Abstract
Stylistic degradation over the generations is a claim made by Ming-Dynasty scholar Hu Yinglin (1551-1602) on classical Chinese poetic tradition. This paper argues that Hu's claim should not be treated merely as a concept of literary regression but should be taken more seriously as Hu's criticism of the uncontained proliferation of lyricism in poetry and corrosion of "ideal-expressing" poetic tradition. Hu's apparent retro idea of poetics conveyed in "generational stylistic degradation" is closely related with the tradition of "poetic arousal and projection (兴寄)" in ancient Chinese poetics and his reaffirmation of poetic cultivation, while poetic style (格) is a holistic concept in poetics which involves the poets' emotions and aspirations as well as the genres and stylistics in poetry. Poetic style reflects the poets' social status in an implicitly artistic manner, and the ranking of the style is defined by the upper class of the society and therefore poetic style as a symbol of their own tastes on poetry bears great significance on politics, culture and aesthetics. The claim that poetic style degrades over generations should be understood as essentially a poetic pursuit of the mainstream poetics advocated by the scholar-officials who endeavored to defend and maintain their commitment to their spiritual pursuit, social status and aesthetic taste.
First Page
135
Last Page
143
Recommended Citation
Wang, Minghui. 2016. "The Significance of Hu Yinglin's "Generational Stylistic Degradation" in Poetics and Culture." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 36, (2): pp.135-143. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol36/iss2/20
