Abstract:  This article is to evaluate the Cipoetry of the Song Dynasty from the perspective of the Cipoetics developed in that period. In the late Song period, scholars divided Cipoems into two categories: the heroic and the elegant. They disapproved the heroic ones that broke the rules of meter, rhythm or rhyme; for those written in regular meter or rhyme patterns, they would depreciate them as well if they were written in excessively flowery and ornate style. Wu mengchuang, a poet of the Shoulv (formalruleabiding) group, heralded the trend of Cipoetics in the Song, in particular the late Song dynasty. Both his statement of four criteria for Cipoetry and his pioneering and experimental Cipoetry creation reflected the bifurcated trend of “continuing the Southern Song style while learning from the northern style”. Thanks to his efforts, the Shoulv group, with its Cipoetics and its Cipoetry style, acquired a unique position in the history of Cipoetry.

Key words:  Mengchuang’s Cipoetics, Cipoetry creation, bifurcated trend, position in the history of Cipoetry