Abstract
In the center of our ancestor's culture, there were poetry, calligraphy, and painting. Above all, poetry was the heart of the culture involved in everyday life. The beauty of poetry was not limited to appreciation of the poetry but it influenced calligraphy, painting, seals, music, architecture and even how the ancestors viewed their lives. Categories of poetry(詩品, CP hereafter) is the poetry written to deliberate the style of poems and its influence went beyond the fields of calligraphy and painting. Even now, our architecture reflects the sentimental influences and values of CP. In order to understand the attitude, mind, and the world view of the architects in the past, comprehensive and deep understanding of their philosophy as well as their cultural and social norms is needed. In this paper, CP is used as the means to investigate and develop such understanding of our ancestors' philosophy and culture. This paper also intends to investigate how the seclusive thinking of Neo-Confucianism is reflected in CP and the overall literature. In addition, this paper aims to examine the trace of CP in traditional architecture as well as the relationships and the flow among various styles of CP. This study therefore serves as an important base in understanding the ancestor's philosophy that pursued balance between life and art, reason and emotion, study and practice, and their architectural expression. It is also expected that this study would work as the groundwork to regain our traditional culture identity.