This study aimed to re-discuss the development trends and aesthetic manifestations of the Northern Song Dynasty poetry from a argumentative point of view by focusing the discussion on poems of Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, Su Shi and Huang Tingjian to unveil the unique writing characteristics in their creation and practice of poetry, which differed from those applied in traditional lyric poetry, through analysis of the argumentative nature of the four greatest poets’ poems in Northern Song Dynasty.
The study consists of seven chapters including introduction and conclusion. The first section systematized the argumentativ traditions of poetry before the Song dynasty, which included the argumentativ style of the Book of Odes (also known as ‘Shijing’) , the expressing manner of metaphysical poetry, the descriptive relationship between Yuefu poems and history poems as well as the argumentativ characteristics of Du fu’s poems. These argumentativ traditions had formed the foundation of argumentativ techniques of Song Dynasty poetry in terms of content elements and linguistic manipulation.
Next, the discussions of the argumentativ writings of the four schools of poetry during Northern Song Dynasty are carried out in different chapters: Ouyang Xiu’s poems aimed attention at the significance of humanities by means of the analysis of eternity and the argumentation through objects and matters. He also utilized the strategy of ‘prose poetry’ to extend the space for poetic argumentation. Wang Anshi’s poems manifested a unique political frame of mind and expressed his own aspirations in historical judgement, in which diversified levels of argumentation were demonstrated through techniques such as presenting reversed views on historical events and elaborating one topic in different ways. Su Shi’s poems imparted political dissent in a literary manner, and the historical judgment revealed in which also carried a contemporary significance and had become reference for advancing or retreating. He also disclosed rich philosophy of life in his travel literature, calligraphy and painting art, which added sense and enjoyability to his poems. The political arguments of Huang Tingjian were not expressed in an assertive and explicit way but in an implicit style which emphasized that old and new personnel should be included in the government workforce. In addition, he shifted the focus of arguments to personal cultivation and repeatedly explored the choices of one's life values and pursuits of paragons. With the light literature of ‘rhyme-following’ that replied to a poem in the same rhyme and other response poems, the sources of poetic writings were redefined, which enabled his work to demonstrate rational thinking, scholar aspirations and literary talent and to bestow literary value upon argumentativ Song Dynasty poems.
In a word, this study explored the argumentative nature of the four greatest poets’ poems in Northern Song Dynasty from their choice of topics and formats as well as demonstration styles with the aim of providing the neglected and rejected Song Poetry's Style from traditional lyric poetry with room and value for interpretation via its findings proving that ‘poems can be like this’.