The Qing-Dynasty Reception of Wang Anshi's Epitaph for Mr. Xu, Registrar of Hailing County, Taizhou: Angularity, Abstruseness, and Their Formation

Tong Zhang

doi:10.54097/gvvejk23

Authors

Tong Zhang The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54097/gvvejk23

Keywords:

Wang Anshi; prose style; Tongcheng School; Epitaph for Mr. Xu, Registrar of Hailing County, Taizhou; Qing reception.

Abstract

In the Qing dynasty Wang Anshi's Epitaph for Mr. Xu, Registrar of Hailing County, Taizhou was already credited as one of the fundamental ways to compose prose by the Tongcheng School. This article briefly outlines the reception of Wang Anshi and of his writing, analyzes the defining characteristics of the epitaph: angularity and abstruseness, and describes why Wang's writing could have developed these traits from the setting of the Northern Song, from Wang's temperament and career. It suggests that the work is a culmination of the epitaph as a genre, in its combination of compressed narration, forceful turns of argument, and restrained yet profound grief.

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