ABSTRACT

Renjian cihua is a masterpiece of literary criticism written by Wang Guowei (1877–1927), a scholar of the Chinese classics who lived during the late Qing and early Republican periods. Since its publication in 1908 and 1909, it has been one of the most influential academic works in China. Elegantly written, Wang’s set of "remarks on ci poetry" (cihua) retains a traditional Chinese impressionistic critical approach, and can present difficulties to the common reader. This set of lectures by Florence Chia-ying Yeh explains the text to readers, making accessible Wang’s famous theory of jingjie ("aesthetic realm" or "artistic conception"), his views on how the ci differs from the shi genre of Chinese poetry, and his critical judgments of various famous ci poets from the Tang, Five Dynasties, and Song periods. The lectures are presented here in an English translation by Maija Bell Samei.

chapter 2|19 pages

Distinctives of the Ci genre, part I

chapter 3|15 pages

Layers of meaning in the Ci

Double gender, double context

chapter 4|29 pages

Distinctives of the Ci genre, part II

Major poets of the late Tang and Five Dynasties: Wen Tingyun and Wei Zhuang

chapter 5|20 pages

Major poets of the late Tang and Five Dynasties

Wen Tingyun and Feng Yansi

chapter 6|27 pages

Major poets of the Five Dynasties and Song

Li Yu, Liu Yong, and Su Shi