The reasons why the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were a conscious era of literature are as follows:
1. The emphasis on literature and the development of literary concepts. The emphasis on literature was first reflected in the fact that the upper class of society during this period, including many emperors, were generally enthusiastic about literary creation, which affected the entire society and led to a large increase in literary works. Along with the prosperity of literary creation, literary criticism has also achieved unprecedented achievements, and literary criticism and literary theory works continue to appear.
2. The activity of literary groups. During the Jian'an period, a group of literati gathered around Cao and his son, forming the first important literary group in history. Since then, there have been "Seven Sages in the Bamboo Grove", "Twenty-Four Friends", "Eight Friends of Jingling" and so on.
The activity of literary groups further stimulated the prosperity of literature. During this period, a group of poets centered on the court emerged, including three main ones: Xiao Ziliang, King of Jingling in the Southern Qi Dynasty, Xiao Yan, Xiao Tong, and Xiao Gang in the Liang Dynasty.
3. Important developments in literary themes. During this period, Tao Yuanming founded pastoral poetry, and Xie Lingyun completed the transformation from metaphysical poetry to landscape poetry. Consciously using frontier life as an important theme of poetry also began in the Southern Dynasties.
There is also the "palace style poetry" that appeared in the Liang Dynasty, centered on Xiao Gang's literary group. In short, all natural and social phenomena that can "wander in sorrow" and "sway the soul" were included as objects of literary expression by literati in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.
4. The continuous evolution and changes of literary forms. The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were the prosperous period of five-character poetry, the emergence period of seven-character poetry, the peak period of lyrical poetry, the mature period of parallel prose, and the pioneering period of novels and metrical poetry. It can be said that this was a critical period in the development of several basic forms of ancient Chinese literature.
5. The combination of literature and philosophy. The literature of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties focused on inner experience and thinking about the value of life, expressing the author's deeper psychological activities. This makes literature get rid of the tradition of simply and matter-of-factly reflecting real life and social phenomena, and the connotation of literature becomes richer and deeper.
Extended information
Literary characteristics of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties:
In the Han Dynasty, Confucian poetry dominated, emphasizing the relationship between poetry and political enlightenment, and poetry was regarded as It is a tool for "being a wife, cultivating filial piety, strengthening human relations, educating people with beauty, and changing customs" ("Preface to the Poetry").
As for the characteristics and rules of poetry itself, it has not attracted due attention. After the Wei and Jin Dynasties, poetics got rid of the shackles of classics, and the direction of the entire literary trend was to break away from the need for political enlightenment emphasized by Confucianism and find the meaning of the independent existence of literature itself.
At this time, some new concepts and theories were put forward, such as character, charm, image, the relationship between words and meaning, and the relationship between form and spirit, etc., and an aesthetic thought that emphasized image, character, and charm was formed. Poetry seeks subtext, music seeks subtext, and painting seeks extravagant interest. This conscious aesthetic pursuit of communication between various literary and artistic forms marks the arrival of a new literary era.
Literary creation in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties was developed under the influence of this new literary and artistic trend, and it also provided the practical basis for this literary and artistic trend. A notable feature of literary creation during this period is that the requirement to serve political enlightenment weakened, and literature became a personal behavior, expressing personal life experiences and emotions.
The evolution of Fu from the big Fu in the Han Dynasty to the lyrical short Fu in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties is a very representative change. Five-character ancient poetry flourished in the late Han Dynasty, and the literati's personal lyrical work "Nineteen Ancient Poems" was regarded as a model by later generations.
After that, although Cao Zhi, Wang Can, Liu Zhen, Ruan Ji, Lu Ji, Zuo Si, Tao Yuanming, Xie Lingyun, Bao Zhao, Xie Tiao and Yu Xin chose different themes and styles, they followed the same path. Personal lyrical path, their creations are also personal behaviors. Some of these political lyric poems express the resentment and injustice in political life and do not have the purpose of political enlightenment.
As for Liang and Chen palace poems, although they were written by court literati, they were only for court entertainment. The direction of poets' efforts lies in the formal beauty of poetry, that is, the language skills such as rhythm, antithesis, and use of vocabulary, as well as the perfection of meter.
It was under this trend that China's ancient poetry was perfected, new-style poetry was formed, and various preparations were made for the emergence of modern-style poetry. Tang poetry reached its peak on this basis.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Literary Consciousness
Baidu Encyclopedia - Literature of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties