An ancient Chinese poetic work of criticizing and appreciating poetry, The Twentyfour Styles of Poetry developed its poetic aesthetics by applying many traditional Taoist images and concepts. A comparison of key words between The Twentyfour Styles of Poetry and Zhuangzi obtained two groups of similar philosophic and aesthetic concepts, that is, the primitive images centered by “wind” and “men” and the philosophic concepts centered by “trueness” and “Tao”. As a result, it was by absorbing and succeeding Zhuangzi’s Taoist philosophic view of following nature and everything sharing the origin that The Twentyfour Styles of Poetry established its poetic aesthetics of seeking nature and advocating character.

The Twentyfour Styles of Poetry; Zhuangzi; Taoist philosophy; poetic aesthetics