Poetics emerges from poetry, whose very raison d’être lies in language itself. Chinese poetics arose from the Book of Songs and its hermeneutical tradition. Its origins may be traced further back to the system of omens and associative correlations embedded in divinatory practices and the hexagram and line statements of the Book of Changes. By adopting an interdisciplinary approach that integrates philology, the philosophy of language, semiotic theory, psychoanalysis, poetic theory, and post-structuralist literary theory, this article argues that traditional Chinese poetics evolved from divinatory omens and from the poetic techniques of bi-xing (inspired metaphor) and eventually giving rise to the tripartite mode of poetic expression known as fu-bi-xing (lit. exposition, comparison, and inspiration). Within this structure, bi and xing originated in the hexagram and line statements of the Book of Changes, were transmitted through the poetic practice of the Book of Songs, and ultimately received systematic articulation in the hermeneutics of Book of Songs developed by Confucian scholars of the Han dynasty. This process laid the earliest conceptual cornerstone for Chinese poetics. Through an analysis of the omens in early archaic texts, the hexagram and line statements of the Book of Changes, and the symbolic imagery and bi-xing modes of representation in the Book of Songs, this article arrives at the following conclusion: Chinese poetics originated from the correlative imagination embedded in the hexagram statements of the Book of Changes and from the system of symbolic representation developed in the Book of Songs. Its conceptual foundation is correlative thinking, and its primary representational technique is fu-bi-xing. In the aesthetic transformation from hexagram statements to poetic imagery in the Book of Songs, symbolic representation was converted into a semiotic process of signification, eventually evolving into a poetic theory marked by distinctive Chinese characteristics and resonant with certain postmodern aesthetic features.

Qian Zhongshu's “Chinese Poetry and Chinese Painting” underwent continuous revision over more than half a century, during which its central arguments remained largely unchanged. However, the theoretical foundation on which it rests, namely, the division of Chinese painting into Northern and Southern Schools proposed by Dong Qichang in the late Ming dynasty, has been demonstrated to be untenable by the scholarship of Teng Gu, Tong Shuye, Qigong, and others. As a result, Qian's factual assessments appear unreliable, and his evaluative judgments become open to question. This article examines both the direct and indirect intellectual relationships between Qian Zhongshu, Teng Gu, and Tong Shuye, exploring Qian's conspicuous avoidance of and implicit response to the their theories, as well as Qigong's later, unnamed rebuttal. It argues that Qian's theory of painting, lacking sufficient grounding in practical experience, is fundamentally one-sided. In particular, it rests on the mistaken assumption that the complexity of brushwork is always positively correlated with the density of meaning. Moreover, the critical tradition he identifies is shown to be a generalization derived from partial and selective evidence.

Modern and contemporary China has witnessed continuing discussions of the nature of historical xiqu plays and the methods of their composition, with roughly four major waves of concentrated debate. The first, in the early 1940s, began with Guo Moruo's proposition that historical research seeks factual truth, whereas the writing of historical xiqu plays seeks resemblance in spirit. The second, in the early 1960s, centered on intense debates over whether historical truth and artistic truth are unified. The third began in the 1990s and continued into the early years of the new century, bringing forward such views as a spirit-infused conception of historical drama and the principle that major events should remain true while minor details need not be fixed. The fourth arose from disputes in theoretical circles over fictional plots in the yangju piece The Unbreakable City and the kunqu piece Gu Yanwu. A historical xiqu play may be defined as a dramatic representation of history. It requires that the history represented have actually existed; that the figures portrayed be historical personages who played an important role in the course of history, left discernible traces, are clearly documented, and either advanced or hindered historical development; and that the events depicted be historical events that occurred in a specific social context and had a far-reaching impact on the course of human history. The composition of historical xiqu plays first requires a correct orientation, namely, serving the present age and the broad masses of the people. It also requires the use of historical materialism to examine the history, historical figures, and historical events of a given period or stage, so as to arrive at new understandings consistent with historical reality. The principal techniques involved in writing historical xiqu are threefold: placing characters and stories within a genuine historical background; ensuring that fictional details accord with the historical environment and with the character of historical figures, preferably in a single-incident narrative structure; and, in shaping historical figures, not allowing their thoughts to exceed their status, character, or historical circumstances.

Xu Fen is a well-known contemporary xiqu playwright and a recipient of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Lifetime Achievement Award. Her significance in current scholarship has not been fully recognized. When her dramatic writing is examined within the historical process of xiqu modernization, it becomes clear that, with a strong modern spirit and a distinct modern consciousness, she has adapted traditional xiqu repertoires as well as Chinese and foreign literary classics, created a series of vivid xiqu figures embodying modern values, and innovated the textual forms and stage styles of modern xiqu. As a result, her work can be regarded as a contemporary model for xiqu modernization. Xu Fen's writing represents the contemporary development of the “Tian Han paradigm” of xiqu modernization. The existence of a large number of outstanding xiqu works represented by Xu Fen's plays, and of a large number of distinguished dramatists represented by Xu Fen herself, provides compelling evidence that “modern xiqu” is a valid artistic form with enduring stage vitality.

Critical creative philosophical thinking internally transforms the concrete understandings of the world articulated in Confucian and Taoist philosophy. This mode of thinking constitutes the philosophical condition that makes Chinese literary classics possible, yet it also revels a blind spot in Chinese philosophical studies, which have often remained confined to cognitive interpretations of pre-Qin philosophy. Lu Xun consciously aligned himself with a tradition of literary-philosophical thinking represented by figures such as Zhuang Zi, Sima Qian, Su Shi, and Cao Xueqin. Taking The Classic of Mountains and Seas as a foundational text for understanding life, he undertook a critical reexamination of both Chinese and Western philosophy. Through this inquiry, Lu Xun identified the philosophical problem of the numbness of life among the Chinese people, a condition that shaped a series of literary figures, including Kong Yiji, Xianglin's wife, Runtu. These creations established Lu Xun's position as a modern literary philosopher in the history of Chinese literature and philosophy. However, unlike Cao Xueqin, Lu Xun ultimately failed to provide a philosophical solution to the problem of “man-eating” through the creation of “new people.” This failure lies in the fact that the life numbness he exposed was not subjected to sufficiently concrete philosophical analysis. Moreover, the critical measure of “man-eating” bears clear traces of both Western and Chinese humanitarianism, rendering the philosophical project of “man-building” incomplete and, to a certain extent, illusionary. This limitation reflects the constraints of Lu Xun's non-systematic philosophical critical creativity, which tents to emphasize grieving over understanding and confrontation over reformation.

The study of historical materials in modern Chinese literature explores the theories and methods regarding the formal characteristics, genesis and evolution, and the organization and utilization of literary materials. The fundamental principles of this field the pursuit of truth, the pursuit of completeness, and the maintenance of appropriateness. The “pursuit of truth” concerns the fundamental objective of the study of modern Chinese literary historical materials. The “pursuit of completeness” pertains to its scope and focus. The “maintenance of appropriateness” relates to its mechanism of balance. These three principles act as preconditions for one another, and they collectively constitute the theoretical connotations of the study of historical materials in modern Chinese literature.

In response to the mysterious associations and political interpretations attached to nursery rhymes in ancient China, Zhou Zuoren explained the emergence of children's songs through anthropological theories that engage with human auditory development, the instinct of imitation, and the singing practice of early humans. He opposes the didactic and moralizing functions assigned to children's songs and advocates a view of pleasure that emphasizes “finding delight through imaginative association” and personal enjoyment. He evaluates the aesthetic value of children's songs from the child's perspective a, regarding them as “poetry for children.” He particularly focuses on their experiential recording of dialects, customs, and local objects. In this sense, he explores a comprehensive aesthetic education path that integrates poetics with ethnographic functions and addresses both children and adults. Exploring this issue helps one understand Zhou Zuoren's aesthetic orientation and poetic ideas from the micro-perspective of children's songs. His conceptualization also serves as a useful case for the initial stage of modern Chinese children's aesthetic education, providing a point of reference for contemporary practice.

During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the imperative to “enlightening the people” positioned “brain transformation” as a central concern among writers. In cross-cultural practice, the integration of “qi theory” and the reinterpretation of neural theory provided an ideological foundation and discursive resources for constructing the literary concept of “power” in the “new fiction”. Utilizing tropes such as medicine, magic, and universal electricity, novelists employed concepts of mechanical force and vitality to explore the human. Through aesthetic composites, they reconciled internal contradictions within science discourse and evoked the intrinsic beauty of science. Liang Qichao's aesthetic integration of “power” enabled a dialogue with modern Western scientific aesthetics and facilitated the conceptual emergence of the new fiction. The fiction and theories of “brain transformation” not only uncovered the beauty and romance of science but also inspired the practical pursuit of enlightenment in China.

Roland Barthes is regarded as one of the most influential theorists of the “text” in the second half of the 20th century. He not only developed a series of theoretical reflections on the concept of the “text,” but also transformed these reflections into a distinctive writing practice. Within this practice, biography as a literary genre became a central site for the refinement and testing of his text theory. Biographical writing and text theory can be understood as symbiotic in Roland Barthes's work. On the one hand, he employs text theory to rethink and reconfigure the fundamental generic assumptions of biography; on the other hand, through his own “biographical” writing, he opened up new possibilities for the concept of the “text” itself.

Building upon his theories of “acceleration” and “resonance”, Hartmut Rosa is currently advancing his thoughts on “social energy”. In this interview, Rosa first explains his emphasis on the “first-person perspective”, connecting his idea of socio-cultural energy with traditional Chinese thought. After addressing the influence of hometown on his “identity” and overall intellectual path, he underscores how the theory of “resonance” transcends previous conceptions of “identity”, highlighting the importance of transformation and of uncontrollability. In the discussion of the Frankfurt School, Rosa acknowledges the significant theoretical and methodological influences of Karl Marx and Max Weber, positioning himself closer to the first generation of Critical Theorists. He also shares his views on his predecessor Hans Joas, his supervisor Axel Honneth, and other contemporaries, while noting the supplementary role of Charles Taylor's philosophy for the Frankfurt School. Regarding his personal interests, Rosa expresses his love for music and nature, as well as his reverence for Nietzsche's insight into deep life forces. He also clarifies the meaning of “resonance”, both in its temporal experience as a rupture and in its significance as a metaphor. Finally, Rosa reflects on the capacity for resonance within AI and social media, advocating for the reconstruction of concrete world-relations as a means to overcome new forms of alienation.

In his Difference and Repetition, Deleuze offers a creative interpretation of Freud's late text “Beyond the Pleasure Principle”, proposing a novel structure of three syntheses at the level of repetition and the unconscious. This interpretation exemplifies Deleuze's productive engagement with Freud and psychoanalytic theory. Although Freud links the superego to the death drive, he remains confined to the perspective of material repetition. Deleuze, by contrast, reconceptualizes the death drive from the standpoint of spiritual repetition, ultimately revealing an impersonal death characterized by the coexistence of life and death and the dissolution of the subject. Deleuze sequentially integrate his three temporal syntheses with Freud's tripartite model of personality, establishing correlations between the present and the id, the past and the ego, and the future and the superego. He opens a dialogue between philosophy and psychoanalysis at the intersection of time and the unconscious, thereby providing a rigorous philosophical grounding for the metaphysical speculations in Freud's “Beyond the Pleasure Principle.” Ultimately, Deleuze incorporates the death drive into the broader framework of bio-psychic life. Within this framework, the individual undergoes continuous individuation in the field of intensive differences, realizing the evolution of repetition and difference at the profound depth of psychic life.

For a long time, studies on aesthetics and politics in the Western tradition have been situated in the framework of metaphysical philosophy. From Rousseau to Schiller, and further to the writings of European Romanticism represented by the Jena Romantics, scholars have sought to reconstruct the connection between aesthetic ideal and modern politics within the realm of speculative thought. Having undergone the theoretical refinement from Marx to the Frankfurt School, contemporary Western research on political aesthetics has “descended” from the metaphysical domain to the practical domain of social history, consciously distinguishing between the ideological practice of “aestheticized politics” and the critical-theoretical practice of political aesthetics. In the 21st century, research on political aesthetics has unfolded under the “practical turn” in the humanities, and it presents three distinct theoretical paths: aesthetic studies in political thought that are devoid of ethical dimensions, the exploration of heteronomous political aesthetics within the post-structuralist tradition, and the aesthetics revolution within the critical theory framework that abolishes normative ethics. Their diverging paths not only raise new questions about whether the critical paradigm of political aesthetics is compatible with normative ethics but also relate to a persistent puzzle throughout the process of aesthetic modernity: whether the sensus communis has the potential to expand into a social ideal of community. The practical path that is still absent in contemporary Western political aesthetics needs to move beyond the formal predicament of Western-centric modernity. This movement occurs within the historical process of a communist social community that aims at eliminating labor alienation and achieving the human ideal, and it points to Marx's historical-materialist analysis of a community of free individuals.

Media materiality studies seek to identify a middle path that accommodates both materiality and meaning, and semiotic materiality theory offers important theoretical resources for this endeavor from a semiotic perspective. Semiotic materiality theory originated in the work of Charles Sanders Peirce and in the Bakhtin circle's emphasis on the material properties of signs. It was later further developed within Marxist semiotics and social semiotics, through which it acquired a theoretical orientation grounded in Marxist materialism and social critique. The correspondence between semiotic materiality theory and media materiality studies lies in their comprehensive understanding of the relationship among signs, materiality and society. Specifically, both frameworks maintain that the relationship between materiality and meaning is manifested through their mutual mediation, a process through which human and social interpreters emerge. At the same time, the sign itself should be understood as a material entity that embodies and mediates social reality.

New aestheticism is a school of literary criticism that emerged in the early twenty-first century. Rather than simply returning to traditional aestheticism, it incorporates insights from multiple theoretical traditions. It critiques social-historical criticism and cultural studies in an effort to downplay the political dimension of literary criticism, instead emphasizing individualized experience and aesthetic pleasure. However, new aestheticism reveals significant theoretical biases and inherent paradoxes. It overlooks the sustained attention that social-historical criticism and cultural studies have devoted to aesthetic questions; it attributes the perceived decline of English studies to the utilitarian tendencies of criticism; and it seeks to free itself from ideological constraints in order to achieve “depoliticization” in critical practice. These contribute to the internal paradoxes of new aestheticism — the methods it advocates align with the underlying logic of neoliberalism, thereby functioning as an extension of consumerism and capitalist power discourse. Although the emergence of new aestheticism may be understood as an inevitable outcome of theoretical and historical development, it fails to clarify the relationship between politics and aesthetics. By contrast, Jacques Rancière illuminates the political potential inherent in the aesthetic configuration of the “distribution of the sensible,” offering a more productive perspective for understanding such relationship.

As one of the founders of modern French criticism, Paul Valéry's poetics not only inspired major intellectual movements within the French academic system but also transformed the landscape of literary studies. Central to his poetics is a sustained engagement with translation—both as a personal practice and as a theoretical pursuit. This engagement positioned translation as an embodiment of his poetics and gave rise to a distinctive poetics of translation. Focusing on Valéry's perspectives on language and literature, this article examines three dimensions of his poetics of translation: 1. treating the original text as a “pretext” and translation as both a poetic practice and a paradigm; 2. elevating translation to the ontological level of literature and expanding its scope literary theory, thereby conceptualizing translation as an “act” and tracing a fragmented, networked poetic trajectory through a “hypertextual” lens; 3. viewing translation as a means of extending a text's life through the idea of “potential texts.” These three dimensions articulate Valéry's distinctive vision of language and literature, and together form the foundation of his unique poetics of translation.

Gadamer repeatedly reflected on the concept of imagination in Kant's aesthetics from a critical perspective. His discussions on this subject constitute an important theoretical dimension of the hermeneutical conception of imagination. In Truth and Method, Gadamer grounds imagination in the play space wherein Dasein engages with beings, and, through ontological thinking, dissolves the subjectivization of the free play of imagination as well as the principle of the priority of understanding. In “Intuition and Vividness,” Gadamer liberates artistic intuition from mere receptivity under stimulative conditions through the original nature of imagination. At the same time, he interprets Kant's theory of genius and the “Ideal of the Beautiful” as a prefiguration of primordial intuition. This approach transcends the dualism between sensibility and intellect, and it establishes imaginative intuition as the foundation of aesthetic cognition. Viewed from the practical path of hermeneutics, Gadamer does not endorse the Kantian model that privileges determinative judgement. Instead, he emphasizes imaginative capacity for creative adaptation within concrete existential situations. Correspondingly, reflective judgment transcends the constraints of subject-centered aesthetics and operates within historical practice, which further illuminates hermeneutics' principle of aesthetic non-differentiation.

Huang Tingjian engaged in a spiritual dialogue with Tao Yuanming on themes such as praising Tao's loyalty, contentment in poverty, and self-cultivation of the mind and character. His profound experience of reading Tao Yuanming's poetry left a deep imprint on both his poetic theory and his creative compositions. Huang Tingjian's criticism of Tao Yuanming's poetry emphasized the poet's inner subjective realm and the reader's responses. This impressionistic criticism crystallized into the poetics of qingxing (emotion-nature) in his later years. The core of this theory lies in poetry's fenghua (transformative) function: the poet alleviates sorrow and manifests his temperament through verse, while the reader gains moral encouragement by interpreting the poet's intent through the text. Regarding creative practice, the travel poetry of both figures frequently revisits the motif of “returning” as a signifier of a spirit liberated from secular shackles. By juxtaposing environmental flux with an unwavering internal constancy, both poets effectively articulate a distant spiritual realm. Ultimately, their shared philosophy of yielding to transformation is anchored in a refined unworldliness, which ensures that such resignation does not devolve into passive conformity with the world.

Liu Kezhuang (1187—1269)'s poetry exhibits notable syntactic innovation through its transgression of conventional poetic boundaries, generating distinctive rhythmic effects. Such unconventional structures are most prominent in his later works, especially in the central couplets of regulated verse, where they are often combined with classical allusions and sophisticated parallelism. Unlike typical jianghu and jiangxi poetry modes, these syntactic experiments display a strong affinity with parallel prose and its compositional techniques. Liu's fellow Fujian literati like Lin Xiyi also exhibited similar tendencies, suggesting the influence of regional literary practices on the broader poetic establishment. While striking to balance intellectual depth and compositional practicality, Liu's experimental approach remained constrained by poetic conventions and by the transition from the Song to the Yuan dynasties. As a result, his poetry represents a short-lived yet significant late-style innovation that explored new possibilities in the wake of the Tang-Song tradition's maturation.

Unlike previously known versions of The Water Margin, which consist exclusively of published volumes, three newly discovered commentary editions remain in their unpublished, manuscript form. These three editions reflect the diverse engagement of readers at distinct levels of proficiency. For novice readers who are new to the work, the practice of excerpting original text alongside existing critiques serves as a mnemonic and interpretive aid. Intermediate readers demonstrate greater familiarity with the text and its commentarial tradition, yet their annotations remain spontaneous and primarily serve as emotional outlets. In contrast, advanced readers—characterized by superior literary erudition—produce serious commentaries that exhibit unique personal styles and systematic rigor. An investigation into these unpublished materials reveals their profound scholarly significance. These editions not only offer vital clues to previously obscured literary questions but also broaden the scope of research regarding traditional novel commentary and the broader history of reading practices.

The study of Andrew H. Plaks's Chinese narrative theory mainly centered on The Four Master Works of the Ming Novel and Chinese Narrative. Most scholars often tend to discuss these two works separately, thereby underestimating both the similarity in their core viewpoints and the differences in their theoretical frameworks. By examining Plaks's two works on Dream of the Red Chamber, researchers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the process by which he constructed his narrative theory. Furthermore, Chinese Narrative: Critical and Theoretical Essays makes it clear that Plaks's exploration of Chinese narrative literature is directed toward reshaping the boundary of research in this field. Situating Plaks's academic views within the broader framework of Western sinology allows for a fuller appreciation of both his theoretical system and its overall significance.

The revival of parallel prose in the Qing dynasty is a judgment in literary historiography that represents the mainstream scholarly view of parallel prose during this period. Through an analysis of various discourses on parallel prose in the Qing dynasty, this study finds that the implications of such assessment extend beyond the large number of parallel-prose works and their authors. They also encompass the elevation of stylistic standards, the expansion of the aesthetic scope of parallel prose, and the incorporation of diverse literary forms. Consequently, an examination of the significance of the revival of parallel prose in the Qing dynasty reveals that parallel prose of this period differed from that of earlier dynasties and transcended the traditional framework of parallel prose established in previous eras.