On Zhu Xi’s Literary Thought from the Shijingjizhuan
DOI: https://doi.org/10.62517/jhve.202516103
Author(s)
Yanping Wang1,2
Affiliation(s)
1Public Teaching Department, Hainan Vocational University of Science and Technology, Haikou, Hainan, China
2School of International Education, New Era University College, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Abstract
In the vast history of Chinese literature, the Book of Songs has become an indispensable part of Chinese culture with its simple, elegant and colorful poems. Zhu Xi is a great scholar in the Song Dynasty. He is a proficient in Confucian classics, and especially in the Book of Songs. His interpretation and study of the Book of Songs shape the later generations’ understanding of this classic and reflect his unique literary thought. Taking the Book of Songs as the carrier, Zhu Xi constructs a set of literary views integrating the essence of Confucianism. He believes that the essence of the poems in the Book of Songs lies in “temperament”, which aims to express people’s true feelings and morality. He emphasizes the educational function of poetry and advocates that poetry should encourage righteousness and assist people’s ethics. At the same time, Zhu Xi also pays attention to the aesthetic value of poetry, thinks that poetry should have beauty of “the strength of character” and “Xing-Ji”, emphasizes the polish of language and the creation of artistic conception of poetry , and thinks that a good poem should be concise and bright, and have profound meaning. By elucidating the Book of Songs, Zhu Xi lays a profound theoretical foundation for the development of later Chinese literature and enriches the connotation of traditional Chinese aesthetics.
Keywords
Shijingjizhuan; Zhu Xi; Literature
References
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