Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 8, 2025

Judou and the Aesthetics of Rhythm in Chinese Classical Literary Criticism

(Abstract)

Hu Qi

The traditional Chinese philological concept “judou,” meaning “sentences and phrases,” identifies the semantic structure, intrinsic rhythm, logical relationships, and stylistic features of a text. Therefore, it not only serves as a grammatical term, but also as a tool for literary criticism. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, analysis of judou has been incorporated into commentaries on the Confucian classics and literary criticism, constituting an early single-tier “jujue” system. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, Neo-Confucian curricula contributed to the establishment of the dual-tier “ju-dou” system, which was then circulated as public knowledge. In the Ming and Qing periods, scholars focused on the tone of the sages in the Confucian classics according to the requirements of the eight-legged essay format of the Civil Service Examinations. This advanced the refinement of judou analysis, and a tri-tier “ju-dou-dun” system emerged. The flexibility of a multilayered judou system creates complex, varied auditory effects within and between sentences in classical texts. Rhythmic aesthetics manifests differently across genres, such as shi poetry, ci poetry and prose. As the vocalized embodiment of meaning, judou helps readers perceive a sense of time within written texts through variations in pause, pitch, and voice weight. This approach demonstrates that, even in the era of written literature, recitation remains significant in literary creation and interpretation.