Professor Ren Hongmin's new book Research on the Pattern and Trend of the Yuan Dynasty Literary Landscape, published in December 2022 by Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House, is an achievement of the National Philosophy and Social Sciences Fund of China of 2012, and was awarded the National Publication Foundation in 2021. These two national projects fully demonstrate the book’s innovations in topic selection and contents, and its high academic value as well. The pattern and trend of the Yuan Dynasty literary landscape, a topic with global and fundamental significance, is a crucial breakthrough in the current research of Yuan Dynasty literature.
The book consists of ten chapters, divided into two major parts ---- the pattern of literary world and the pattern and trend of literary style. From the impact and penetration of social system, ideological trends, entertainment culture, folk custom and other factors on literary themes during the specific historical period of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan social culture has refined and expounded its influence on the separation of elegant and popular literature and their themes, such as the social and cultural environment, the employment orientation and the great differentiation of literati class, and the separation of elegant and popular literature among the writer circle. Through specific and in-depth research, the book reveals and elaborates the literary landscape of the Yuan Dynasty, the richness and diversity of the relationship between literati activities and literature, and examines the differences between the literature of the Yuan Dynasty and that of the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Studying the pattern and trend of the literary landscape of the Yuan Dynasty from the perspective of the pattern of literary world and the pattern and trend of literary style, this book objectively describes and explains the relevant issues of literary history and cultural history of the Yuan Dynasty, which is an important innovation from the historical concept to the academic model.
