Yen Kun-yang

Abstract

After the May-Fourth Movement, “art for art’s sake” was a “pure literature” concept popular among scholars who interpreted and criticized classic Chinese literature based on this idea. Such a phenomenon was purely an ideological projection of anti-Confucianism by the new intellects, which failed to comply with the “dynamic historical linguistic context” of ancient Chinese literature. In fact, poetry was ubiquitous in the daily life of ancient Chinese intellects. Poetry was the common but unique language form, dubbed as “the use of poetry” as used by literati in sociocultural settings. I, therefore, construct the “the use of Chinese poetry theory” systematically. It is on the basis of the “use of poetry” theory that “‘Readers of plural identifications’ in the linguistic context of ‘the use of poetry’” of the ancient Chinese discusses extensively and profoundly on the “readers of plural identifications” and the “interpretation of meanings” retrieved from the texts, particularly the possibility of the interpretation of the “author’s true intention,” which is the most important issue. The viewpoint may manifest the simplified interpretation of meanings by contemporary scholars due to their lack of the concept of “dynamic historical linguistic context”; as a result, contemporary scholars tend to estrange the text from its linguistic context and make static interpretations, mistaking contemporary readers as the only readers. They fail to understand that during the long process of dissemination, the texts have experienced readers of plural identifications.

Keywords:The use of poetry, linguistic context of the use of poetry, readers of plural identifications, the ethical role of readers, reading position, the author’s intention.