This term first appeared in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons by Liu Xie (465?-520? or 532?) of the Southern Dynasties. It focuses on the relationship between feeling and style. Here, qing (情) means “sensibility” or “reason-based passion,” and refers to feelings, thought and content in a literary work. Cai (采) means “literary grace.” It refers to formal beauty or literary adornment, highlighting the formal aspects of a work. Excessive adornment and lack of true feeling and content inevitably make a work boring. The relationship between feeling and style is comparable to that between an animal fur and its stripes. It would be absurd to destroy a fur for the sake of preserving its stripes.

Beautiful wording with literary grace spreads far and wide. This has been proved sufficiently true. Once we know how to express our feelings and aspirations, we will be able to display our literary talent with ease. The brocades from the Wu area easily lose their splendor. Hibiscus flowers endure only for a short time. If intricate rhetoric lacks true feeling, it will soon lose its appeal. Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons