A Study of Farewell Poems in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

　　Throughout the history, people all face the experience of parting or bereavement. Now that people encounter the farewells, they must sink under deep grief and be eager to pour out the emotions afterward. When it comes to the poets, Chinese character is the best tool to express their emotions. In this manner, starting from the Yan Yan poem in The Book of Songs (《詩經•燕燕》), poets convey the sadness of parting and the longing after partings again and again. We can say that farewell is one of the most significant topics in Chinese literature. Although farewells happen frequently to every Chinese in every dynasties, the experience of parting has become an apparent phenomenon in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties(魏晉南北朝) owning to the numerous battles. In this era, the literati pose great importance on sentiments, which are usually triggered by farewell conditions. Facing these situations, poets often get into deep thoughts. Besides, this era follows Pre-Oin (先秦),Han Dynasties(兩漢), and opens up the golden age of Tang Dynasty(唐朝), performing as a medium between them. Therefore, this thesis aims to study the writing pattern of farewell poems in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and discusses their development. 　　The dedication and reply poems (贈答詩) developed by Cao Cao(曹操),Cao Pi(曹丕),Cao Zhi(曹植)and the literary organization of Jian-an Age(建安文學集團), poems of farewll banquets(祖餞詩) in Western Jin dynasty(西晉), landscape poems(山水詩), tour Poems(遊覽詩), and roaming poems(行旅詩) in the Southern Dynasties(南朝) are all considered farewell poems. Once the poet expresses the sentiments of separation in the work, the poem is considered as farewell pomes(離別詩). To be more precisely, poets in the Eastern Han Dynasty(東漢) are relatively simple, they only write about the farewells. Later in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period, farewell pomes not only contains the feeling of separation, but also poets’ thoughts toward life. 　　About the research methods, this thesis classifies farewell poems into four categories according to the identities and types. The first one is the traditional custom passing down from The Book of Songs, referring to the government feast the farewell parties for those retired officials. After Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, this type of farewell pomes are made of all officials to appreciate the royals and the retired colleagues; lastly, the poems will contain some sentiments of separation. The second one is farewells with friends. In Han Dynasties, the characters of these poets are full farewell sentiments. However, since Wei, Jin(魏晉), the poets use four-characters (四言詩) and five-characters poems(五言詩) to represent rites and affections respectively. The third one is the people who must leave their countries. Homelands and countries are forever the distinctive place(地方) to the poets. Homesickness becomes the constant topic of poets. The last one is the Yearning women(思婦) who separate from their husbands. There are different representations before Wei, Jin, but the farewell poems’ context gradually becomes the same mode. Poets express yearning women’s fear of being abandoned due to their senility and ugliness. 　　Since the Nineteen Old Poems(《古詩十九首》)in Eastern Han Dynasty, most poems focus on that the fore-coming of separation. Their affection accumulates gradually, and reaches the upper limit at the time of separation. In addition to this style, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties creates a new manner: the poets immerse in the new and good memory via recalling past memory after separation. As for home-leaving poems, poetry of homesickness in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, poets compare homeland with foreign land, and then define an area as their homeland. Poets indicate their unaccustomed to foreign land by describing different customs of foreign land. The passing of time makes people more mature, especially the yearning women. They talk to the past and finally know that their husbands would never come back. 　　Since Qu-Yuan(屈原), poets are anxious about the passing of time, and long distance is another reason of depression. The farewell pomes before Wei, Jin often use stars and borders to represent long distance. Besides, we will find that there are no clear descriptions about other details, such as people, time, or site. Because their focus is the affection of leave, not space. Until Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, poets create new methods: using the geographical names to make the distance clear and represent the path they walk along. When they recall of the geographical names, they also evoke the feeling of farewells. The scenery in poetry of Pre-Oin and Han Dynasties are used for atmosphere. Nevertheless, the location after Southern Dynasties is more clear because poets are more fond of describing the natural scenery. In addition, poets represent the identities, and explain why farewells happen. Consequently, every farewells become unique. 　　Reading farewell pomes of Han Dynasties breaks our heart is because that the poetry did not indicate a clear background. The most obvious sensation in a vague condition is the sentiments. Because poets have similar affection, they all use hope and dream to express their overload sentiments. They eager to have wings to fly across the sky via wind and send massage via clouds. They also want to come back home in the dream when they sleep. However, farewell pomes became the exclusive right of poets since Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Poets emphasize themselves via farewell poems. According to the contents, most of them are the choices between being government official or retired. Because the farewell pomes are usually made for the poets’ friends, the poets would express their thoughts and difficulties other than yearning. Moreover, poets present themselves to their friends and future readers via poetry. It reflects the inclination that they want to be heard and understood. As a result, farewell pomes become the specific expression of the poet’s affections.