From the Revolution in the Poetic World to the Southern Society: Transmutation of the New Ancient Poetry                 Sun Zhimei

In modern times when vernacular literature occupied a mainstream position, the poetry in ancient style still owned lots of writers and readers. Some people call this poetic style as “old-style”, and in this paper, it is called the “new ancient poetry”. It is a kind of new poetic style gradually emerging out of classical poems in the process of literary transformation which is different from both free verse in vernacular, and ancient poetry. The “new-learning poetry”, “new-school poetry”, and “new-style poetry” in poetic revolution separately deconstruct classical poetry from the dimension of traditional academics, the dimension of language and things to be represented, and the dimension of aesthetic; while the poetry of the Southern Society is another adjustment in the transformation of ancient poetry, which expresses as selectively integrating the tradtional and Western learnings, as well as establishing the realistic pertinence and utility of poetry, to make ancient poetry realize a nature of plebification beneath its quaint surface. In the period of the Republic of China, ancient poetry entered a tough status along with the establishment and popularization of new educational system, especially with the derogatory title of “dead literature” given in the May Fourth Movement of new culture. Yet through the insistence of many scholars, politicians, and enthusiasts for it, ancient poetry transmuted into a kind of new poetic style.