Abstract: Wang Shizhen (1526-1590) had a strong reaction to the stigmatic identification of literati. Wang’s stance towards literati transformed gradually from a critique on “literati being impractical” to the lament for literati's fate as well as an appeal to sympathy for literati among his peers. Faced with the claim that literati were not virtuous, he emphasized that literary talent should be the inherent measurement in identifying literati. This idea was distinctive from the view of Tang Shunzhi (1507-1560), and the theory of emotion. Wang Shizhen’s literati identification and consciousness of community were driven by the intertwining but also conflicting constellations of literature, Neo-Confucianism and philosophy of mind in the political contexts from Jiajing (1522-1566) to Wanli (1573-1620). Wang’s views were representative of the discursive confrontation after the personality model which integrated morality, politics and articles was broken. His views also became an important node in the intellectual development of “emphasis on literariness” in Ming Dynasty; and revealed the inevitability of the literati going to the local and into the lower classes.

Key words: literati, identity, practicality, Wang Shizhen