20世紀七○年代《中外文學》刊載了美國華裔學者高友工個人以及與梅祖麟合作撰寫的系列唐詩和文學理論研究論文，引發極大影響，一時間有「高友工震盪」之說。繼後高友工再深入研究律詩的演化，以至中國音樂、文學理論、書法，繪畫理論等藝術的「抒情美典」，彰明中國文化史的「抒情傳統」。其論述體大而思精，於台港地區之中國文學研究的影響既深且遠。本文主要探討高友工從唐詩研究到「抒情美典」的建立的歷程，剖視其論述之方向，並試圖評析這一詮釋系統之成效及意義。

In 1970s, Kao Yu-kung, Professor of the Princeton University, established his fame among Chinese critics outside Mainland China with a series of expositions on Chinese regulated verses and literary aesthetics. He continued his works on the conceptions of “Chinese Lyric Aesthetics” since then, and came up with a very ambitious formulation of the “Chinese Lyrical Tradition” with studies on various modes Chinese cultural production such as music, literary theory, calligraphy, and paintings. This paper tries to elucidate the theoretical foundation of Kao’s conception of “Lyric Aesthetics” and its significance in the study of Chinese literature and culture.