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With his rich knowledge gained from learning, political thought based on the study of Confucian classics, and passion for making his country rich and building up its military power, Wang Anshi obtained favor from the emperor of his era to bring his talent into full play and bore the great responsibility for the prosperity and decline of his country. Therefore, his narrative prose with diverse subjects is filled with the feelings of a scholar official of the Confucian school who worried about and was happy for the world, concerned about the common people and shouldered heavy responsibilities. Although there are numerous researches on Wang Anshi in the academic circles, there are only few researches on his narrative prose. Therefore, the study was titled “Study on Wang Anshi’s Narrative Prose,” and the four main points of the study are as follows: I. The study stated the life of Wang Anshi and the features and development of narrative prose to comprehend the deepening process of narrative prose. II. The study classified the subjects of Wang Anshi’s narrative prose to comprehend thoughts and spirit in his works. It showed that Wang Anshi hoped to inspire people’s intelligence and cultivate talent by establishing schools for education, and that he anticipated that government officials sought welfare for people with the minds of the benevolent. In facing the decline of the Confucian school, Wang wrote biographies for outstanding talents in the Buddhist and Daoist schools to honor their good deeds in the hope of eradicating bad practices and reviving the Confucian school. Therefore, he expressed his philosophical thought and ambition with the use of argumentation in his narratives. III. With respect to the artistic presentation of Wang Anshi’s narrative prose, the structures of his works are strict with clear logical thinking and diverse changes. The rhetoric of his works has greatly expanded the depth and width of the spiritual world and increased the beauty and power of expression. Additionally, the style of his works shows the persuasion of his ideas and convictions, the meticulousness of his wisdom for argumentation, his powerful ambition hidden in his works, and profound meanings in his concise works. IV. The study positioned and evaluated the influence of achievements of Wang Anshi’s narrative prose upon the development of prose in the Song Dynasty. To sum up, Wang Anshi deepened the content of narrative prose with his profound talent in and thought about Confucian classics and upgraded the intention of writing articles with his expertise in argumentation and textual criticism. Moreover, his use of argumentation and policies in narratives has opened up new horizons for style-breaking prose in the Song Dynasty, and it has made him a successful model in the innovation of ancient prose in the North Song Dynasty.
Keywords: Wang Anshi, narrative prose, the use of argumentation in narratives; ancient prose in North Song Dynasty.
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