西安外国语大学考试试题编号:2012-2013学年第 2 学期系（院、部）：英文学院专业：英语课程：中国文学与艺术班级： 12级专选命题时间： 13年12月命题教师：苗淼以上栏目由命题教师填写，下栏由考生填写学号： 1201010609 姓名：左茜系（院）：英文学院专业：英语班级: 6 班Essay questions (25% each)Directions: answer the following questions accurately and concisely by using the information covered in ‘Chinese Literature and Art’.I. Questions for Chinese Art1.What is taotie? During which dynasty or dynasties was it most popular? Whatare some hypothesis concerning the meanings or origins of taotie?(1) Taotie is a mythical ferocious animal in Chinese legend which people saidwas the fifth son of dragon. Taotie was always seen on the surface of ancient bronze wares as decoration.(2) Taotie is a motif commonly found on Chinese ritual bronze vessels from theShang and Zhou Dynasty. And in Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty, it was very popular.(3) Because Taotie’s biggest character is that it can eat lots of things, so it is asymbol of greed. It is said that this monster had no body, only a big head and a big mouth. For it was too greedy for eating so that it ate its own body!2.What are some characteristics of Tang dynasty (early and mid-Tang) art?Name one artist for each time period, and explain how this artist represents the achievement of his time.(1) The Tang Dynasty was an exceptional period in China's history. Thesociety was prosperous and stable and had achieved great success in culture, art and writing. Writing poems was a major cultural activity and even the imperial civil examination began to require poem writing instead of essay writing. "A Complete Collection of Tang Poems" includes nearly 50,000 works from morethan 2,300 poets.(2) 1. Tang period (618-712): The most outstanding poet during this time isChen Zi'ang. His poems were vigorous and straightforward. He felt that poems should reflect reality and he helped lay the groundwork for the development of Tang Poems.2. High Tang (712-762) was the highest level of Tang poetry. The topics andstyles of the poems were rich and varied. Poets wrote freely in a romantic atmosphere, some singing the praises of nature, some yearning for life at a frontier fortress, some sighing with frustration. Some of the most famous poets in High Tang included Li Bai, Du Fu, Meng Haoran, Gao Shi and Cen Sen. Cen Sen had a gift for writing poems about frontier fortresses, while Gao Shi wrote about the miserable life of poor people. The "Fairy Poet" Li Bai and "Sage Poet" Du Fu probably had the most profound influences on writing at that time.Together, they created an imposing scene that had immense influences on later writers.3. In the Mid Tang lived the famous poets Bai Juyi, Yuan Zhen and Li He.Bai Juyi was an expert at satire. He mocked excessive taxes, objected to war and criticized high-ranking officials. He tried to make his language plain, smooth and lively so that more people could appreciate his poem.4. The Late Tang period (827-859) saw the well-known poets Li Shangyinand Du Mu. Du Mu' poems were fresh and cool and expressed his sadness and frustration in his official career. There is still debate today over his famous poem "Untitled". Critics argue over weather the poem is a love song or a political statement.II. Questions for Chinese Literature3.What kind of book is the Classic of Songs (Shi Jing)? How is it further divided,and why is it important to the Chinese literary tradition?(1) The Classic of Songs is the most ancient existing anthology of Chinesepoetry. The Classic of Songs comprises 305 poems and songs dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC. The Classic of Songs is one of the "Five Classics"traditionally said to have been compiled by Confucius, and has been studied and memorized by scholars in China and neighboring countries over two millennia, and subsequently more globally, with many translations into numerous languages.Since the Qing dynasty, its rhyme patterns have also been analyzed in the study of Old Chinese phonology.(2) The content of the Poetry can be divided into two main sections: the "Airs of the States", and the eulogies and hymns. The "Airs of the States" are shorter lyrics in simple language that are generally ancient folk songs which record the voice of the common people. They often speak of love and courtship, longing for an absent lover, soldiers on campaign, farming and housework, and political satire and protest. On the other hand, songs in the two "Hymns" sections and the "Eulogies" section tend to be longer ritual or sacrificial songs, usually in the forms of courtly panegyrics and dynastic hymns which praise the founders of the Zhou dynasty. They also include hymns used in sacrificial rites and songs used by the aristocracy in their sacrificial ceremonies or at banquets. Pieces of poems not collected was recorded in Zuo Zhuan.(3) Classic of Songs is the start of Chinese literacy, and it has the highly position in Chinese literacy. It is important because Classic of Songs established the Chinese poetry’s creation, and it settled the Chinese culture tradition. The tradition is something about the emotion, crowd arts and realism. In addition to this, Classic of Songs still ensure the principle of Chinese poetry and justice. Classic of Songs also ensure the basic of poetry’s language form.4.What genre would Liaozhai Zhiyi belong to according to moderncategorization? How do you understand the ways Pu Songling portrays the supernatural experiences that have been recorded as “strange tales”? And what factors distinguish the stories from other Chinese literary classics?(1) Liaozhai Zhiyi belongs to fantasy fiction.Pu borrows from a tradition oforal storytelling where the boundary between reality and the odd or fantastic is blurred. The stories are filled with magical foxes, ghosts , scholars, jiangshi, court officials, Taoist exorcists and beasts.(2)Pu songling was very poor during his whole span life, and of course it isthe advantage of him to create such a kind of book. And also, he has thedeeply feeling about ancient Chinese Imperial system, so it is the reason that he put his strong feeling in this very book, and criticize this regular’sdisadvantages. The author just use this way by writing about the supernatural to reflect the reaction. In this book, the author uses many supernatural(something like ghost and spirit) to reflect the dream in author’s heart. This book also portrays some obstacle that many people were met in the ancientchina, and in the end, the author just makes them all succeed; it reflects the author’s fighting conscience. Another aspect is that through those supernatural, the author reflect the darkness of the society and the corruption of the polity. This book has the high value of the moral and thought.(3) Liaozhai Zhiyi was the first novel that was writing through the supernatural to express the reaction, so the factor actors distinguish the stories from other Chinese literary classics I think was that it writes by the supernatural.。