On Yuan Hongdao's “xing ling” theory

Critics traditionally analyzed the xing ling theory of Yuan Hongdao, leader of the Gong'an School, from the historical perspective, praised its progressive significance in opposing plagiarism and promoting the pursuit for liberal thought in the late Ming Dynasty. While this is indisputable, this theory does little in analyzing the theory of poetry itself, resulting in its over estimated value in the opinion of the present author, who is largely devoted to the overview and inner structure of the xing ling theory.