Modern Social Science Research

As a core category of ancient Chinese literary theory, the spirit of "indignant censure" has undergone a complex evolution from political persuasion in The Book of Songs to the enlightenment critique of Li Zhi. This paper, by examining representative documents from the pre-Qin period to the late Ming Dynasty, and analyzing the interaction between social-political contexts and literary discourse, reveals the threefold transformation logic of the "indignant censure" theory: the political and educational persuasion system of the Zhou and Han dynasties, the individual venting paradigm from the Wei, Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties, and the moral criticism and enlightenment turn from the Song and Ming dynasties onwards. The study points out that by breaking through the boundaries of Confucian poetic teachings, the spirit of "indignant censure" completed a paradigm shift from collective discourse to individual awakening, which not only shaped the critical gene of Chinese literature but also constructed a trinity discourse system of "ethics-emotion-subject” in literary theory. Systematically analyze its theoretical evolution trajectory helps to reveal the internal logic of Chinese literary theory and provides a historical reference for contemporary literary criticism.

"Indignant Censure" Spirit; Poetic teachings tradition; Writing to vent indignation; "Cry Out Injustice"; "Childlike Heart" Doctrine