Abstract：In the history of the study of Yuefu, Yuefu before the Sui Dynasty was called the ancient Yuefu. From the Sui and Tang Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the value of the ancient Yuefu was continuously promoted and even became a classic comparable to the Book of Songs. The process of its canonization is quite noteworthy. In this process, although the connotation of ancient Yuefu endowed by different generations of poets and scholars is different, it can still be summarized from four aspects, i. e., the study of Confucian classics, the study of academic theory, the study of artistic value and the study of regular style. The study of Confucian classics refers to the exploration of the political and religious values of ancient Yuefu and the interpretation of Confucian classics, the study of academic theory means to explore the knowledge of ancient Yuefu and to study it academically, the study of artistic value means to reveal the artistic value of ancient Yuefu and to comment on its artistic achievements, the study of regular style refers to the ancient Yuefu as a model for the creation of other poetries. The study of Confucian classics promoted the ideological value of ancient Yuefu, the study of academic theory enriched the knowledge of ancient Yuefu, the study of artistic value revealed the artistic value of ancient Yuefu and the study of regular styles promoted the poetic style of ancient Yuefu.These four aspects are embodied in the works of collation, creation, comment and explanation of the title of ancient Yuefu from the Sui, Tang to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Through these works, we can clearly reveal the canonization process of ancient Yuefu from these four aspects: In the Sui Dynasty, Wang Tong’s Continuation of the Book of Songs followed the Book of Songs with the ancient Yuefu, and incorporated the ancient Yuefu into the expounding system of classics, thus opening up the course of the study of Confucian classics of the ancient Yuefu. In the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai’s study of ancient Yuefu was a combination of academic research, interpretation of Confucian classics and simulated creation, which promoted the canonization of ancient Yuefu from three aspects: the study of academic theory, the study of Confucian classics and regular style. In the Song Dynasty, Guo Maoqian’s Collection of Yuefu Poems delineated a clear boundary for the ancient Yuefu. He interpreted the ancient Yuefu by citing classics, first listed ancient lyrics and then collected simulated poetries. His tracing of the origin of the ancient Yuefu and textual researches on relevant knowledge were widely recognized by later generations. Zheng Qiao’s 20 Category of Tong Zhi: Rites and Music with the pragmatism academic vision, the sensible research method, from the academic theory explained the rationality of the yuefu succeeded the Book of Songs and classified yuefu poems according to the classification method of the Book of Songs, thus completing the process of the study of Confucian classics of ancient yuefu initiated by Wang Tong. These two books enabled the classical status of the ancient Yuefu to obtain the support of academic theory. In the Yuan Dynasty, Zuo Keming’s Ancient Yuefu provided a concise text for the literati to create the ancient Yuefu, which was helpful for the study of the regular style of the ancient Yuefu. Yang Weizhen wrote a large number of ancient Yuefu, which clearly demonstrated the position of the regular style of the ancient Yuefu. In the Ming Dynasty, the trend of retorting ancient ways was flourishing, which promoted the study of Confucian classics, the study of academic theory, the study of artistic value and regular style of ancient Yuefu, and it reached the peak in revealing the ancient Yuefu artistic achievements and promoting the ancient Yuefu style. In the Qing Dynasty, Zhu Jiazheng’s Yuefu Guangxu pushed the study of Confucian classics of ancient Yuefu to an extreme, and Zhu Qian’s Yuefu Zhengyi corrected Zhu Jiazheng’s extreme study of Confucian classics by elucidating the theory and taking into account the historical textual research.
郭丽. 论古乐府的经典化过程[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2021, 51(4): 199-212.
Guo Li. The Process of Canonization of the Ancient Yuefu Poem. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2021, 51(4): 199-212.
2021, Vol. 51 
