Through its close reading of Xin Qiji’s (1140-1207) song lyrics, this study reveals the aesthetic implications of the eccentricity of an unruly self within the Ruist tradition. Although focusing on one poet, Xinda Lian uses the entire poetic tradition as the context of his study. His analysis of the concept of vital force and of the friction between different literary trends sheds new light on the lingering tension in the Chinese poetic tradition. On the one hand, there exists a requirement of moral exemplariness and decorum, and on the other, lyric should be a site of personal emotion.