Abstract: In an aesthetic level, the poems created by Jian’an scholars are permeated with a kind of sad beauty which is caused by the sensitive vision, and becomes the sentimental theme of Jian’an literature. Compared with the Western sentimental thoughts in 18th Century, the scale of sentimental theme of Jian’an poetry is relatively small, but the content is much more abundant, which shows a strong inclusive core features of Jian’an literature trend. This paper attempts to analyze the individual psychological motivation and social external motivation of the sentimental literary themes of Jian’an scholars in the field of literary psychology, and concludes the general features of their literary performance.

Key words: Jian’an literature, sentimentality, psychology of creativity, aesthetic experience