Memory of Jinling: A Study of Sentimental Verses at Heritage Site and Diverse Records of Wooden Bridge by Yu Huai (1616-1696)

During Ming Dynasty, the diversity, the abundant and the convenience of city had lead literati to start to write poems about living and landscape in the city. In addition, during Ming-Qing transition, the chaos also added political meaning and weight of history to city. Therefore, there were numerous writings about city along with alternation of generations and historic places, which made “city” become a symbol of nostalgia for the past Ming dynasty, for example, Jinling. Yu Huai 余懷 (1616-1698), as a survivor during Ming-Qing transition, tried to retain and build the image of Jinling during late-Ming by writing down his personal experience and memory. As written in the “Sentimental Verses at Heritage Site” (Yong huai gu ji 詠懷古跡 ) and “Diverse Records of Wooden Bridge” (Ban qiao za ji 板橋雜記 ), he turned Jinling into a culture semiotic. This study focused on the image of Jinling in the writings during Ming-Qing transition by reviewing Yu Huai’s personal perspective on Jinling and the others’ poems chose by him, identifying how Jinling became a culture semiotic and the meaning it stood for. In “Sentimental Verses at Heritage Site”, Yu Huai communicated with the historical figures by following their footprints. His sensitivity to landscape and familiarity to history played an important role in his writings. On the other hand, in “Diverse Records of Wooden Bridge”, he tried to rebuild a city which the Ming loyalists were familiar with by placing his memory into the spaceframe of Qinhuai riverside. He also selectively copied others'' poems about Jinling for presenting a model of social memory. In sum, from “Sentimental Verses at Heritage Site” and “Diverse Records of Wooden Bridge”, Yu Huai shown not only his personal experience and memory, but also a social memory of Jinling during Ming-Qing transition. It was a kind of writing presenting self-conscious and self-identity with literati’s taste and their recalling of a city.