，the most well-known Han Fu writer was Sima Xiangru，C.179-C.117 BC）.His representative works are“Mr Zixu’s Rhapsody” and “Rhapsody on the Imperial Park Shanglin”.In the latter，Sima Xiangru first describedin the form of questions and answers magnificent beauties of the Western Han imperial park Shanglin and the grand hunting scenes，and then pictured some of the spectacles that were presented for the amusement of the Emperor，such as dancing and musical performances.In the late Western Han Dynasty，Yang Xiong’s（53 BC-18AD）four Fu works，namely“On the Sweet Spring”，“On the Plume Hunting”，“Ode to Changyang” and“Ode to Hedong”，appeared to be allegorical paintings of imperial luxury.

The most famous Fu writer in the early period of the Eastern Han is Ban Gu.Having acquired former artistic experience，he wrote“Liang Du Fu”，literally“Ode to the Two Capitals，”which aims to make a comparison between Luoyang and Chang’an as the statecapital.Another famous Fu writer of this period is Zhang Heng（78-139）.Zhang imitated Ban Gu and wrote“Er Jing Fu”，which also means“Ode to the Two Capitals”literally，aiming to admonish the ruling class and showing his sympathy for the masses.During the late Eastern Han，men of letters were barred from participating in imperial activities，whichpushed them into the vast real social life and shocked them.They began to pay more attention to life outside the court.The Fu changed a lot，becoming much shorter and more personal，realistic，expressive and lyrical.Fu works of this period mainly are travel notes and expressions of personal ambition.Famous works include Cai Yong’s（133-192）“Travel Notes” and Zhang Heng’s“Return to the Field”.

qingquang

See author's posts