On the conception of xingqing in the poetics of Yuan dynasty

Yinyong xingqing 吟咏性情 (to express one’s state of mind by poetry) is a long-standing theme in Chinese poetics and a notion with diverse understanding. Although the term xingqing developed into an essential concept that was commonly adopted in poetic criticism during the Yuan dynasty, different critics have used the term in different senses. Of the various interpretations, two major views remain valuable in the history of thought on Chinese literature: one being naturalistic and the other individualistic. The viewpoints of other critics, of course, may also help to illustrate the development and evolution of ideas about literature during the Yuan dynasty.