Kong Yingda(孔颖达574-648 CE) represents a pivotal figure in the history of interpreting the Shijing (Classic of Poetry) as literature. His significance lies not merely in introducing literary sensibilities into Confucian exegetical discourse—thereby expanding philological and rhetorical dimensions of the text—but more fundamentally in formulating the seminal hermeneutical proposition “though uncontrived, it naturally nurtures all living things” (虽无 为而自发，乃有益于生灵). This proposition gains its importance from Kong’s recognition of the inherent tension between the Shijing as poetry versus as canon, thereby pioneering a reader-centered approach to classical exegesis. Kong’s methodology embedded poetic meaning within the orthodox framework of classical interpretation, enabling literary reading without compromising scriptural authority. His hermeneutical question subsequently redirected the trajectory of Shijing scholarship: post-Song Dynasty scholars systematically shifted interpretive agency from Han-Dynasty author-centered approaches toward reader-response paradigms. This critical realignment liberated the text’s poetic essence and natural human sentiments while maintaining didactic orthodoxy. For contemporary scholarship seeking to substantively discuss the history of literary interpretation within classical exegesis—without abandoning the text’s pedagogical foundations—Kong Yingda’s hermeneutical principles remain indispensable.