As a radical poetry theorist and poet thoroughly knowing about hard work in poetry writing, Yuan Mei emphasized in his poetics of “natural disposition and intelligence” importance of character, intelligence and talent in poetry writing. Moreover, he added requirements for learning and accomplishment and for such poetic craftsmanship as syllables and styles by absorbing artistic experience of poetrywriting forerunners. A fusion of the view of “natural disposition and intelligence” with the theory of poetry writing made Yuan’s poetics complicated and selfcontradictory, which identified him clearly from the school of Gong’an in the Ming Dynasty but characteristics of the distinctive comprehensiveness of poetics in the Qing Dynasty.

view of natural disposition and intelligence; theory of poetry writing; Yuan Mei; the school of Gong’an in the Ming Dynasty; poetics in the Qing Dynasty