Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.44

v2.c10.44

**Literary Theory** During this period there were quite a few articles and monographs commenting on poems and poetry. Yan Yu’s (13th century) *Cang Lang’s Notes on Poets and Poetry* exerted the strongest influence on later generations, and evoked debates for hundreds of years. This book laid emphasis on discussing characteristics of poetry forms and his aesthetic interest, and was compiled in five parts: *Argument*, *Form*, *Method*, *Commentary*, and *Textual Criticism*. One of its key characteristics was to use the Chan thought of Buddhism to comment on poetry. Yan Yu was strongly opposed to poems written in the Song period and praised highly those poems that were written before the Tang Dynasty. He objected to “creating poems through words, talents and discussion” and proposed to see the poem as a realm of imagination.