| As a pioneer of Western poetics, the ancient Green philosopher Plato was a highly talented poet and, ironically, one of the most prominent opponents of poetry. In his seminal work Republic , Plato allowed Socrates to scourge poets dating back to the period of Homer, as well as their works, claiming that imitated poems are two layers underneath the substance, therefore are shadows of shadows. Such poetry impart no knowledge, and can only corrupt human ethics. Examining Plato's poetics in Republic requires, first and foremost, the explanation of such a position. Apart from that, clarifications on detailed issues of Plato's poetical criticism are also needed. The article seeks to interpret Republic from an ethical point of view. By touching on some of its poetics issues, revealing its philosophies, exploring its dramatic plots and elaborating on its poetical criticism part, the article opens new avenues for researches on Plato's poetics.Chapter 1 is the introduction part. It briefly describes the poetics topics in Republic, and explains the general principles and methods for interpreting Plato's work. The author believes that, in understanding the poetics of Republic, one should consider the historical context of the old quarrel between philosophy and poetry, as well as the dramatic context of the plot in Republic . That is to say, interpreting Plato's work should take into account both the philosophical aspect and the dramatic aspect.Chapter 2 is an overall interpretation on the book Republic, based on which, the author explains on which ground and in response to which problems are the Republic poetics born. Part1 starts from some key issues which bear heavily on the overall framework of the book, and argues that the core concern of Republic is ethics rather than politics. Part2 interprets Vol.I and the beginning parts of Vol. II, explains the context in which the Republic is set, that is, the decline of traditions and the spreading of sophistry have lead to chaos in ethics, and traditional queries about life need new answers and solutions. Part3 summarizes the plot of the entire book, stressing the importance and relevance of the poetical criticism part of it. Part4 examines the four metaphors standing as the cornerstone of Republic , and based on that, discusses issues like the human condition, highest substance, being, epistemic structure and soul which are in connection to the Republic, and explains the relationship between Plato's philosophical positions and his poetics.Chapter 3 gives a detailed understanding of the poetical criticism part in Vol.II and Vol. III. Socrates, as accounted by Plato, puts forward an initial examination on poetry by talking about the education on guardians. The focus here is the relationship between poetry and education, therefore there's an emphasis on using external rational and internal rational to purify poetry, and using poetry to purify the heart through education. Elaborating on this part, the author believes that Plato's examination on poetry is in essence a clean-up of the divine areas of traditional poetry, during which process he purifies the personalized, inscrutable gods into arational, good and just gods. The form criticism here is in fact an acceptance criticism, in that it intends to demonstrate that human hearts should exercise some rational judgment before acceptation the ideas expressed by poetry. Therefore, Socrates at this point is defending justice through a shortcut; his examination on poetry is based on dialogical consensus, while this consensus derives from acceptable traditional opinions. As a result, criticism on poetry at this stage is incomplete and non-thorough.Chapter 4 interprets Vol. X of Republic. In the philosophical drama of Republic, Socrates goes through a longer road to see the highest good and world of form. Based on that, he updated his previous defence on justice, and compares those who do justice and those who do injustice to see which is happier. Towards the end of the book, attention is given again to poetry. Therefore, discussions on poetry in Vol. X are centered on the relationship between poem and the truth. In this part Plato directs his criticism against the imitation of poetry. Socrates, through his argumentative dialogues, tries to correct people's blind worship on the authority of poems. By revealing the ethical consequences of aesthetics, he relentlessly bombards traditional poetry. However, in the end of this criticism, Socrates skillfully defended for poetry, advocating the creation of a new kind of philosophical poems, and demonstrating this new poetic paradigm through his own poems. The author believes that, Plato's criticism of poetry in Vol. X represents an impetus to create a new kind of poem; such new poems no longer imitate the presentations, rather, they mirror the self-cognition of the philosopher's heart in logos.Based on discussions in the foregoing chapters, Chapter 5 reviews the three topics in Republic poetics- imitation, purification and lies. The author believes that, in his argument on imitation, Plato condemns traditional poems for their obsession on presentations, caving in to customs, and the blind, uncritical acceptance of poetry by the readers. Plato's reprehension on imitation is for leading people out of the Cave, liberate their lives from external lucks and internal cravings. With this purpose in mind, Plato in his purification theories agues that the rational is to purify traditional poetry, and philosophical poetry are to purify human hearts. Plato sees poems as lies, however he distinguishes between two kinds of lies: traditional poems are replete with lies on the truth, because they cover up the substance, succumb to the rules of presentations. While the expected new kind of poetry can take away this cover, guide the heart towards the light of truth. Such new poetry will eventually become the"miracle"in the Cave and the rhetoric when the philosopher return to the Cave.Chapter 6 concludes that, the Republic represents Plato's position on traditional topics, and is a response to the ethical quandary of the time. Plato's criticism on poetry aims to facilitate the transformation of poetry, promote poetry as a way to foster new virtues in people's hearts, cultivate people's love towards a philosophical life, and finally guide people to pursue a joyous and excellent life through self-sufficient virtues and internal philosophic pursues. Plato's poetics idealism should therefore be understood and evaluated in this ethical perspective. In the closing sections, the article briefly reviews the impact of Plato's poetics on the history of critiques, and points out the significance of the topics brought forward by Plato, and the insightfulness of his answers to those topics.
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