The Qing Dynasty’s Three Major Schools of Poetics
------ Shenyun, Gediao, and Xingling
Text / Xu Yingcai
There were three major schools of poetics in Qing dynasty. They were the School of Shenyun (Godly Grace)，the School of Gediao (Stylishness), and the School of Xingling (Disposition).
School of Shenyun (Godly Grace)
The key person of Qing Dynasty’s School of Shenyun was Wang Shizhen, a famous poet and literatus in Qing dynasty. He, influenced by Si Kongtu of Tang dynasty and Yan Yu of Song dynasty, stressed the “embodiment of the intended” and the “godly delight.” That is to embody the poet’s feeling in the poem without leaving any noticeable trace in it, so that readers have to perceive it themselves. That is what is called “being appealing without expressing the appeal directly.” Such is the poem rich in poetic flavor and aftertaste. That is what is referred to as “the flavor beyond the ingredients of salt and vinegar,” so to speak. A poet shouldn’t directly reveal what is intended; nor should he color or polish his poem too much, which is a very shallow way of writing. Comparing poetry writing to anchoring a boat, the poet should moor his boat in such a way that “it shouldn’t look afloat if observed nearby nor should it disappear from the sight if observed from afar. It should be so well moored that no other boat can be berthed the same way.” This unpolished method is the access to the artistic realm of naturalness, leisureliness, and simplicity with a far-reaching effect. When it reaches this realm, it has reached the realm of Shenqu (Godly delight) , which is what is regarded as the highest artistic realm of Shenyun (Godly Grace).
School of Gediao (Stylishness)
The key person of Qing dynasty’s School of Gediao (Stylishness) was Shen Deqian, an important Qing Palace official. Influenced by the idea of restoring the classics advocated by Li Mengyang of Ming dynasty, Shen Deqian stressed the learned and refined style of “gentleness and sincerity” and emphasized the rhetoric methods of “analogizing and metaphorizing” ; “containment and reservation” in poetry writing without overstating or over revealing what was intended, so that the sincerity was lost. He didn’t object Wang Shizhen’s Shenyun Poetics, and also considered the “placid, simple, and far-reaching style a very highly artistic realm to reach, but these he considered just one of the many ways to write poetry. The highest artistic realm, in his opinion, was “the vigorous, highly-flavored, and quaint effect”. While “implicit” was the key to achieve “placid, simple, and far-reaching effect,” “being unstirred up” was the key to acomplish this “vigorous, highly flavored, and quaint effect.” Therefore, Shenyun iconized Wang Wei and Meng Haoran while Gediao, Han Wei and Du Fu. Shenyun seeked the beauty of gracefulness; Gediao the beauty of vigor. Both Shenyun and Gediao underlined what was beyond the expressed by containing and reserving what they would say.
School of Xingling (Disposition)
The key person of Qing dynasty’s Xingling School in poetry writing was Yuan Mei, a poet and prose-writer in Qing dynasty. As an inheritance and development from the theory of “no restrictions, but all for the expressing of one’s disposition” upheld by the Ming dynasty’s Gongan School, this school advocated the method of “writing what you feel, wording in what is natural, and no feeling, no writing” in poetry writing. It believed Gediao’s poetry writing theory “be gentle and sincere” had the inclination to restore the classical and therefore rejected it. It also opposed Shenyun’s theory that “the most treasured element in poetry writing is gentleness and therefore one should write in a reserved manner.” It believed that the true nature of poetry is the natural revealing of human feelings. Therefore, a poet should express his or her disposition directly and reveals his or her true feeling. What Yuan Mei proposed about “Xingling,” in most cases, equates the meaning of “disposition.” To comply with the requirements of freely expressing the poet’s individuality and sincerely expressing the poet’s true feeling, Xingling School advocated naturalness, freshness, plainness, and fluency as its artistic techniques. It opposed polishing and ornamenting poems; stuffing allusions and scholarly knowledge into poems. It emphasized the discovery of selfness. But it is a general believe that Xingling School considers Xingling or disposition as the source of literary creation, absolutizes the idea that literature is to express feelings, and believes that any poem that truly reveals reality is a good art work. These restrict writing from reflecting true social life.
Translated by Xu Yingcai / 徐英才译
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