Abstract: Zhu Xi，a rationalist Confucian philosopher in the Song Dynasty，was also a versatile poet with one thousand and two hundred poems passed down till the present time. Although inferior to other more influential contemporary poets’ works， his poetry has been given positive reviews by generations of critics. Wang Yi defined Zhu Xi’s poetry as elegant. Elegance of poetry refers to the characteristics of being unworldly，peaceful，restrained and being graceful. Through an analysis of Zhu Xi’s currently available poetry，we find that the elegant style reflected in his poetry takes various artistic forms，which stems from several reasons. The artistic forms applied include the choice of plain images，the use of plain but fluent language，the fusion of feelings and reasons，the description of peaceful mind and the reserved expression of emotions. The subjective reasons that formed the style are the compromise of Confucianism，Buddhism and Taoism and Zhu’s personal pursuit of rationality；the literal reasons are Zhu’s pursuit of the aesthetic idea of“being natural”and the Confucian tradition of“being tender，honest and sincere”in his poetry composition.

Key words: Zhu Xi’s；the Song Dynasty poetry；the elegant style；the ideas of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism；poetry being natural；being tender, honest and sincere in poetry composition