Evolution of the Poetic Styles in the Southern Song Dynasty as Seen from the Divergent Perceptions Towards Dai Fugu’s “Learnedness”
Fei Junqing1, Lou Pei2
1.College of Chinese Language and Literature, Zhejiang Yuexiu University, Shaoxing 312000, China 2.College of Humanities, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou 311121, China
Abstract：Dai Fugu had to drop out of school at an early age. When he grew up, he aspired to become a poet like his father. He studied hard, travelled far, learned from various famed poets, and eventually established himself as one of the representative figures in the Jianghu School of poets. Still, there exist two divergent perspectives on whether Dai Fugu could be considered a well-read poet or not. One viewpoint argues that Dai Fugu could not be considered a learned poet since he had little formal education, and in their words was “with an empty head”, while another asserts that Dai studied so assiduously and persistently that he became a poet of great learning. This argument over Dai’s learnedness still has not been resolved. This author will argue in this article that there is ample evidence in Dai Fugu’s own works, to demonstrate that Dai read not only voluminously, but also expansively, from Confucian classics, historical records, philosophical writings, and miscellaneous works to everything in between. Moreover, Dai Fugu could apply what he read into his own poetry writings, resulting in his unique collections of poems with wide-ranging styles and techniques. Dai was adept at employing various methods, techniques, and styles to suit his creations. For example, sometimes he would utilize a plain and direct style in his poems, letting emotions naturally seep out, while at other times, he would cite famed quotations rendering his poems magnificent artifacts, and earning high praises from his peers and critics. This author believes that the reason for so much dispute over so many years is explainable by the changes in the literary scenes of the time. When he had just become a poet, the literary world, especially the world of poetry, was dominated for years by the Jiangxi School of style, which promoted poetry as the result of learnedness, while Dai himself, was ashamed of not being well educated, so kept studying very hard, hoping to remedy this shortcoming. But times changed later: the Yongjia Four Geniuses rose to prominence representing the late Tang poetic style, which rid themselves off the so-called “learnedness” baggage. Instead, they favored artistic plainness and directness, and as a result, Dai’s poetry received wide acclaim. However, Dai Fugu realized either school of the poetic styles had its own limitations, compared poems of different times, especially those written during the high times of the Tang Dynasty, and promoted styles evident in Du Fu’s poetry. This revelation of what constituted poetic merits resulted, clearly from his lifelong wide and expansive readings, and from his constant critiquing and comparing poems of previous times. Today, reading through Dai’s poems, this author can find clear traces of evidence that Dai as not only an eminent poet, but also a well-learned scholar.
费君清, 楼培. 从戴复古“不甚读书”的争论看南宋诗风的演变[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2022, 52(3): 72-83.
Fei Junqing, Lou Pei. Evolution of the Poetic Styles in the Southern Song Dynasty as Seen from the Divergent Perceptions Towards Dai Fugu’s “Learnedness”. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2022, 52(3): 72-83.
2022, Vol. 52 
