Classical Poetry Notes

Author: Wu Xiaoru
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: In the late 1950s, the Department of Chinese at Peking University decided to separate the part of the Chinese Literary History course that involved analyzing works and establish two new courses, Initially, the author was assigned to teach them separately. By 1961, the People's Radio of China launched a new program called "Reading and Appreciating," which was also inaugurated by the author. From then on, the author began writing articles on appreciating classical Chinese poetry and prose. In recent years, the trend of appreciating works has flourished, with not only specialized publications but also numerous books on appreciating famous works from ancient and modern times. The author has often been invited to write on these topics, and now shares some personal insights. Whether analyzing works or writing appreciation articles, the author has always set himself a few rules: first, understand etymology; second, be clear about allusions; third, grasp the background; fourth, examine the author's life and career. Finally, these are summarized under the general principle of judging emotions and reasoning, which governs the above four points. If these four points are done carefully and measured against the principle of judging emotions and reasoning, at least the author feels that such an understanding is reasonable and logical, then the analyzed ideas and appreciated artistic techniques may have persuasiveness and truly aim at the mark. These insights are not really what one might call "scholarly methods," but merely the principles the author adheres to when writing appreciation articles and reading classical Chinese poetry. May they be shared and encouraged by all readers who love classical literature!