清人汪凤藻所辑中、韩、日三国文学交流诗文集『海东酬唱集』初探

Abstract

Amidst the developments in international diplomacy, envoys of ancient China, Korea, and Japan used Chinese characters as the common writing tool, employing forms such as written conversations and poetry responses. This opened up the path to increased cultural interactions, which promoted the bourgeoning of written discourses, travel logs, poetry responses, and other forms of literature exchanged among the literati across the borders. Wang Fengzao, in the eve of the outbreak of the Sino‐Japanese War, from 1892 to 1894, was stationed in Japan as the Chinese envoy, constantly engaging in poetry writing with the local intellectuals and Korean envoys during his post. The HaidongChouchangji(海东酬唱集), hence, is the crystallization of East Asian literary exchange of the time. This poetry anthology, currently preserved in the Classical Literature Archives at Peking University, has so far not received much academic attention as a meaningful resource. The anthology contains correspondences, prefaces and postscripts, logs, and responding poems collected from Japan that total more than 170 pieces. The featured poems range greatly in type, including five or seven‐character extended verses, seven‐character quatrains, and five or seven‐character verses, among which the five‐character verse and seven‐character verse are allotted the most in proportion. Most of these poems describe the scenic beauty in Japan or the joyous mood in the company of friends; yet through them,it is possible to grasp in more detail the past activities among the envoys of the three countries, as well as the interrelated politics, current events, and history prior to the Sino‐Japanese War. The The HaidongChouchangji(海东酬唱集) provides first‐hand information for the research of East Asian history, literature and academics, thus holding significant value as a literary reference.