Basic concepts and terms of China's ancient literary theory. Its essence is the understanding and generalization of the social functions of poetry (including music and dance), which was put forward by Confucius. "The Analects of Confucius Yang Huo": "Confucius said: Why did Confucius learn poetry? Poetry can be appreciated, observed, grouped and resented. Your father is far away, and you know the names of birds, animals and plants better. " The so-called "Xing", that is, "Xing is based on poetry and stands on ceremony" (The Analects of Confucius), and "Learning poetry should be the first step in self-cultivation" (The Analects of Yan He is quoted with salty notes), which is the educational function of poetry in self-cultivation (another meaning of "Xing" is the expression of poetry, see Fu Bixing). The so-called "observation", that is, "observing the ups and downs of customs" (Zheng Xuan's note) and "observing gains and losses" (Zhu's note), means that poetry has a certain cognitive function. The so-called "group", that is, "learning from each other's strengths" (Kong Anguo's note), means that poetry has the functions of gathering scholars, learning from each other's strengths and exchanging ideas. The so-called "resentment", that is, "resentment against the government" (Kong Anguo's note), means that poetry has the function of criticizing and criticizing the political measures of the rulers.

Prosperity, outlook, group and resentment are concepts with certain social content and specific requirements, which are produced under certain historical conditions. Confucius talked about poetry and prose, which was related to the moral and ethical norms of ethics and politics at that time. "Being knowledgeable in prose and meeting with courtesy can also be a blessing for a husband" (The Analects of Confucius, Yongye), which is his basic viewpoint. "Prospering in poetry and standing in ceremony", that is, poetry must be based on ceremony; "Observing the rise and fall of customs" is mainly aimed at rulers. The ancient system of offering poems is recorded in Guoyu Zhou Yu. It said: "The emperor listened to politics and made officials offer poems, songs, history books, teachers' words, poems, chants and admonitions ... Then the king thought about it. This is a matter of doing things. "Hanshu Yiwenzhi also talks about the ancient poetry collection system:" Jun is so concerned about vulgarity, knowing the gains and losses, and taking the test to correct himself. It can be seen that its purpose is to make the "emperor" or "king" "act without contradiction" and improve their political rule; Living in groups and learning from each other "mainly refers to the communication and learning within the ruling class;" Although "criticizing politics" is allowed, due to the constraints of "poetry teaching" and "neutral beauty", this kind of "criticizing politics" must be "gentle and sincere" and "stop at etiquette and righteousness" (although this is not entirely the case in concrete practice). In short, advocating the role of poetry in "praising, appreciating, gathering and complaining" is for the political purpose of "the father of expensive things and the king of expensive things". As for increasing knowledge, "know more about the names of some birds, animals and plants" has only subordinate meaning.

"Xing, Guan, Qun and Complain" is an important contribution of Confucius to China's ancient literary criticism. Although its specific social content needs specific historical analysis; However, from the perspective of literary theory, it summed up the practical experience of China literature at that time, especially the rich experience provided by The Book of Songs, summed up the social function of literature quite completely and comprehensively, and embodied a profound understanding of literary phenomena. It is valuable to put forward such a theoretical viewpoint in the early stage of the development of China literature.

The theory of "Xing, Guan, Qun and Yuan" had a great and far-reaching impact on the long-term development of China's feudal literature and literary theory. Later writers and literary theorists often use this as a weapon to oppose literature being divorced from social reality or lacking positive social content. For example, Liu Xie pointed out that Han Fu lacked the content of complaining and stabbing, saying: "Although Han Yan was prosperous, people praised his prosperity and poetry stabbed his way, so Xingyi died." In the struggle against the legacy of the Qi and Liang Dynasties in the Tang Dynasty, the poet emphasized the role of "good luck" in poetry, and the role of "satirizing good words", "judging the current affairs and guiding people's feelings" emphasized by the author of Xinle House in the Tang Dynasty, all of which inherited the tradition of attaching importance to the social function of literature. Until the end of feudal society, the great influence of this theory can still be seen in Huang Zongxi's Preface to Wang Shi and many other writers' literary opinions.

The theory of "Xing, Guan, Qun and Complain" has played a positive role in the history of China literature development, especially in that era of political darkness, corruption and fierce ethnic contradictions. For example, Du Fu's poems after the Anshi Rebellion, Lu You's poems and Xin Qiji's poems in the Southern Song Dynasty. It plays the role of literature's prosperity, prospect, group and resentment from different aspects. But this theory also has its inevitable negative influence on later generations. In addition to its inevitable limitations in ideological content, it is also manifested in the fact that some people in later generations often ignore the characteristics and laws of art itself because they only pay attention to the social function of literature, or understand the social function of literature too narrowly, such as some rejection of landscape poems and love poems, which often leads to bias. (Minze)

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China's ancient literary theory