Generally speaking, Biography of Poems is a comprehensive criticism of Preface to Mao Poetry. However, this book is the masterpiece of Zhu's poetry research and the product of implementing his Outline of Poetry Research. Being at the peak of Song studies in The Book of Songs, it is not enough to sum it up by opposing the Preface of Poetry.
He hopes that readers of poetry can understand the beauty, ugliness, goodness and evil in poetry by being familiar with satirical literary methods, that is, seeking righteousness in literature, so as to warn themselves to abandon evil and be good. Only by knowing that there are three cardinal principles and five permanents in the poem can we restrain our desire to win over others.
Zhu Xi's Outline of Poetry governs everything, such as the theory of obscene poetry, the theory of thinking innocently, the theory of wind, elegance, the theory of two difficulties, and even the reform of style.
All these completely changed the tradition that the Han people regarded the poem as a thorn in beauty and a book of admonition, and it was of practical significance at that time to regard the moral cultivation of Neo-Confucianism as the ultimate goal of reading the poem.
However, since the Yuan Dynasty took "Biography of Poetry" as the imperial examination standard, its status has become higher and higher, and the original spirit of seeking truth has gradually disappeared. The emptiness and superficiality of the last stream of Song studies made Shi Zhuan a stepping stone to the imperial examination, which violated Zhu's original intention.
Extended data:
Biography of Poetry is a research work on The Book of Songs by Zhu in Song Dynasty. The Book of Songs is the first collection of poems in the literary history of Han Dynasty. It has had a far-reaching impact on the development of later poetry and has become the source of the realistic tradition of classical literature. There are 20 volumes in the History of Song Dynasty, and there are 8 volumes in this book.
There are two existing engraved versions of Poetry Biography in Song Dynasty, both of which are incomplete. One of them is in the Beijing Library, and the other is from an 8,000-volume building in Shi Ding, Hangzhou, with eight volumes left. There are also two Yuan editions, one in the National Library and the other in Taiwan Province Province. There are many engravings in Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are 20 volumes of Biography of Poetry in the Song Dynasty in the fourth edition and the third edition, which shows the face of the original book. Printed by Shanghai Editorial Department of Zhonghua Book Company 1958.
Baidu encyclopedia-biography of poetry anthology