Abstract
Qian Zhongshu criticizes Wen Yiduo's argument “poetry is history” in Notes on Literature and Art, thereby initiating an academic debate on the origin and essence of poetry. Previous scholarship has largely overlooked Giambattista Vico, a shared intellectual resource of both sides of the debate. As a result, the origins and nature of this “poetry-history” controversy, which spanned nearly 4 decades (1948-1984), have not been fully elucidated. This article examines Manuscripts of Qian Zhongshu: Foreign Language Notes and related academic notes, and reveals Qian's keen interest in Vico in the 1960s and 1970s. In Principi di Scienza Nuova, Vico discusses caratteri poetici and universali fantastici, and considers fantastici as a form of thought. These concepts have deeply influenced Qian's poetic interpretation of the image in The Book of Changes and the metaphor in The Book of Poetry.
Keywords
Qian Zhongsh, Giambattista Vico, “essence of poetry”, Wen Yiduo
First Page
87
Last Page
97
Recommended Citation
Zhang, Lulu. 2025. "Qian Zhongshu and Giambattista Vico: The Academic Debate on the “Essence of Poetry” in Manuscripts of Qian Zhongshu: Foreign Language Notes." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (3): pp.87-97. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss3/9
