The Chinese poetic tradition has a long history of valuing emotions, or qing 情. Their importance is summed up in two statements: “Poetry expresses the heart's intent” (Shi yan zhi 詩言志), and “Shi poetry coarises with emotions” (Shi yuan qing 詩緣情). When “poetry expresses the heart's intent” first appeared in the Book of Documents, it pointed toward the author's emotive intent. Afterward, thanks to the Spring and Autumn–period practice of performing Shijing poems as analogs to state politics, the term zhi (heart's intent) gradually evolved to denote an emotive category with deep sociopolitical and moral implications. “Records of Music” (Yue ji 樂記) in the Book of Rites (Li ji 禮記) states that, when moved by external things, “qing stirs on the inside” and “manifests itself in words.” During the Han, this view was fleshed out in the “Great Preface to the Book of Poetry”...
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