Literati Criticism

Ouyang Xiu (1007–1062 AD)

Those who want to be good at calligraphy should create their own individual style. We call “slavish” those who [simply] copy the work of others.

Ouyang Xiu Quanji [The Collected Works of Ouyang Xiu], 2 vols. (Taipei: Zhongguo xueshu mingzhu wenxue mingzhu, 1961), Bi shuo, 1044.

Mi Youren (ca. 1072–1151 AD)

To render an explanation of painting is the same as saying that it is the portrayal of the [artist’s] mind.

Cited in Susan Bush, The Chinese Literati on Painting
(Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971): 31/189, 179/145, 73/138.

(Minor changes have been introduced in Bush’s translation).

Song Qi (13th century)

Every poet must develop his own style if he wants [his name] to live on in history. If one mechanically obeys the rules, following the model in every detail, in the end he will only become someone else’s slave. The great men of old detested building their home inside someone else’s! It was all a question of integrity.…Han Yü once said: “[In writing] the one thing you really must expunge is clichés. This can be considered the essential principle in literature.”

From Wei Qingzhi, Shiren yuxie [Jade Splinters from the Poets], 6 vols. (Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1992).

The Fisherman of Moss Creek

In learning poetry it is the same. If you just imitate clichés, mechanically copying old writings, and do not know how to make them your own or how to produce novel ideas yourself, how can you ever become a famous master? A poem by Huang Tingjian also said: “To follow in the footsteps of others as a plan is ultimately to place yourself in the back of the line.” He also said: “What literature most detests is following in others’ footsteps. This is truly the essence of literary criticism.”

From Wei Qingzhi, Shiren yuxie [Jade Splinters from the Poets], 6 vols. (Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1992).

Wei Qingzhi (13th century)

Su Shi [1037–1101 AD] said that those who are adept at painting, paint ideas, not physical forms; those who are adept at poetry convey ideas, not simply words. That is why his poem says: “Those who speak of painting as if it were all about resemblance are likely to be thought to have the understanding of a child.”

From Wei Qingzhi, Shiren yuxie [Jade Splinters from the Poets], 6 vols. (Taipei: Shijie shuju, 1992).