ABSTRACT
SO FAR WE have given a general outline of Yuan Mei's ideas about the art of poetry and its practice but have said little concerning his evalu-
ation of past and contemporary poets, so now let us turn to his practical criticism. Since Yuan was convinced that poetry is a direct expression of the individual's inner nature and feelings, the realm of verse must be immensely rich in variety, and the likes and dislikes of a single individual can hardly be trusted in evaluating the writings of others:
But men's natures are different from each other. Some love jujubes. Some love calamus. 1 Poetry is the same. Du Fu did not like Tao Qian's verse, and Ouyang Xiu did not like Du Fu's poetry. The poets of the Jingling School, the Gong'an School, and the Seven Ming Masters slandered one another.2 Wang Shizhen bitterly reviled Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen, promoting [poetry of] the Middle Tang period only.3 Jiang Shiquan and Qian Qi bitterly reviled Wang Shizhen, promoting only Zha Shenxing.4 I think they were all correct, and all wrong. What was correct is that they all had their unique visions and did not follow in the footsteps of others. What was wrong is that their visions were too extreme, and they did not examine problems with a calm mind.5
