On the Double and Variation of the Theory of “Writing Fu for Implication” and “Writing Fu for Literary Grace”

Wang Sihao

Abstract: The theory of “writing fu for implication” and “writing fu for literary grace” in history is unlikely to be proposed by Sima Xiangru. The original meaning of the theory was not about the Confucian classics, and it just existed as a kind of aesthetic criticism. Yet in posterity’s interpretation, the “one longitude and one latitude” in it was gradually compared with the theory of “three longitudes and three latitudes” in the studies of The Book of Songs, and the “one gong and one shang” in it was connected with the handed-down music of feng and ya. Therefore, “writing fu for literary grace” was measured by the aspiration of poetry, and “writing fu for implication” was aimed at the studies of Confucian classics. Once the development of fu was examined by the Confucian teaching by poetry, as well as the theory of “standard form” and “variant” in the studies of The Book of Songs was put in the course of fu, the style of fu had the distinction of standard and variant. The variation of the theory of “writing fu for implication” and “writing fu for literary grace” reflected the fusion of civilizing criticism and aesthetic criticism on the style of fu.