When traditional Chinese critics discuss pentasyllabic poetry,they usually give allegorical interpretations of individual works, makegeneral observations about social backgrounds and the lives of poets, oroffer impressionistic comments on the aesthetic qualities of the works ofgiven poets. Based on what they discover in these studies, they sketch abroad outline of similarities and differences among poets of differentdynasties. Although such an outline points to the path of the evolution ofpentasyllabic poetry, it does not reveal the changing configurations interms of thematic, formal, and generic transformations. Nor does it shedany light on the motive force behind this poetic evolution. The challengeto a modern critic is to transcend these limitations of traditional Chinesecriticism and set forth the evolution of this poetic form in an analytical,systematic manner. In spite of the dearth of Western language publica-tions on pentasyllabic poetry as a separate entity, we do find examples ofan admirable critical endeavor to systematically examine the develop-ment of it over different dynasties in scholarly works such as Kang-i SunChang' s recent book, Six Dynasties Poetry, and Burton Watson' s earlierbook, Chinese Lyricism.5 The present study intends to continue the criticalendeavors begun by these scholars and trace the evolution ofpentasyllabic poetry through its formative stages from the first to thethird century.