| Yuefu Poetics in Qing dynasty mainly refers to the collation and criticism of Yuefu Poetry by Qing critics,which include not only the criticism of Yuefu Poetry in terms of its writing,style and artistic characteristics,but also the selection and collation of Yuefu Poetry in poetry collections,such as Yuefu Notes and Notes on Poetry Collections,the exegesis and textual research of the characters,item names and titles.Because of the unprecedented prosperity of Qing Dynasty’s poetics in the history of Chinese poetics,the criticism of Yuefu in Qing Dynasty,as an important component of Qing Dynasty’s poetics,is magnificent.Poetry comments and criticism are not only unprecedented in number,but also magnificent and delicate in the study of Yuefu.Yuefu poetics,which devoted to the comments on its aesthetic features,Yuefu Notes and Selected Notes,which explored the origin of Yuefu words and names,and Yuefu Poetry Selection,which emphasized poetry selection and advocated the concept of poetry,have all been the major achievements of Yuefu studies in past dynasties.In terms of Yuefu poetic theory,the Qing critics discussed Yuefu style discrimination,the relationship between poetry and music,Yuefu writers and artistic achievements.When discussing the relationship between Yuefu and other poetry styles,they put forward such theories as "Yuefu is ancient poetry","Quatrain originated from Yuefu","Chanting Poetry derived from Yuefu".When discussing the relationship between Yuefu poetry and music,they emphasized music with standpoints such as "Yuefu can’t be formulated","No need to establish the name of Yuefu".When discussing Yuefu writers,they emphasized the innovation of Yuefu creation and opposed the imitation of ancient times.Therefore,they marked Cao Cao,Bao Zhao and Li Bai’s pioneering significance to Yuefu creation and emphasized Du Fu’s and Bai Juyi’s new Yuefu creation.When discussing the aesthetic characteristics of Yuefu,the Qing critics examined Yuefu with different poetic concepts,advocating affection or rhetoric or both of them,and evaluated the aesthetic characteristics of Yuefu from various perspectives.In the commentary and annotation of Yuefu,the Qing critics,with their profound textual research ability and rigorous academic attitude,made a rigorous examination of Yuefu stories,titles and styles,which was the most characteristic part of Yuefu poetics in the Qing Dynasty.Chen Benli’s Annotations to the Three Songs of Han Yuefu,respectively,drew attention to the Nineteen Chapters of Han Jiao Sacrifice Songs,the Eighteen Songs of Han Nao and An Shi Fang Zhong Ge,or explored the rites of Jiao Sacrifice,or expounded the meaning of Nao Ge,or corrected the errors of previous writings,all of which were elaborate and helpful to later scholars.Wang Xianqian’s Annotation of Han Nao Songs explained the meaning of Nao Ge,as well as the textual research on its stories,item names,characters,pronunciation and system,which is the most detailed annotation of Nao Ge in Qing Dynasty.Gu Youxiao’s Yuefu Yinghua combined annotation and commentary,and examined Yuefu’s titles and stories,and highlights the ancient and abstruse aesthetic features of Yuefu with concise and refined comments.Zhu Jiazheng’s Yuefu Guangxu was committed to incorporating Yuefu into the six-meaning system of the Book of Songs,and creatively carried out the classification of Yuefu with the three classical standards.Meanwhile,from the standpoint of Poetry education,Zhu advocated the elegance and correctness of the content of Yuefu Poetry.In the selection of Yuefu,there were hundreds of schools of thought contending about the compilation and commentary of Yuefu in Qing Dynasty.Chen Zooming’s Selection of Ancient Poems in Caishutang aimed at reconciling the disputes between temperament and style,selecting Yuefu poems with the criterion of advocating affection and worshiping words,and stressing the ancient and incisive aesthetic characteristics of Yuefu poems;Wang Fuzhi’s Selection of Ancient Poems advocated the elegance of voice and emotion,and then attaches importance to the elegance of the tone and ideological content of Yuefu poems;Shen Deqian’s Source of Ancient Poems and Zhang Yugu’s Appreciation of Ancient Poems both emphasized the principle of poetry education.But the former emphasized the gentle and graceful poetry education of Yuefu,and the ancient and lingering nature of it,while the latter paid attention to the discrimination of Yuefu system and classification,and praised highly the implicit artistic features of Yuefu.Yuefu Poetics in Qing Dynasty tended to summarize ancient Yuefu Poetics,not only examined Yuefu with multiple poetic concepts and had a subtle comment on it,but also discriminated Yuefu stories and item names with profound textual research.In the history of Yuefu Studies,Yuefu poetics in Qing Dynasty inherited Yuefu poetics of Ming Dynasty and revised it,then opened up modern Yuefu Poetics,thus initiated the traditional combination of commentary,annotation and selection of poems. |
