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140 J. Yuan

functions of literature from all levels of life activities. Later, Huang Zongxi (黄宗羲
1610–1695) of the Qing Dynasty also said, “Criticisms do not have to refer exclu-
sively to the criticism of political injustice; they can also refer to the poems of later
generations about mourning, elegy, condemnation, and satire.” (Huang, 1959, p.
358) This is also what Zhong Rong meant. Jiao Hong (焦竑 1540–1620), a literary
figure of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), said: “Poetry is nothing but what is created
by people’s creative inspiration. Without inspiration, people cannot have deep
emotions; without deep emotions they cannot compose soul-stirring and ever-
lasting poems.” (Jiao, 1999, p. 155) After Jiao Hong, a romantic writer and a
contemporary of Li Zhi (李贽 1527–1602), examined the development of ancient
poetry, he proposed that most of the poems criticizing injustice were made by
scholars when they were in trouble, so their emotions were real and touching.
Among the poems selected by Confucius, although there are some poems written
by people who had accomplished their ambitions, after reading them, the unfor-
gettable ones are those poems criticizing injustice in the ballads of changes and the
court hymns changes.
In the Song Dynasty, the popularity of the notion of being mild and gentle,
sincere and broadminded dwindled, so the concept became a category of self-
cultivation of neo-Confucianists. Zhu Xi was very dissatisfied with the views of Han
Confucian interpretations of The Book of Songs, and he put forward a set of theories
in the “The Preface to On The Book of Songs”: “Poetry is the result of the human
heart perceiving external objects and making up for the lack of verbal expression.
The feelings of the human heart can be evil or righteous, and therefore verbal
expressions can also be right or wrong. Only the sages, who are at the top, have
pure feelings and their words have an edifying effect. If the feelings are mixed, and
the words expressed are optional, then those who are in the court will definitely
ask, exhort, and discipline themselves, and this will have an edifying effect
(Zhu, 2017, p. 1). Compared to the “The Preface to The Book of Songs,” this passage
of Zhu Xi sounds more neo-Confucianist. “The Preface to The Book of Songs” pays
more attention to the aesthetic characteristics of poetry, emphasizing the use of the
techniques of narrative, analogy, and association to express the ideas and emo-
tions, whereas Zhu Xi (朱熹 1130–1200) does not mention the status of emotions in
the creation of poetry, but highlights the role and status of “thinking.” According
to Zhu, poetry education is the sages teaching morality to the people. This view is
obviously more conservative.
At this time, a group of romantic writers in the Ming Dynasty raised their voices
and advocated the beauty of impetuousness and conflict. The spirit of criticism in
Confucius’ poetry theory of stimulation, contemplation, communication, and
criticism was revived. In his “Reply to Xu Koubei,” (《答徐口北》) the Ming literatus
Xu Wei (徐渭 1521–1593) proposed, “When you read selected poems, if they are like