Zhu Xi’s Study of the Chuci and the Tradition of Confucian Aesthetics

Abstract

Abstract Zhu Xi regarded the Chuci as highly as the Shijing. The author argues that Zhu’s positive reading of Chuci turned on the author Qu Yuan’s (Confucian) patriotic intent but neglected the cultural background of Chu and alchemical Daoism. Zhu’s didacticism led him to take the non-Confucian cultural imagery as metaphor.