The Xing-ling Theory and the Poetic Aesthetics in The Dream of the Red Chamber

The poetic theories proposed in The Dream of the Red Chamber mainly belong to the system of the School of Ge-diao, which advocates writing poems with the classic poetic style of the High Tang Dynasty and before. However, the poems in the book follow the aesthetic style of Late Tang poetry, drawing a multi-dimensional discussion between classicism and aesthetics. Focusing on Yuan Mei’s theory of xing-ling, this paper analyzes the image formation, the aesthetic orientation, and the expressionist style of the poems in The Dream of the Red Chamber. Emphasizing the style of fragrance and sentiment, the xing-ling theory is in fact a successor of the palace-style poetry of the Southern Dynasties; the poetry of Wen Ting-Yun, Li Shang-Yin, and Han Wo in the Late Tang; and the poetry of Yang Wan-Li in the Southern Song. Since the xing-ling theory is congruent to the characteristics of female poets, it is also closely connected with Late Tang poetry and lady poetry. Comparing the xing-ling theory with the poems in The Dream of the Red Chamber, this paper proves the close relationship between them and concludes that xing-ling, rather than ge-diao, is the real creative vitality of poem composing in The Dream of the Red Chamber.