Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 9, 2022

“Poetry Expresses Intent”: From Intellectual Construction to the Poetry of Moral Edification

(Abstract)

Guo Changbao

In the pre-Qin period, “poetry expresses intent” was not a concept in poetics; its main function lay in the construction of a Confucian ideology with significant discourse connotations. “Poetry expresses intent” in religious ceremonies and bi zhi \[a method of divination\] influenced the activities and forms of poetic compositions in the spring and autumn feasts and rites, which together constituted a ritual tradition based on verbal expression. This tradition led to the canonical status of the Book of Songs, providing legitimacy and a discourse resource that could be used by high officials and scholars in the construction of new ideologies. Many forms of discourse with  different understandings and applications subsequently emerged, such as “quoting out of context,” “borne out by evidence,” “its formal patterns do not hide its words” and “using one’s mind to assess another’s intent,” and multiple elite values and goals were established, such as “undying words,” “stimulation, contemplation, communication and criticism” as the role of poetry, “cherishing friends” and “affection is generated between a man and a woman, but is restrained by ritual.” Throughout the construction of the unified ideology of the Han dynasty, the preface of the Mao version of the Book of Songs advocated integrating emotion and intent. This infused connotations of moral edification and of praise and satire into “poetry expresses intent,” redefining the political power and discourse pattern of the scholar-official class, and objectively revealed literary traits such as touching people with emotion, thus drawing back the curtain on a poetry of moral edification that expressed intent through poetry.