Kobun Exercise - Kobun Exercise

Japanese: 古文運動 - こぶんうんどう

A prose reform movement started by Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan in the early 9th century during the Tang Dynasty in China. During the Six Dynasties period, the four-six-line style of prose (Benbun), which placed extreme emphasis on couplets, allusions, and rhythm, was popular and continued into the Tang Dynasty, but the An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) greatly shook the foundations of aristocratic society, and there was a growing momentum for reflection on this decorative and empty-headed beautiful prose. In particular, the newly emerging class of bureaucrats who had passed the imperial examinations strongly desired a style of writing that would allow them to express their thoughts and opinions, and found models in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian and the writings of the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

9世紀初め，中国の唐代に韓愈や柳宗元がおこした散文改革運動。六朝時代に対句や典故，平仄（ひようそく）などを極端に重視する四六駢儷文(駢文（べんぶん）)が流行し，唐代にも引き継がれたが，安史の乱(755‐763)によって貴族社会の基盤が大きく揺らぐとともに，この装飾的で内容の空疎な美文に対する反省の機運が高まった。特に科挙出身の新興官僚層が彼らの思想や主張を表現できる達意の文体を強く求め，その模範を司馬遷の《史記》や諸子百家の文章に見いだした。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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