Literary Selections and Theory of Fu in Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty witnessed a revival of literary selections,which can be divided into the following three categories: continuing and enlarging the classical selections; building special collections of the fu poetry; and establishing comprehensive collections of different literary genres. The scholars in different schools,however,showed a common tendency to extol the fu poetry while working on the basis of what their predecessors' had done. They usually resorted to the criteria of the Han Dynasty when selecting the fu poems though respecting the pattern and standard embodied in the Selections of Prince Zhaoming. In so doing,they constructed their own historical view on the fu poetry and at the same time created some classical fu poems. The revival of literary selections and the fu poetry in the Ming Dynasty was actually a consequence of the social trend at that time,when there was a renaissance of the traditions before the Jin Dynasty and the merits of fu poetry ( especially the fu poems of Sima Xiangru) were recontextalized and given new interpretations.