What is the spirit of elegance in The Book of Songs?

Elegant spirit refers to the artistic creation spirit embodied in "Feng" poems and "Ya" poems in the Book of Songs in the Spring and Autumn Period. This creative spirit embodies the lofty significance and seriousness of poetry creation, shows the enthusiasm of paying attention to social reality, has a strong political and moral consciousness and a sincere and positive attitude towards life, so it is summarized as "elegance" by future generations. "Elegance" is based on the purity of the soul, and Confucius told his son Kong Li that "there is nothing to say without learning poetry" is the best embodiment of this. "Elegance" requires not only the enrichment and elegance of inner spirit, but also the display of external temperament. The core of The Book of Songs is Tao and the spirit of elegance.

Classics are always new. The "elegance" handed down from the era of The Book of Songs is a positive action of advocating etiquette and observing civilization, which echoes the construction of "beautiful China" that we expect today. Beauty is not only the beauty of natural mountains and rivers, but also the beauty of national temperament that inherits Chinese excellent culture.

This creative spirit directly influenced the creation of later poets. This spirit was directly or indirectly inherited by the "karma" of the Han Yuefu, the generous voice of Jian 'an poets, the long narrative poems of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the poems of the people's livelihood in the Tang and Song Dynasties, the splendid articles of the Eight Masters, and the portrayal of reality in Yuan Qu and Ming and Qing novels. Later scholars often carry out literary innovation in the spirit of advocating elegance, guide creators to seek a healthy and upward outlook on life in expressing their feelings, and guide appreciators to cultivate good aesthetic habits and moral integrity, thus forming a fine tradition of combining realism with romanticism.