明小品與江南士風

Abstract

The prevalence of essay is one of the signs of the reform happened in the literary circles of the late Ming Dynasty, and there is an internal relationship between such a style of writing and the regional culture in the South of Yangtze River of which Jiangsu and Zhejiang are representative .The essay of the late Ming is municipalityoriented, and focuses on worldly life, leisure, localness and pleasance. We believe that all these characteristics had been deeply affected by the easy circumstances of the South of Yangtze River, the fashion of luxury style of living and the scholars’ treasonable attitude toward traditional moral standard.The style and theme in the essay of the late Ming rises partly from the one of SouthNorth Dynasty and the late Tang, however the latter are inclined to show recluse complex and enjoy cakes and ale, while the former breaks through the confine and moulds the fingerprint of itself.