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Bixing(比興), a key concept in Chinese poetics, has long been a subject of scholarly discussion. Previous studies have primarily examined it from the perspectives of rhetorical function and literary technique. However, such approaches have not adequately explained why the same bixing structure continuously generates new meanings and allows for diverse interpretations throughout its historical reception. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s theory of representation and his encoding/ decoding model, this study reexamines bixing as a mechanism of meaning production. To this end, it investigates the historical reception and processes of re-encoding associated with bixing, while analyzing how meaning is generated in specific poetic texts, focusing on “Guanju”(關雎), “Jianjia”(蒹葭), “Caiwei”(采薇), and “Taoyao”(桃夭) from the Book of Songs(Shijing). The analysis demonstrates that bixing should not be understood merely as a rhetorical device. Rather, it functions as a structural mechanism through which meaning is produced through the interaction of natural imagery, emotional expression, and readers’ interpretive activities. Furthermore, the polysemy of the Shijing does not arise from interpretive inadequacies; instead, it derives from the openness inherent in the bixing structure itself and from the historical processes of re-encoding that continuously reshape its meanings. The fact that identical natural images have repeatedly acquired new meanings across different historical and cultural contexts indicates that bixing has functioned as a cultural mechanism that enables the production and negotiation of meaning. By reinterpreting bixing as a structure of meaning generation rather than merely a literary technique, this study offers a new perspective for explaining the enduring polysemy of the Shijing. It also contributes to exploring the possibility of a structural dialogue between classical Chinese poetics and contemporary cultural theory.

Ji Kang’s extant farewell letters consist of two pieces: Letter to Shan Juyuan on Breaking Off Relations and Letter to Lü Changti on Breaking Off Relations. Although both center on “breaking off relations,” they differ markedly in structure, rhetoric, textual function, and ideological orientation. Taking the Wei-Jin tension between mingjiao and ziran as its framework, this paper compares the two letters and examines their textual divergence and ideological unity. This paper argues that Letter to Shan Juyuan transforms a private letter into a public declaration of personality and political stance, expressing Ji Kang’s refusal to serve the Sima regime and his principle of “transcending mingjiao and following ziran.” By contrast, Letter to Lü Changti adopts a brief and restrained narrative mode, functioning as a moral judgment against Lü Xun’s betrayal and violation of familial ethics. The apparent contradiction between “transcending mingjiao” and “defending mingjiao” does not reveal inconsistency, but Ji Kang’s distinction between politically appropriated false mingjiao and genuine ethical principles. Together, the two letters illuminate the spiritual dilemma of Wei-Jin literati and demonstrate how epistolary prose could move beyond private communication into public intellectual expression.

This study examines how the Little Ice Age of the thirteenth century catalyzed nomadic southward expansion and the resulting multi-ethnic convergence in Yuan dynasty drama, focusing on Wuhanchen’s ghost play Shengjinge生金閣. To bypass strict political censorship, the playwright employed meteorological snow and a confined tavern as indirect mediums to critique Mongol subjugation. First, the snow functions as an environmental signifier of the Little Ice Age, contrasting the ecological adaptability of the nomadic elite, who enjoy hunting in the storm, with the severe vulnerability of the Han protagonist, Guo Cheng. Second, the snow-sealed tavern operates as a microcosm of Yuan multi-ethnic society, highlighting the structural hierarchy and cultural friction between the dominant rulers and the marginalized Han. Third, the extortion of the heirloom Shengjinge, the plunder of Guo Cheng’s wife, and his tragic transformation into a headless ghost vividly dramatize the communal trauma of Han literati whose Confucian aspirations were incapacitated by systemic dispossession and the abolition of the civil service examinations. Ultimately, Shengjinge functions as an insightful indictment where environmental disaster and alien domination intersect.