Three Questions About Research On Poetry Talks In Yang Yizhai

Pan Deyu was an important poetry critic in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.His poetic theory was mainly concentrated in Poetics of Yang Yizhai.Based on the Confucian poetics and facing the severe social situation,Pan Deyu emphasized the theory of humanistic pragmatism,and he paid special attention to the practical function of poetry.Poetics of Yang Yizhai puts forward many unique poetic viewpoints on the basis of absorbing previous poetics,which are still of great theoretical significance and application value today.This article takes Poetics of Yang Yizhai as the research object,and discusses Pan Deyu’s poetic thoughts in combination with his Confucian standpoint and the social background of Jia and Dao periods.The following will be discussed from three aspects:The first chapter will discuss the creation theory of poetry embodied on Poetics of Yang Yizhai,it is also the core theory of Pan Deyu’s poetics.Pan Deyu had put forward two viewpoints on regards of poetry composition.One is“poetizing with true heart”.Pan believed“true heart”is the basis and source of inspiration for writing poetry.He also insisted that “true heart”requires “elegance in heart”,which means“uncompromising”,“open-minded”and“good character”.Pan view“poetizing with true heart”as the requisite for poetry composition,while “elegance in heart”for poets.They both embody the“heart-based” idea of composition.Principle of poetic composition based on “true heart” and require for poets focused on”elegance in heart” work together to form Pan’s poetry composition theory.The second chapter discusses the aesthetic theory of poetry in Poetics of Yang Yizhai.As the essence of poetry anthology,the aesthetic standard mainly includes “deep” and “vigorous and stylish” and “noble,quality,true”.The former focuses on the beauty of nature,beauty of obscurity,beauty of power,beauty of majesty and beauty of meaning conveyed by the poetry.While the later ones embodied Pan’s aesthetic standard and his critiques of the unhealthy tendency of poetry.The third chapter discusses the poet criticism in Poetics of Yang Yizhai.The poet criticism in Poetics of Yang Yizhai covers a wide range and has dialectical characteristics.Pan Deyu selected 242 poets from the Western Han Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty and made detailed and unique comments on these poets and their works.The first two sections of this chapter emphasize Pan Deyu’s criticism of the "Four Poem Saints"(Cao Zhi,Tao Yuanming,Li Bai,Du Fu)as well as several more concerned poets in the form of a list.The third section discusses the characteristics of Pan Deyu’s poet criticism: First,it is comprehensive and focused,with both criticism of the poets and criticism of the minority poets;and second,it emphasises on morality without abandoning poetry by others.However,based on the Confucian poetic standpoint of Poetics of Yang Yizhai,there are bound to be many limitations and flaws in the interpretation of poetics and poetic criticism.Therefore,the supplementary analysis is made from three aspects.