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Title:: Theory of Saoya in Ci Poetry and Jiangxi Poetics in Late Song Dynasty

Keywords:: ci studies in late Song Dynasty; Ci Yuan; saoya; Jiangxi Poetics; transformation in ci style

Abstract:: Zhang Yan’s Ci Yuan 词源（ Origin of Ci Poetry） was the most important monograph of ci studiesduring the late Song Dynasty. Among the original ci categories such as qingkong清空（ literally clear and empty），zhishi 质实（ literally substantial and solid），saoya 骚雅（ literally classical and elegant） and yiqu 意趣（ literallymeaningful and interesting），the category of saoya was the most direct theoretical response to the revival of thepursuit of elegance in poetic creation since the Southern Song Dynasty. It also reflected the transformation in thestyle of ci poetry advocated mainly by the critics and poets from the Jiangxi School who favored writing ci poemsin the style of classic poems rather than still following the fashion started by Su Shi and Xin Qiji. The influenceof Jiangxi Poetics on the theory of saoya in ci poetry can be observed from its convergence with the poetics of theSong Dynasty and in particular that of the late Song Dynasty and explored from the following three aspects：thepoetic tradition dating back to shijing诗经（ aka Book of Songs） and lisao 离骚（ literally Encountering Sorrow）；the poetic style of toughness and strength；and the poetic language characterized by huofa活法（literally creativeacceptance and imitation）