英文摘要 |
Prison invariably is a place for punishment and incarceration of people who violatethe social order and national laws. Under an overwhelming imperial power,scholar-officials and intellectuals in the Ming Dynasty sometimes would becomeprisoners if implicated in political resistance against imperial authority or involvement infactional conflict in the bureaucratic system. Encountering long-term imprisonment andunder the shadow of death these political dissenters might ponder seriously their lowebbs in life and dark future. As a result, their experiences and thoughts in prison easilybecame the subjects of various types of poetry or unique narratives with diverse themes,ranging from self-encouragement and mutual encouragement to letters of comfort fortheir families. This research deals with this imprisonment-related literature, whichcollectively reflects a special social phenomenon. It investigates how Ming Dynastyintellectuals, tormented by poor conditions behind bars, transformed their lonely anddisgruntled thoughts into a host of narrative or metaphorical creations, as well as howthey utilized these narrations to build a social network of intellectuals by exchanging andreading poetry. |