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Liuying Wu

Abstract

Wang Shizhen's poetic corpus underwent significant revision from its initial publication in the late Shunzhi period to his final compilation of the complete collection of his works in his later years. Over the course of half a century, he continually produced new works while re-editing and republishing earlier collections. During the first and eighth years of Kangxi's reign, he made substantial deletions to his earlier poems when compiling new editions of his works. By examining these deletions through early editions and related documents, we can reconstruct Wang Shizhen's early poetic development and trace his evolving aesthetic sensibilities. Although his success in the civil service examination and subsequent official appointments in Jiangnan suggested a promising career, his lost works reveal an underlying sense of frustration and melancholy during this period. His extensive engagement with yanti (amatory) poetry, which was actively composed and published at this time, signals a phase of aesthetic experimentation and stylistic boldness. During his years in Yangzhou, his poetic influences alternated between the styles of Wang Wei and Meng Haoran, as well as Wen Tingyun and Li Shangyin, which reflects a dynamic intersection of different literary traditions. As he continuously revised and refined his collections, Wang's Yuyang poetics gradually matured, which moved toward a more polished and elegant form. His selective deletions and evolving aesthetic choices exemplify the broader literary transformations of the early Qing period, a time when poetic expression transitioned from stylistic plurality to increasing formalization and refinement.

Keywords

Shenyun poetics, Wang Shizhen, shift in poetic style, early works, early Qing poetry

First Page

106

Last Page

118

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