Yuan Jie 元結 (719–772) as the Writer of Self-Distinction: A Reappraisal

In Chinese literary histories, Yuan Jie is considered one of the pioneers of xin yuefu (new music bureau poetry), who, together with Du Fu, represents the driving force of Chinese realism (xianshizhuyi; xieshizhuyi) in traditional Chinese literature. Hu Shi’s Baihua wenxue shi (A History of Vernacular Literature), a work of Chinese literary history published in the modern period, defined the basic framework for understanding Yuan Jie and his writings, and this perspective influenced many later works. Through a comprehensive study of Yuan Jie’s works, the present article shows that xin yuefu is just one of the many aspects of his poetry and that differences can be found between Yuan Jie’s and Du Fu’s xin yuefu compositions. The use of archaism (gu) is another key to interpreting Yuan Jie’s personality and literary thought. The archaist style of Yuan Jie’s poetry and prose writings, the seemingly negative comments regarding his own titles, and the projection of the self onto the landscape are all means to distinguish himself from the mainstream. This article proposes that the concept of “self-distinction” can be seen as the central idea of Yuan Jie’s writings: a temperament incompatible with the contemporary zeitgeist.