Abstract Under the influence of Sima Xiangru's gorgeous style of writing,Yang Xiong created four brilliant poetic essays--'Ganquan Fu','Hedong Fu','Yulie Fu' and 'Changyang Fu',of which 'Changyang Fu' is the most special.There exist three different views on this essay that it is an apology like Sima Xiangru's prose--'Blaming the Shu People',that it marked the beginning of prose fu and that it is a link in the stylistic shift of Hanfu.In the present author's opinion,these views are just talks in generalities.If we examine the background and narrative structure of 'Changyang Fu',we find that they are closely related to the arguments on the system of emperors' temples,which included the rise of Confucianism,the political appeals of scholars, the return to the patriarchal clan system,and the advocacy of Zhou Dynasty's social institutions.Although the controversy between the monarch and the Confucian scholars was never resolved,the three temples,Temple of Emperor Gaozu,Temple of Emperor Wen and Temple of Emperor Wu were preserved. It was against this background that 'Changyang Fu' was written,and it was the notion that the ancestors have merits and the family has virtue that decided the structure of narration and the connotation of Tactful Admonition,among which the idea of getting rid of lechery and the genre of apology has specially far-reaching impact on the writing of Dafu in the Eastern Han Dynasty.
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