Abstract: "Xingwei" is a poetic category based on the theory of "Xing" and "Wei" in Chinese poetics. Connecting "Xing" and "taste" theories, Zhong Rong put forward the theory of "Flavour", which refers to the beauty of implication in the content and situation of the poems. This became the basic meaning of "Xingwei" later. An overview ancients cases indicate that "Xingwei" mainly refers to an aesthetic feeling or experience implied in the poetry and can rouse the reader' extremely interest and enable the reader to have an endless aftertaste. It points to both aesthetic acceptance and the generation of creation, has two dimensions of poetry and daily life, and is both absorptive and open. It once became the common aesthetic standard of ancient literature together with other homogeneous categories. In modern times, it even once became the core of literary criticism, displaying the capacity of connecting the ancient and the modern, China and the West. Up to now, the poetic meaning of "Xingwei" continues to be open to all fields of art. It is worth special attention if we want to construct localized, autonomous critical discourse of China.

Key words: Xingwei, poetic category, aesthetic reception, generation of creation, aesthetic standard, construction of literary theory