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The early poetic status of Lu You's poetry entering Shu

  • Journal of Chinese Language and Literature
  • 2025, (100), pp.55~75
  • DOI : 10.15792/clsyn..100.202512.55
  • Publisher : Chinese Literary Society Of Yeong Nam
  • Research Area : Humanities > Chinese Language and Literature
  • Received : November 12, 2025
  • Accepted : December 13, 2025
  • Published : December 30, 2025

Gipyeong Ju 1

1서울대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study seeks to correct the conventional view that classified Lu You’s Entering Shu Poems as works from his middle period within the overall chronology of his poetry. To do so, it examines the themes and formal characteristics of all 63 poems composed during his journey into Shu. The content of these poems largely consists of the hardships of travel and reflections of regret in life, descriptions of the landscapes, geography, and local customs experienced along the road, and sentiments felt when visiting historical sites. Underlying these, however, are dissatisfaction with a reality in which he could not achieve his aspirations and lamentation over his own impoverished circumstances. Furthermore, an examination of the formal features—focusing on poetic subjects and rhyme schemes—reveals that, compared with the overall tendencies of his oeuvre, the pursuit of formal refinement and technical elegance is expressed even more clearly. Therefore, Lu You’s Entering Shu Poems should not be regarded as middle-period works, in which he began his full-fledged life in the Shu region and, through numerous patriotic poems, expressed with bold spirit his longing for the restoration of the Central Plains and his indomitable will to struggle. Rather, they should be seen as possessing the characteristics of his early poetic period, when he was still under the influence of the Jiangxi Poetry School and devoted his efforts to the refinement and pursuit of formal poetic techniques.

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