The Establishment and Transformation of the “Theory of Jituo” in the Changzhou School of Ci Poetry during the Qing Dynasty

Zhu Jinxiong

doi:10.22161/jhed.8.3.3

Abstract

This paper attempts to analyze the discourse on jituo (allegorical expression) by Zhang Huiyan, the founder of the Changzhou School of Ci poetry in the Qing dynasty, and by Zhou Ji, who inherited and further developed Zhang’s ideas, in order to understand the developmental process of the school’s central theory, the “theory of jituo.” Zhang Huiyan’s theory of jituo is primarily grounded in the concept of bixing jituo (allegory through comparison and evocative imagery). Zhang bypasses historical facts and, on an essential level, directly connects ci poetry with the tradition of the Shi Jing (Classic of Poetry) and the Li Sao, thereby establishing the ideal value of ci. This essence is precisely the “jituo” embedded in the works. Zhou Ji’s theory of wu jituo (non-allegory) expands the implications of Zhang Huiyan’s concept of jituo. By wu jituo, it is meant that when composing, the author must still embed allegorical meaning in the work; however, once the work is completed, this meaning should be concealed so that the reader cannot definitively identify what it refers to, and different readers may derive different allegorical meanings from the work. Moreover, the content of this jituo must reflect the rise and fall of the times and pertain to social morality, rather than being limited to personal sentiments of sorrow and nostalgia.

References

Wang Yi (1988). A History of Ci and Qu. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, p. 460.

[Qing] Zhang Huiyan (1979). Ci Xuan. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, pp. 3-4.

[Qing] Xie Zhangting (1996). A Sequel to the Duqi Shanzhuang Cihua. In Cihua Congbian (pp. 3485-3486). Beijing: Beijing Zhonghua Shuju.

[Qing] Zhang Huiyan (1979). Ci Xuan. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, p. 7.

Yan Dichang (2001). A History of Qing Ci. Nanjing: Jiangsu Guji Chubanshe, p. 471.

Wu Hongyi (1990). A Study of the Changzhou School’s Ci Poetics. In Four Essays on Qing Ci Poetics (pp. 106-107). Taipei: Lianjing Chuban Shiye Gongsi.

Ye Jiaying (1987). A New Examination of the Changzhou School’s Theory of Bixing Jituo. In Jialing’s Collected Essays on Ci (p. 320). Taipei: Mingwen Shuju.

Ding Fang (2000). A History of Poetic Theories in the Jin, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties. Hefei: Anhui Daxue Chubanshe, pp. 387-394.

Zhu Deci (2006). A Comprehensive Study of the Changzhou School of Ci. Beijing: Beijing Zhonghua Shuju, pp. 47-88.

Zhang Huiyan (1985). Ci Xuan. Taipei: Shijie Shuju, p. 1617. See also Zhang Huiyan, Mingke Wen (1985), p. 26.

Zhang Deying (1996). Ci Zheng. In Cihua Congbian (p. 4075).

Ye Jiaying (1987). A New Examination of the Changzhou School’s Theory of Bixing Jituo. In Jialing’s Collected Essays on Ci (pp. 321-323). Taipei: Mingwen Shuju.

[Qing] Zhang Huiyan (1979). Ci Xuan. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, p. 1.

Yan Kunyang (2000, July). On the Phenomenon of “Yi Shi Wei Ci” (Writing Ci as Poetry) in the Song Dynasty and Its Significance in the History of Chinese Literary Criticism. Donghua Journal of Humanities, (2), 54-56.

Ye Jiaying (1987). A New Examination of the Changzhou School’s Theory of Bixing Jituo. In Jialing’s Collected Essays on Ci (pp. 323-327). Taipei: Mingwen Shuju.

Wu Hongyi (1990). A Study of the Changzhou School’s Ci Poetics. In Four Essays on Qing Ci Poetics (pp. 122-125). Taipei: Lianjing Chuban Shiye Gongsi.

[Qing] Zhang Huiyan (1979). Ci Xuan. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, p. 9.

[Qing] Zhang Huiyan (1979). Ci Xuan. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, p. 28.

[Han] Mao Heng, comm.; [Han] Zheng Xuan, annot.; [Tang] Kong Yingda, subcomm. (1999). Mao Shi Zheng Yi. Beijing: Beijing Daxue Chubanshe, p. 220.

[Qing] Zhang Huiyan (1979). Ci Xuan. Taipei: Guangwen Shuju, p. 21.

Zhang Huiyan, Mingke Wen (1985), p. 26.

Wu Hongyi (1990). A Study of the Changzhou School’s Ci Poetics. In Four Essays on Qing Ci Poetics (p. 164). Taipei: Lianjing Chuban Shiye Gongsi.

Wu Hongyi (1990). A Study of the Changzhou School’s Ci Poetics. In Four Essays on Qing Ci Poetics (p. 115). Taipei: Lianjing Chuban Shiye Gongsi.

Yan Dichang (2001). A History of Qing Ci. Nanjing: Jiangsu Guji Chubanshe, p. 472.

[Qing] Zhou Ji (1996). Song Si Jia Ci Xuan. In Cihua Congbian (p. 1646).

[Qing] Zhou Ji (1996). Jiecunzhai Lun Ci Za Zhu. In Cihua Congbian (p. 1634).

[Qing] Zhou Ji (1996). Preface to the Ci Bian. In Cihua Congbian (p. 1637).

[Qing] Zhou Ji (1996). Jiecunzhai Lun Ci Za Zhu. In Cihua Congbian (p. 1630).

[Qing] Zhou Ji (1996). Song Si Jia Ci Xuan. In Cihua Congbian (p. 1643).

[Qing] Zhou Ji (1996). Song Si Jia Ci Xuan. In Cihua Congbian (p. 1647).

[Qing] Tan Xian (1996). Futang Cihua. In Cihua Congbian (p. 3987).

Article Info

Received: 15 Apr 2026; Received in revised form: 11 May 2026; Accepted: 16 May 2026, Published on: 21 May 2026