Song Rhythm

"Character-manner" is a very important category in poetics of Song dynasty, and it has the essencial signality of Song-poetics (in narrow sense). But people had not realized its importance and even didn't admit it a whole category. In fact, only this category can discover the essence of Song-poetics. This article analyses the different meanings of the two categories character and manner in different periods, points out the nessesity that their qualitive change happened in Song dynasty. Then the "character-manner" which realised the essence that Song-poetics appeared. The two concepts "character" and "manner" went into literature area firstly at Six-dynasty. In the time, there were "style" that the characer acted as the moral essence, and "charm" that the manner acted as the generosity or presence. In addition, the category "mettle-manner" appeared in painting thoery, but not in poetics. In Tang dynasty and Wu generation, character became an independent category in vast works, so the "high-level character" became an important studying object, an inditing standard and an inditing method. Charater had more connotations including genius and mettle, and was tied up with the category "idea". The devolopment of manner was lasting while the "afect beyond manner" appeared. In Song dynasty, people always thought of them from a moral or spiritual angle because of the particular period. The thoeries of poetics in this time also gave prominence to the personal identity, which formed the new poetics category such as "mettle-character", "strength of character", "character-manner" and so on. It was Shao-Yong that used the word "character-manner" at first time. He used it as a synonym of spirit including moral meanings. The word reflected the ideality of the North-Song philosophers who aspired after the personality of an oracle which meant humanism and Tao. The aspiration, which was carried out in the dynasty, reflected the aspiration of the culture of Song dynasty on the condition of the merging of Confucian, Taoism and Buddhism. The people of Song dynasty seeked for the matter-of-fact style and the "old manner" after the transformation of Song-poetics in the middle period of Song dynasty which people attached more importance to "mettle-character" instead of the ornate style. Su-Shi often used "Character-manner" in his articles. Though he used character and manner in his articles too, "character-manner" adopted the different elements of the above two categories, and made the uniffication of them. They existed ineach other and gave prominence to the internal strengh of spirit all together. These opinions of Su-Shi came from his ideas of life that he made truth and mercy unified togather. Then we can understand why he appreciated Tao-Yuanming so much. He thought Tao's poems had strength but their expressions were in a quietism style. Tao-Yuanming became the symbol of the character-manner ideal. Huang-Tingjian approved of Su-Shi's idea. Though he didn't used the word "character-manner" in his articles we can set eyes on, the two categories character and manner can almost take the place of the "character-manner" each. He extended the connotation of both character and manner, so each of them can be the embodiment of the personal identity and strength of spirit. Different to Su-Shi, he did more exploration than Su in practising for character-manner ideal. He brought forward the thoery of syntax in which he explained the greatness of poem as well as the strength of spirit. All of this showed that he had done his utmost to seek for the ideal of elegance and lingering charm. Fan-Wen's poetics thoery originated from the sum of the ideas of Su and Huang, especially their concepts of character-manner. He inherited the aethestic ideal of the antecessors, and developed the ideal at the same time. His thoery contained two aspects: manner and syntax. He said that the manner came into being from superbounding, that meant the subject abandoned the outside business of purpose, i.e., surpassing the world. In the m...