Classical poetry Qi Cong

Author: Wu Xiaoru
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: In the late 1950s, the Department of Chinese at Peking University decided to separate the part of the Chinese Literature 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 Initially hosted by the author. From that time on, the author began writing articles on appreciating classical Chinese poetry and prose. In recent decades, 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 frequently been invited to contribute to such texts, and now shares some personal insights.
When analyzing works or writing appreciation articles, the author has always set himself a few rules: first, to understand etymology thoroughly; second, to be clear about allusions; third, to grasp the historical context; and fourth, to examine the author's life and background. Ultimately, these are summarized under the overarching principle of judging emotions and reasoning, which governs the above four points. If these four points are done conscientiously and evaluated against the principle of judging emotions and reasoning, at least the author feels that such an understanding is reasonable and logical. Only then can the analyzed ideas and appreciated artistic techniques be convincing, truly hitting the mark.
These insights do not amount to a grand "method of scholarship" but rather the author's personal guidelines when writing appreciation articles and reading classical Chinese poetry. He hopes to share these with all readers who love classical literature and encourage them to strive for the same!