On Plainness Of Chinese Classical Poetics

Categories play an important role in the theoretic criticism of Chinese ancient literature. The categories have many characteristics such as ambiguity and unclearness, transmission and variation, extending and permeability, intuitive and unity, flexibility and randomness ."Plainness" is an important category of Chinese ancient literary theory, and has close contact with "logic", "implication", "taste" and "charm" and other categories. "Plainness" and other categories influence, clarify and depend each other, they together exercise important influence over Chinese ancient literary theory and contribute to its development.From the vertical view, "plainness" emerged and evolved from Taoism's "Tao" before Qin dynasty. "When logic is talked out, its meaning is plain." "Quiet and plain, lonely and inaction." "Plain and without taste, use it and without stop." All of those are the main characteristics of this period. In Wei, Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties, "plainness" began to develop gradually. Tao Yuanming "first created the style of plainness in the history" with his idylls, Liu Xie discussed it through "weigh the profit and loss, deliberate dense and plain", Zheng Rong evaluated some writers by virtue of If the meaning show off, its taste become plain". In Tang Dynasty, "plainness" was displayed and extended. Du Fu's poems returned to plainness after the extreme brilliant. Si Kongtu's theory about "plainness" still has its inflence today. To the Song Dynasty, "plainness" became prosperous and mature. Mei Yaochen's poem "Writing the poem no matter ancient and present, the most difficult thing is to be plain" had become classic statement about "plainness". Su Shi's "creating bright beauty from ancient, place best taste in plainness" was also praised by people. Huang Tingjian's "plain but profound" standed for his opinion. After Song Dynasty, "plainness" continue to extend and improve. Wang Shizhen thought the poems should be "quiet and plain, having natural taste"; Xie Zhen advocated the poems should be "feeling and setting are both fine", "plain words and deep meanings"; Weng Fanggang thought when "words were quiet, and soul was distant", the poems would be fine;Ye Xie dialectically brought up the poems "pure plainness was no taste, pure simplicity was near to vulgar". Past researchers' unremitting efforts made important contribution to the richness and maturity of "plainness".From the horizontal view, the subordinate categories of "plainness" are mainly plain, dull, light and so on. They contact, influence and intertwin each other. In different period, their influence are different, and together composed "plainness", a classical poetic category. The poems should be true, its thought and feeling should be true if want to reach plain and light; the poems should be simple, "withered outer but rich inner, plain but beautiful"; having rich life experience, becoming mature when old, gradually returning to plain. Only in this way, the poems can be quiet, full, plain and harmonious.So no matter from the vertical view or from the horizontal view, "plainness" impact different period,different schools,different writers and different works more or less. At present, although category's influence is gradually declining, category's study will still have some meaning in today's society.