| My Master: |
Someone asked: Were the fu of Jing Cha, Tang Le, Song Yu, and Mei Cheng not of value?
Yangzi said: They were excessive by necessity.
The other said: What do you mean by "excessive?"
Yangzi said: The fu of those who wrote shi style verse achieved beauty by means of standards. The fu of those who wrote ci style verse achieved beauty by means of going to excess. If the Confucian school had used fu, Jia Yi [would have] ascended the hall and Sima Xiangru [would have] entered the inner chambers. How could they have, if not for having used [fu]! |
