Abstract: It is usually believed that in classical Chinese poem writing, except on the form, there is little emphasis on internal aesthetic rules. Or rather, such rules are invisibly there, but simply defy any expedient attempt at summarization or generalization. Based on a textual examination of Tang poems and on critics' diachronic observations about Tang poetry, the paper contends that in classical Chinese poem writing, there does exist an aesthetic rule which can be termed the paradigm of "ego absent" characterized by the representation of scenery as a metaphorical expression of feelings and emotions. The emergence of the scenery-as-feelings/emotions paradigm in classical Chinese poetry is closely associated with the profound Chinese cosmology of in ancient times.

Key words: classical poetry, "ego absent", "ego present", creative paradigm