Remarks on Song Lyrics in the Human World

Introduction

Remarks on Song Lyrics in the Human World is Wang Guowei's collection of comments on ci poetry, published in instalments from 1908. Though short, it is one of the most influential works in the history of Chinese literary criticism. Its central idea is jingjie, the 'world' or 'state' that a poem opens: 'In ci, jingjie is supreme; a poem that has it attains a high style of itself.' He distinguishes worlds 'with the self' and 'without the self', and worlds 'created' and 'described'. Its most famous passage says that everyone who has achieved great things or great learning has passed through three states: first, 'Last night the west wind withered the green trees; alone I climbed the high tower and gazed down the road to the world's end'; second, 'My sash grows ever looser, yet I have no regret; for you I have grown thin and worn'; and third, 'A thousand times I sought her in the crowd; suddenly turning my head, there she was, where the lantern light was dim.'