Title

Li Bo's Art of Poetry and "The Imitation of Classical Models"

Author

Cheng-hui Lu

Genre

Article  

Pages

31-46

Download

Language

Chinese

Key words

the 59 ‘ Ancient ballads”, “The Imitation of Classical Models”, the expression of personal feelings

Abstract

      In this paper, I will discuss Li Bo’s series of 59 “Ancient Ballads” (Gu-feng) and other similar ones, including “The Imitation of Classical Models” (Ni-gu), “xiao gu”.“Gan-xing”, “Gan-yu”, “Yu-yan”, in order to elucidate the style and some prominent features of his five characters Ni-gu.

     There is a wide range of classical models that Li Bo emulated , including the “Nineteen Old Poems” and the works of Cao Zhi, Ruan Ji, Zuo Si, Guo Pu, Tao Qian, Bao Zhao, Yu Xian and Chen Zi-ang, he learned rathe r than copied the patterns of structure and diction of these predecessors’ poems. For the expression of personal feelings, he inherited the legacies of Tao Qian and Yu Xin’s “Ni-gu”; in other words, this is a “re-creation” through imitation.

     In terms of the patterns of the expression of perso nal feelings, however, Li Bo’s works show “the spirit of inheritance” while Du Fu’s works show the spirit of innovation, regarding the large numbers of “Ni-gu” and “Ni-yue-fu” (ballads) we can say that “the Imitation of Classical Models” is the origin of Li Bo’s art of poetry.