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In ancient China, literati often used the genre of “notes on poets and poetry” to express their literary insights. Xu Yi, in his Yanzhou’s Notes on Poets and Poetry, stated, “Notes on poets and poetry discerns the principles of verse, encompass the ancient and the modern, record great virtues and unusual events, rectify errors, and mistakes.” This illustrates that such works have a wide range of content, yet they possess a lively form. They served as a summary of writers’ creative experiences and as casual writings of theorists exploring literary theory. They could be used for criticism, textual analysis, storytelling, and theoretical discussions. When they gained insights, they recorded them and compiled them for public consumption. Due to their ease of compilation, the quality of content varied. Some outstanding works in this genre could be considered masterpieces of literary theory, reflecting the creative experiences of accomplished writers and the rise and fall of the era’s intellectual trends. If later generations want to understand the achievements of literary thought in a certain period, they need to search for them within these notes on poets and poetry. As for ordinary works, which constituted the majority of notes on poets and poetry, they contained both gems and dross. Reading such works often gives a sense of “sifting through sand to find gold, often discovering treasures.” As for lower-quality works, as Zhang Xuecheng pointed out in General Principles of Literature and History, “They may not possess the profound knowledge and expertise to become renowned experts in a particular academic field, yet they are influenced by societal trends, pursuing fame and status. They utilize all the resources and skills they can master for writing, but these resources and skills may not be sufficient to support the creation of profound works. In their writing, they often act on a whim, lacking rigorous academic attitudes and deep thinking, merely expressing opinions based on their preferences and imagination.” This was a sharp criticism on some mediocre works.

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Notes on Poets and Poetry in the Song Dynasty and Canglang’s Remarks on Poetry by Yan Yu

  • 章节

  • 发表日期：

    2026年

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  • Zhou Xunchu

摘要

In ancient China, literati often used the genre of “notes on poets and poetry” to express their literary insights. Xu Yi, in his Yanzhou’s Notes on Poets and Poetry, stated, “Notes on poets and poetry discerns the principles of verse, encompass the ancient and the modern, record great virtues and unusual events, rectify errors, and mistakes.” This illustrates that such works have a wide range of content, yet they possess a lively form. They served as a summary of writers’ creative experiences and as casual writings of theorists exploring literary theory. They could be used for criticism, textual analysis, storytelling, and theoretical discussions. When they gained insights, they recorded them and compiled them for public consumption. Due to their ease of compilation, the quality of content varied. Some outstanding works in this genre could be considered masterpieces of literary theory, reflecting the creative experiences of accomplished writers and the rise and fall of the era’s intellectual trends. If later generations want to understand the achievements of literary thought in a certain period, they need to search for them within these notes on poets and poetry. As for ordinary works, which constituted the majority of notes on poets and poetry, they contained both gems and dross. Reading such works often gives a sense of “sifting through sand to find gold, often discovering treasures.” As for lower-quality works, as Zhang Xuecheng pointed out in General Principles of Literature and History, “They may not possess the profound knowledge and expertise to become renowned experts in a particular academic field, yet they are influenced by societal trends, pursuing fame and status. They utilize all the resources and skills they can master for writing, but these resources and skills may not be sufficient to support the creation of profound works. In their writing, they often act on a whim, lacking rigorous academic attitudes and deep thinking, merely expressing opinions based on their preferences and imagination.” This was a sharp criticism on some mediocre works.