정치적 수사의 완성작, <兩都賦> — 洛邑을 노래하여 예의를 설득하다 —

Abstract

Wenxuan(文選) is a selection of various pieces of Chinese literary works from the Warring States period to the Liang dynasty. It contains 761 pieces grouped into 37 categories, compiled in the 6th century by the Crown Prince of Liang dynasty, Xiao Tong and other scholars. Positioned in the first category in the collection, and considered as the “remarkably representative selection of major works,” fu(賦, rhapsodies) writings became exampla in itself literal meaning Wen(文), being widely read and practiced in the East Asian culture. Fu section begins with pieces describing and arguing for the ancient Chinese cities (which we call “City Fu”), such as Ban Gu’s Liangdufu(兩都賦, Fu on the Two Capitals), and Zhang Heng’s Erjingfu(二京賦, Fu on the Two Metropolises). This paper is focusing on the such “City Fu” writings, exploring the nature of the rhetoric developed with these rich, complex texts and clarifying the values of cities that imaginary dialogues of Liangdufu argues for; it will then analyze the rhetorical devices and structures for those arguments. At the same time, it raises the issue of the original purposes for which this text was written, for it could be the showcase work presented to seek for the royal acknowledgment and fame. In this way, our study aims at an elaborate analysis of the work and also tracing the tradition of rhetoric embedded in this highly representative literary genre, Fu. What Ban Gu tried to inherit was the concept of ritual禮儀 rooted in Xunzi荀子 of Zhanguo戰國 period and the literary expressiveness of Fu writers from Former Han. In other words, during the early years of Latter Han Ban Gu used fu as a way to convey the theory of Wenci文辭, started in Zhanguo period, for Latter Han dynasty’s Emperors. Ban Gu used Fu as a literary genre to recite the history, background and structures of a city that abides to the rules of ritual禮儀, describing it in a beautiful, detailed yet useful way. The initiative here was to suggest an answer to how a ruler with high morals should build a city and how such a city should be described in literature. Through Liangdufu, Ban Gu completed a balanced Wenci文辭 of ethics and literature that was demanded by in his time.