The Two Interpretive Dogmas of Zhiren lunshi and Yiyi nizhi as ‘Rules of Competition’ and ‘Perspectives of Historicity’: A Study of Annotated Editions of Du Fu’s Poetry from the Late Ming to Early Qing

Abstract

This article revisits the history of Du Fu 杜甫 (zi Zimei 子美, 712–770) studies and demonstrates that although annotated editions of Du Fu’s poetry claim to follow zhiren lunshi 知人論世 (‘knowing the person by considering the age in which he or she lived’) and/or yiyi nizhi 以意逆志 (‘inferring the author’s intention through sympathetic effort’), which are dogmatic approaches that seemingly balance objective and subjective views, they nevertheless lead to the development of highly divergent ideas. Treating the two principles as ‘rules of competition’, annotators have attempted to refute other annotations and commentaries in the process of annotating Du Fu’s poetry. The sense of historicity in Du Fu’s poetry in these editions is also strengthened by the use of these two principles.