Abstract:

In the history of Northern Song poetry, “Xikun” poets and MEI Yao-chen, the leader of “plain” style of poetry, came from two different hierarchies: the former belonged to the officials of imperial academies, and the latter came from the rank of low-level officials and ordinary scholars. Their different orientations of style of poetry showed different aesthetic tastes of their own classes. Examining the poetic styles and official positions, we can see that the orientation of the poetic style of “Xikun” corresponds to the origin of the noble class, which shows the stability of the life pattern; on the contrary, MEI Yao-chen demonstrated the tension of the life pattern between the pursuit of simple poetry and that of the noble career. In such a circumstance, MEI had poetic communication with YAN Shu and WANG Gui, the representatives of “Xikun” style in the later period. Based on the specific difference of official atmosphere and mentality, MEI clearly expressed two different attitudes of praise and belittle for his own “plain” style.

Key words: “Xikun”, “plain”, MEI Yao-chen, YAN Shu, WANG Gui, hierarchy division