Shi yan zhih詩言志 (“The Poem articulates what is on the mind intently”, Owen: 26), is the fountainhead of Chinese poetics, being one of the most important theoretical concepts in ancient Chinese poetic theory and having a profound influence on the development of Chinese poetic theory' and poetry itself. In comparison with ancient Western poetics early Chinese poetic theory's characteristic was the stress on the relationship between poetic creation and the poet's mentality, as in, for example, shi yan zhi and the related concept shi yuan qing 詩緣情, “poetry traces emotions” (Liu:192) etc., and not the relationship between the poem and external reality. This apparently determined that Chinese poetry should become an indispensable part of the daily life and moral cultivation of the cultured individual of that time, through activities such as the expression of feelings, exchanging poems, presenting them to friends, etc. Therefore, if one wishes to understand ancient Chinese poetry fully one must understand the theory of shi yan zhi.