The first use of Bi and Xing as a poetic technique occurred in The Book of Songs, in which it plays a primary role of metaphor on the prompting sight and provoked thought. For example, one of its well-known songs The Odes of Zhou and the South: Fish Hawks reads:

The song begins with cries of a couple of fish hawks on a sandbar in a river, which bring into the mind of the poet longing for his beloved girl and hoping for marriage. Obviously, the first two lines are closely fastened with the following two. Therefore, some critics call them “ Bi giving rise to Xing ,” which is testimony to the mutual dependence of Bi and Xing, existing in each other and inseparable. Another case comes from in The Odes of Zhou and the South: Peach Tree goes:

The poem gets triggered on Xing in terms of the peach blossoms depicting the bride’s beauty and giving the couple blessings on their happy marriage, indicating a link between the peach blossoms and the newlyweds, namely a figurative leap between the stimulation of Xing and a targeted message. Another type of Xing can be rather implicit. For example, The Odes of Bei: Cypress Boat describes:

The song is first projected on Xing into the image of a small boat floating down lonely, signifying the miserable life of a deserted woman. Similar analogies can also be seen in The Odes of Bei: Valley Winds, “A valley breeze is blowing, carrying darkness and rain. Let us be one heart, and give anger no place.” With a portrayal of breezes and unexpected rains and overcast, the ballad expresses the anxiety of the heroine over her husband’s whimsical swings of mood. It figuratively juxtaposes the unpredictable stormy weather with the man’s violent temper with graphic vividness.

Some cases of Xing in The Book of Songs are aimed at setting off the theme by contrast. For instance, The Odes of Zheng: Winds and Rains creates a clear air of desolation in capturing the girl’s longing for her loved one:

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The song’s first three stanzas all begin with the crows of the cock in the wind and rain, delineating a young lady anxiously waiting for her loved one in the rain and yearning for joys of their meeting. Despite an obvious lack of analogical alliance between the first two lines and the rest, the atmosphere generates a touching sympathetic moment of love against a backdrop of sadness produced. Exactly due to this unique stroke of Xing for the first two lines, writers of following generations often singled them out from the text to illustrate individuals’ perseverance for the set cause and refusal to drift with the majority in the harsh and grim society.

The use of Xing in The Book of Songs is fundamentally related to the convention of Fu , Bi and Xing in the study of Chinese poetry. Fu requires a straightforward narrative, and Bi describes in comparison. However, Xing is complicated. Therefore, the early critical study of The Book of Songs, Preface to Mao’s Version of “The Book of Songs”, makes no annotation on Fu and Bi but treats Xing specifically, revealing the latter’s complexity. But it is very difficult to distinguish Xing from Bi or Fu. Often, the true meaning of Xing can only be pinned down with its reliance on the other two. In his book, On the History of Chinese Poetry, Torao Suzuki, the noted Japanese scholar, said in discussing the relationship between Fu and Xing used in The Book of Songs that “If Fu provides a blunt description, Bi and Xing find themselves embodied in an object, depending upon a medium for indirect expression. Because of this sinuous presentation used on unconventional and sensitive topics, later readers often misunderstood the poet’s original meaning even on some transparent poems of the time.” ² His words hit home the predicament of the role of Xing in The Book of Songs and its interpretations in the ages to come.

In commenting Xing, Confucius raised the well-known postulate of “Getting stimulated, Observing, Grouping and Grievance,” relating Xing to other factors of aesthetics, in an effort to define some important concepts and lay a foundation for the study of ancient Chinese poetry. He observed:

Why don’t let students read The Book of Songs? Reading it makes one stimulated with thoughts, capable of observing things, keen on the importance of socialization, and able to satirize and remonstrate with the high-ups. In the short, one learns to fulfill his filial duties to his father and in the long term one can serve the sovereign. In addition, one can learn more names of birds, beasts, flowers and trees. (The Analects of Confucius: Yang Huo)

This is Confucius’ summary on the learning of poetry with respect to education. Kong Anguo, a descendant of Confucius living in the Han Dynasty, noted that the attribute of Xing is “to cite examples and evoke analogies.” Similarly, Zhu Xi commented on its impact of “eliciting aspiration and thought.” In fact, they were mutually complementary.

The so-called “poetry for stimulation” means enlightenment by way of “eliciting aspiration and thought.” An act of emotion, Xing counts on individual experiences of pleasure to draw inferences from each other’s cases and cite examples and evoke analogies so as to understand the life philosophy and rules and nature before eventually ascending to the top level of morality. It is evidenced in The Analects of Confucius: Ba Yi, for example. The essay recounted the truth dawning on Zi Xia, who learned from The Book of Songs under guidance of Confucius, that the moral character, established after rites were learned, became internal, while correct manners were external, upon the inspiration drawn from reading The Odes of Wei: Shou Ren, a song depicting Zhuang Jiang, wife of the Duke of Wei, “The pretty dimples of her artful smile! The well-defined black and white of her eyes! The plain ground for the colors.” According to some research statistics, there are 23 references related to Confucius’ citations of examples and analogies in The Analects of Confucius. If those used by his disciples are also calculated, the figure will amount to 35. Definitely, Confucius is good at drawing references of Xing from The Book of Songs in understanding of “citing examples and evoking analogies.”

In addition, the so-called “poetry for observation” means “seeing the rise and fall of customs by reading poems” (Noted by Zheng Xuan). For Confucians, poetry and music reflect people’s desires and feelings that radiate social sentiments and that may manifest to the reader “experiences and lessons.” The so-called “poetry for socialization” refers to Confucius’ belief that if reading and finding himself/herself attached to the morals and sentiments conveyed in The Odes of Zhou and South and The Odes of Shao and South from The Book of Songs, one can undergo a course of character purification and treat others with benevolence so as to uplift the public morality and cultural growth.

Another popular proposition, “poetry for remonstration,” is the most valuable of all in Confucian thoughts on arts. The well-known scholar Mr. Qian Zhongshu once argued in his “Poetry for Satirizing,” that it was the most brilliant cultural tradition in ancient China. According to Kong Anguo, it means “admonishing the superior with satire.” Confucius believed that the ruling clique interactions should be based on harmony rather than division, so subjects may mildly berate and courteously satirize the monarch since rebellion would be unacceptable. The way of serving the monarch is that “Do not impose on him but withstand the stance to his face” (The Analects of Confucius: Dialogues with Yang Xian), meaning that one cannot deceive the monarch but may get across the message with gently mocking words. Evidently in light of citing poems, the speaker takes no responsibility while the listener is to take caution in action. To take another approach, reading and composing poems provides a vehicle for grievances and rages at heartrending moments of life so as to sail into a delta of calm. In conclusion, Confucius thought that these four functions benefit one, in that “Near at hand one can serve the father and far away the king. One can also know more names of birds, beasts and grasses,” simply achieving the pur...