本文提出四點意見：一、孔子所說「詩可以興」的興，與興體的名稱無直接關係。二、〈麟之趾〉一詩，可為興句取義的內在證明。改易〈桃夭〉、〈東山〉詠新婚的興句，可見興句不得無義。詩雖間有只取趁韻的文字，但非興體獨有之現象，比賦亦然。三、比自智出，興由感來，兩者的區分，自摯虞以來早有明辨。由於心的「自行」、有不期而然的興會，故有興句所言非眼前景者。四、興體為詩所獨具，故《毛傳》獨標興體；比賦只是相對於興建立的名號。興是詩的起頭，是以恆在章首；言此賦，當以不在章首為限。章中間有興，必在換韻的開端；換韻，等於章節的另起。所謂章末之興，不僅詩中無有，根本亦不合語意。

　　　　　Four points are made in this article : 1) The technique hsing 興 has no direct connection with the Confucisn statement , “Poetry can stir up human emotions”（Shih k’e i hsing 詩可以興）. 2) From the poem “Lin chih chih” 麟之趾 , one can see that the technique hsing involves not only phonological patterns but also the intrinsic meaning of the poem . Although words of pure rhythmical patterns do exist , they are not restricted to the hsing verses ; the pi 比 and the fu 賦 verses also have them . 3) It has been known since Chih Yu 摯虞（d. 311） that while the pi involves the human intellect , the hsing is derived from emotions . Since emotions operate instinctively , they tend to make free associations . As a result , the hsing verses may refer to scenes in the past as well as the present . 4) The hsing is unique to the Shih ching 詩經 , therefore the Mao exegesis of the Shih ching emphasizes the hsing technique , while the pi technique derives its name from its nature as distinct from that of the hsing . The hsing verses mark the beginning of a poem and are always used to start a stanza . The opening lines of a poem are sufficient for us to judge whether its main technique is fu , pi , or hsing . If used in the middle of a stanza , the hsing verses must coincide with the change of rhyme , a marker technically equal to the beginning of a anew stanza . It is meaningless to talk about the hsing verses at the end of a stanza , and such a term would be contradictory to the semantic implications of the hsing .