On Shijie's Poems and Their Significance in the History of Literature in Song Dynasty

Shijie was an active advocate of poem reform movement in the North Song Dynasty.He denounced Buddhism and Taoism,and mopped up the writing style of Xi Kun(a school of poem in Song Dynasty) and set off a tide of reviving Confucianism and reforming style of writing.He was famous for his prose in the history of literature and few people knew his poems.The extant over 100 pomes of his are mostly about morals and emotions,the style of which is plain and powerful and quite different from that of Xi Kun which is elegant and gorgeous.Shijie's poetic creation was just corresponding to the poem reform in North Song Dynasty and was an opposition to the style of Xi Kun.His poems started a new esthetic orientation for Song poetry and is of great significance in the history of literature.