Inspired Appeal and Divine Resonance: Sensory and Spiritual Dimensions of <i>Xingqu</i> 興趣

Abstract Xìngqù 興趣, translated here as “inspired appeal,” represents a turning point in Chinese literary criticism. In [Yan] Canglang's Poetic Discourses (Canglang shihua 滄浪詩話), Southern Song critic Yan Yu 嚴羽 (ca. 1192–ca. 1245) used it to describe High Tang (ca. 712–766) poets’ creative process, which he compared to Buddhist enlightenment and “entering the divine” (rushen 入神). This contributed to a late-Ming “archaist” (fugu 復古) trend, which devalued Song and Yuan poetry, and anti-archaist reactions, such as Yuan Hongdao's 袁宏道 (1568–1610) notions of qù (charm, appeal) and yun 韻 (resonance). Early-Qing poetic doyen Wang Shizhen 王士禛 (1634–1711) synthesized this “talent learning” debate by defending more recent artists, such as Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037–1101), with Buddhistic ideals, such as an approach to evoking poetic objects called “not clinging nor diverging” (buji buli 不即不離) and the term shenyun 神韻 (divine resonance), originally from painting criticism. Drawing on a wide range of sensory and spiritual metaphors and influencing such intellectuals as Wang Guowei 王國維 (1877–1927), Zhu Ziqing 朱自清 (1898–1948), and Qian Zhongshu 錢鍾書 (1910–1998), xìngqù and shenyun gesture toward the lingering, ineffable, sublime qualities of great poetry and visual art's inspiration and appeal—like the moon on the water or movements of a completed brushstroke, perceptible yet eluding firm grasp.