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Poetry from Oratory: A New Reading of 'The Great Preface'

A talk by Professor David Schaberg

Tuesday, April 10, 2007
4:00 PM - 5:30 PM
11377 Bunche Hall
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA United States

The "Great Preface" to the Mao recension of the Classic of Poetry 毛詩大序 has traditionally been read as the founding statement of Chinese poetics, particularly for its insistence that the shi poem originates in the zhi 志 or "intent" of the poet.  A rereading of the "Great Preface" in the context of other early documents suggests, however, that the work originally had little or nothing to say about new acts of shi composition.  This reinterpretation suggests close early links between Chinese poetic composition and the larger field of oratorical training.

For more information please contact

Richard Gunde
Tel: 310 825-8683
gunde@ucla.edu

Sponsor(s): Center for Chinese Studies