Chinese Journal of Literary Criticism

No.2, 2024

From the Classics to Literature: Gushibian Pai and the Modern Transformation of Chinese Shijing Studies

(Abstract)

Guo Minghao

Gushibian Pai (the Doubting Antiquity School) questioned the traditional Chinese Shijing studies and directly contributed to its modern transformation. The scholars of Gushibian Pai, with the color of cultural patricide, attempted to remove the identity of Shijing as a text of the classics, dissolve its legitimacy and authority, and re-examine existing literature on Shijing. The fact that the scholars of Gushibian Pai moved Shijing from the category of classics into the category of literature is of great academic significance in shaping the discourse of modern Chinese Shijing studies, but from today’s point of view, it has its own shortcomings.