Wang Yisun Ci Xin Shi Ji Ping

Author: Gao Xianhong
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This book collects all 64 qu poems of Wang Yisun. The poems are arranged in chronological order, with detailed explanations and annotations provided for each. The book includes critiques from famous scholars from the Song, Yuan, and late Qing dynasties, as well as selected (essentials) of modern and contemporary studies on Wang Yisun's qu poems, which are appended to the critiques, offering readers a broad research perspective.
Wang Yisun (c. 1230–c. 1291), styled Shengyu, was also known as Bishan, Zhongxian, and Yushi Mountain Man. He was a native of Huji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) during the Southern Song Dynasty. During the reign of Kublai Khan, he once served as the chief instructor of the Qinyuan Circuit. In his later years, he traveled between Hangzhou and Shaoxing. Skilled in literature and poetry, he had extensive social connections and once formed a poetry society with Zhou Mi and Zhang Yan, engaging in mutual poetic exchanges.
Wang Yisun's qu poems are mostly odes to objects, interspersed with reflections on his own life. He paid great attention to structure and layers, and his qu were deeply subtle and widely celebrated, though some found their meanings obscure. Many scholars consider Wang Yisun's style to be close to Zhou Bangyan, characterized by subtlety and depth. His crisp and refined style also resembles that of Jiang Kui. Zhang Yan described him as "crafting sharp and elegant words, with the demeanor of Bai Shi." His best-known works are odes to objects, such as "Qitianle · Cicada" and "Shuilongyin · White Lotus," both of which excel at capturing the essence of objects to convey emotions.
He left behind the collection Bishan Yuefu. Wang Yisun's Qu Poems: New Interpretations and Critiques collects all 64 qu poems of Wang Yisun, arranged in chronological order with detailed explanations and annotations. The book includes critiques from famous scholars from the Song, Yuan, and late Qing dynasties, as well as selected (essentials) of modern and contemporary studies on Wang Yisun's qu poems, which are appended to the critiques, offering readers a broad research perspective.