Research On The Poetic Theory Of Xiang Shi Shi Hua

“the Notes on Poets and Poetry by Xiang Shi” is a theoretical monograph on poetics,written by Huang Peifang,a famous poet and educator in Lingnan in Qing Dynasty,which was representative and influential.There are some characteristics of the times and regions in the poetic thought in the book.It can be summarized from the following four aspects:the standard of selecting poetry,writers’ criticism,appreciation theory,creative theory.In the standard of selecting poetry,Huang Peifang used his unique vision to select poetry,respecting different kinds of writers,collecting a lot of different kinds of poets.That is to say,the range and source of the recorded poems are wide,and not limited to the length of poetry.Meanwhile,he dared to have different opinions with the mainstream circle of poetry in Qing Dynasty,and affirm the value of amorous poetry.Besides,the paper recorded a large number of works of Cantonese poets and sorted out the origin and development of the poetry in Lingnan.It made a contribution to the Poetics of Guangdong,and it further improved the details of the history of Lingnan poetry from its perspective.In the writer’s criticism,he had unique views on the writers’ works.First of all,he could criticize ancient and modern poets dialectically.While praising the poets of all dynasties,he often dared to point out the shortcomings of the poetics or poems of some famous poets.Secondly,his point of view was usually very personal,which was different from the previous ones.In addition,he focused on commenting on the contemporary Cantonese poets,and reflecting the regional and epochal characteristics.Summing up the poetic techniques,he commented on the details of the works and the artistic achievements of the writers.There are a lot of records and reactions to contemporary writers’ poetics in the book.In appreciation theory,Huang Peifang paid attention to the function of poetry.He thought that the function of poetry mainly lied in recording events and expressing feelings,it also had the function of moral education.He advocated that poetry should not be about temperament,but about the style.He regarded “the Book of Songs” as the source of poetry,and he thought that good poetry could be related to it,and that poetry had the same origin with painting and calligraphy.He appreciated the poems of transcendence and creation,advocated appreciating the realm of poetry through the surface of poetry words,and praised the poems with natural beauty.In the creative theory,Huang Peifang required that creation should include talent,knowledge and learning,and he created “Six Important Methods in Creating Poetry”.He emphasized the title and prosody of poetry,and drawing on the experience of the poetry method of predecessors,he created “Method in Creating Seven-Character Poems”.Overall,though “the Notes on Poets and Poetry by Xiang Shi”has boundedness,it has a good point of view,for it has literary value and literary theoretical value,so it’s worth noting.