Zhang Dai (1597 ~ 1679) was born in Yin Shan (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang), also known as Shi Gong, Tian Sun, Diean,. Living in Hangzhou.
Born in an official's family, he is rarely a rich boy, who enjoys tea art, loves prosperity, loves mountains and rivers, knows music, knows opera, does not become an official after his death, and writes books in the mountains to the end. Zhang Dai was a writer and historian in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, and he was best at prose.
Zhang Dai's life:
Zhang Dai lived in the late Ming Dynasty. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, eunuchs were in power, courtiers were in power, spies were rampant, party struggles were fierce, and internal and external troubles intensified. Kind and loyal, or exiled, or punished. At the same time, an anti-Neo-Confucianism and anti-Confucianism trend appeared in the ideological circle.
Wang Xue's leftists, represented by Wang Gen and Li Zhi, openly flaunted greed as human nature, opposed the affectation of Neo-Confucianism, and advocated innocence and frankness. This is undoubtedly a rebellion against traditional ethics, and a challenge to Zhu Cheng's neo-Confucianism, which "upholds justice and extinguishes human desires".
Driven by this trend of thought, while being dissatisfied with the society, scholars have pursued individual liberation: indulging in debauchery, indulging in landscapes and pursuing maximum material and spiritual satisfaction.
On the one hand, it flaunts elegance, leisure and refinement. In romantic scenery, landscape gardens, pavilions, flowers, birds, fish, insects, Four Treasures of the Study, calligraphy and painting, tea ceremony, antiques, acrobatics and games, we deliberately create pleasing and carefree artistic interests, and gain the poetic interest of life and art through enjoyment and lingering.
On the other hand, under the banner of rebelling against ethics and ethics, he indulged in debauchery and extravagance, burning incense and succeeding to the throne, not ashamed, but proud. "Human feelings are fast with debauchery, and social atmosphere is high with luxury.
Extended data:
Zhang Dai and His Works:
Zhang Dai was the most accomplished and influential essay writer in the late Ming Dynasty. Prose collections include nirvana in fire Collection, Tao An Dream and West Lake Dream, the last two of which are works since the Qing Dynasty. Zhang Dai's essays are rich in content and broad in vision, involving all aspects of social life and customs in the late Ming Dynasty, which can be called a history of cultural customs in the late Ming Dynasty.
His works are close to daily life, paying special attention to reflecting the vibrant folk culture and street customs, and describing the world and all beings in detail and vividly. His works have distinct personalities and strong themes, which reveal his true colors everywhere.
Especially after the Qing Dynasty, essays often reflect on the past and present, expressing grief for the old country with fresh and steep words, with desolate tone and deep feelings. Representative works include West Lake in July and a Half, Watching Snow in the Huting, and Liu Jingting's storytelling.
Zhang Dai is a master of prose in the late Ming Dynasty. He combined the freshness of Gong 'an School with the preciseness of Jingling School, taking the advantages of the two schools, saving the superficial with profundity, saving the eccentric with lightness, and avoiding the disadvantages of the two schools as much as possible, forming a unique style, with dignity in emptiness and sadness in humor.
The most prominent feature of his art is that he is good at capturing the characteristics of the object of description in extremely ordinary and profound details, depicting it with vivid pen and ink, drawing vivid scenes and writing people with charm. Another feature of his essays is that he makes good use of natural language, writes just right, does not emphasize carving, does not seek quietness and rigor, and is full of life breath and natural charm.
Baidu encyclopedia-Zhang Dai