庾信《道士步虛词十首》硏究 = A STUDY OF YU XIN'S LYRICS "PACING THE VOID"

Abstract

The buxu (Pacing the Void) was originally a hymn sung in classical Daoist jiao rituals. Yu Xin (513-581) was the first poet to imitate the buxu poem. Since then, the buxu had gradually developed into a new poetic genre. This paper will begin with an introduction of the religious origins of the buxu song, followed by a close study of ten such lyrics recorded in traditional Daoist scripts. The second part of the paper includes a discussion of the content and literary characteristics of Yu Xin's refined work. Lastly, this paper shall analyze Yu Xin's attitude towards the Daoist practice of pursuing immortality and transcendence by examining several allusions employed by the poet.