Unfolding the Layers of a Literary Standard: The Construction and Reconstruction of <i>Yifa</i> 義法 (Substantive Technique), a Conceptual Apparatus for Classical Prose Criticism

Abstract Yifa 義法 (substantive technique) is a literary critical concept proposed by the Qing scholar Fang Bao 方苞 (1668–1749). The origins of this term can be traced back to pre-Qin philosophical texts, the Historical Records (Shiji 史記), and Han dynasty discussions of the Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu 春秋); the significance of the term, however, draws on and reacts against the standards of literary composition characteristic of the Song, Yuan, and Ming dynasties. These standards constitute a “meaning cluster” (yiyi qun 意義群), against which Fang Bao distinguished substantive technique as a conceptual apparatus with which to confront the elite culture, scholastic paradigms, and literary style of his era. Fang Bao's successors in the Tongcheng lineage used the discourse of sound and vital force (shengqi 聲氣) to transcend substantive technique, which they relegated to a relatively basic status within the Tongcheng classical prose system. The understanding of substantive technique outside of classical prose circles subsequently broadened significantly, as early modern educators and translators went so far as to include all narrative techniques, old and new, Chinese and Western, under its rubric. Among the multiple layers of Fang Bao's conceptual apparatus, we find a deep sediment constituted through unconscious adaptation of the literary techniques of earlier generations, as well as a forcefully dynamic layer that appears in response to specific political and scholarly contexts.