The essence of poetry is to convey feelings and aspirations through fine wording. Fine wording involves the proper arrangement of words and sentences, while the voicing of feelings and aspirations constitutes the material content of poetry. Neither of these aspects should be neglected in favor of the other. The term taken as a whole reflects the Confucian view on the relationship between form and substance; that is, writing should achieve a balance between these twin demands. If the writer pays too much attention to form, his writing will sound supercilious. If he is over mindful of substance, it will sound crude and devoid of artistic merit. Therefore, a good combination of form and substance should be the primary principle of poetic creation.

Therefore, “if hidden in his heart, it is his feelings or aspirations. Once expressed in words, it becomes poetry.” That is what the writing of poetry is all about, is it not? Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons

Feelings and thoughts are akin to the vertical warp lines of a piece of writing, and wording akin to the horizontal weft lines. Only if warp lines are straight can weft lines be properly weaved together. Likewise, only if content and theme have been decided can wording become fluent. This is a fundamental principle of writing. Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons