Yuan Haowen’s Theory of the Taste of Ci Poetry

Abstract

In the realm of the theories of literary criticism of ancient China,there was a particular theory using "taste" to criticize poetry.It was Yuan Haowen of the Jin period who started to employ this tool to appraise ci poetry.He used one ci written by Huang Tingjian and two ci written by ChenYuyi as representatives of ci possessing "taste".After analyzing these three examples in depth,it is not difficult to understand that Yuan Haowen’s theory of "the taste of ci poetry" actually means the deeper implications of the compositions.

我國古代文學理論批評中,有一個獨特的現象,就是以"味"論詩。而以味論詞,則始于金代元好問。元氏在《遺山自題樂府》中舉出黃庭堅的《漁夫詞》和陳與義的兩首《臨江仙》,作為有味詞的代表作。這三首詞經過詳細分析后,就不難看出元氏所謂"詞味",指的是含蓄委婉地包含在詞中的深層意思,要細心玩味才能理解。