Theory of poetry and theory of painting: The function and significance of invoking the painting theory in the criticism of Ci poetry

Abstract

Categories of painting had a special role and significance in criticism of the ci poetry. The mutual borrowing and the mutual facilitating among the different branches of arts are the common phenomena in the history. In ancient times it was common for critics to talk about works of one kind of art in terms of the theory of another kind. In their discussion of ci poetry, the critics borrowed much from the theory of painting, including such categories as shenpin (the magical work), nanbeizong (the northern and southern schools), goule (outlining) and shese (coloring). They drew on these to convey in a subtle and graphic manner what would otherwise have been hard to put into words. Such reference to painting in ci poetry criticism is a fascinating part of critical theory in ancient China; it deepened the content of poetics with regard to the ci and played an important role in its theoretical development.