Dr. NG Chi Lim2026-06-292026-06-292026Ng, C. L. (21 Feb 2026). The iconicity of form and meaning in the poetry of Su Shi and Jiang Fengchen. Joint conference of The 4th Iconicity Seminar & The 15th International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature, Nagoya University Graduate School of Humanities, Japan.http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11861/27815Jiang Fengchen (江逢辰, 1859-1900) was a renowned poet, lyricist, and painter born in Huizhou, Guangdong. Jiang Xiaotong yiji 江孝通遺集 (hereafter yiji) collection notably includes a volume dedicated to the works composed “In Harmony with Su Shi’s (蘇軾, 1037-1101) Poems Written in Huizhou” (和東坡寓惠詩). Jiang Fengchen is unique among his contemporaries for his systematic approach to composing verse “in harmony”(changhe 唱和) with Su Shi’s works. The yiji collection comprises 62 verses that harmonize with 42 of Su Shi’s poems, making it a significant corpus. Especially in the context of ancient Chinese poetry, the changhe employs the same topic, imagery, length, and rhyme scheme. Thus, the poetry of Su Shi and Jiang Fengchen forms an iconicity of form and meaning. This iconicity warrants closer scrutiny as it sheds light on how Su Shi’s influence resonated among late Qing poets. Su Shi, the eminent poet of the Song dynasty, was once exiled to Huizhou, Jiang Fengchen’s birthplace. Jiang visited many of the sites that Su Shi had once graced and inscribed poems in numerous locations. Beyond the shared geography, Jiang consciously adopted the rhyming schemes of Su Shi’s works and endeavored to compose poetry in harmony with the Song poet. His tribute to Su Shi often comes in the form of titular references, allusions, and quotations, and is sometimes accompanied by the adoption of Su Shi’s rhyming schemes. Composed eight centuries after Su Shi’s passing, Jiang’s works raise several questions: How have later generations inherited Su Shi’s poems using similar literary forms? In what ways is his cultural legacy being re-envisioned in the late Qing? Moreover, will strictly regulated forms of language limit the innovativeness of literary language? Jiang serves as a custodian of the past and an innovator in his own right, furthering the growth and evolution of a literary culture that spans centuries. We observe that iconicity techniques often lead to the generation of novel content within a text, transforming literature into a perpetual, collective memory. This paper will focus on the innovation ushered in by the iconicity approach, exploring the dynamic ways in which it enriches and extends the literary conversation into the future.enConference Paper