Hu Shi's Critique of Ci Poetry (Revised Edition)

Author: Shi Yidui Comments
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: The comments on Hu Shi's lyrics are, in fact, a form of restoration. Hu Shi composed 103 lyrics, but only 29 were explicitly labeled and displayed as his works, which is less than 30%. The rest were not labeled and appeared in the form of new-style poems. Among the 103, both new-style and old-style poems were treated equally, all included in his "Experiment" series. From the perspective of its "original intention," the game has been played, and perhaps at the time, he did not want people to know exactly what was going on. Even if he was quite proud of himself, as in "A wild fancy, as if the immortals returned from gathering herbs," and "In the gourd, there are some subtle things," he still refused to reveal the secret. His so-called "Let me guess with you" not only creates suspense but also seems to want to see whether the poets were truly clever or not. However, for some reason, from the time Hu Shi first proposed this idea to the present, nearly ninety years have passed, and the poets have still not been able to solve this mystery—whether they have guessed it right or wrong. It seems there is still no answer.