Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No.10, 2014

 

The Effect on Qing Poetics of the Poetry Component of the Imperial Examination

(Abstract)

 

Jiang Yin

 

Resumption of the poetry component of the imperial examinations in the 22nd year of Qianlong was a major event in Qing cultural and literary history. The decree not only reversed the idea that the language of old-style poetry impeded performance in the examination, but also encouraged a fashion among scholars for writing regulated examination-type verse and inspired them to study the art of poetry written in accord with given examination topics (shitie shi, 试帖诗). Further, it led to a fashion on the street for compiling, annotating, and analyzing ancient and modern-style examination verse. Having been spread and popularized in the last decades of the Qianlong reign, the study of shitie shi made great progress. Experience and skill in writing examination verse according to specific topics were drawn together and filled out; at the same time, some ideas from classical poetics were spread and popularized through the market in education for the young (mengxue, 蒙学), a market dominated by the shitie shi. Thus an interaction grew up between the poetics of the shitie shi and general poetics. The flourishing of the poetics of shitie shi encouraged poetics as a whole to revive and thrive. This basic issue must be taken into account in studying mid-and late Qing poetics.