中國文學批評史上的「神韻」，由於王士禛（1634-1711）本人沒有正面的詮解，其意涵眾說紛紜，亦褒貶互見。翁方綱（1733-1818）對王士禛的「神韻」甚為心折，他的《小石帆亭著錄》就是為了推揚「神韻」之說而編著的。該書對王士禛的平仄論作了仔細的考辨，又駁斥了趙執信《聲調譜》的謬誤，其意在指出詩歌有其天然音節，故從詩之平仄可以推敲「神韻」之本質。翁氏又用更多的詩例，去證明他的觀點；甚至進一步指出「神韻」不僅能與短章及王維、孟浩然等
風格的詩歌切合，同樣能合於長篇及杜甫、韓愈等風格的詩歌。他以「舉隅」的邏輯，拓闊了「神韻」的指涉範圍，將「神韻」論述成優秀詩歌的本質，並與詩人之學養有著密切關係。如此，翁氏以「精密考訂之功」來考察「神韻」便顯得有理有據。

Shenyun is a complicated concept of Chinese literary criticism,which hadn’t had a sufficient explanation by Wang Shizhen (1634-1711).
Thus it raised various discussions. Xiao Shi Fang Ting Zhu Lu, which was
edited by Weng Fanggang (1733-1818), was purposed to glorify the literary
thoughts of Wang Shizhen. Weng studied the tonal pattern of poems,which were mentioned by Wang Shizhen, and he rebutted the views of Zhao Zhixin. Weng believed poetry has its natural rhythm, and “shenyun” could be refined from the tonal pattern of poems. He proved his point of view with lots of examples. He further pointed out that “shenyun” was not only met with short poems and Wang Wei, Meng Haoran’s style of poetry, it also could be found in long poems and Du Fu, Han Yu’s style of poetry.
Weng expanded the referential scope of “shenyun.” Under his discussion,
“shenyun” could be “essence” of poetry that had a close relationship with
poet’s cultivation. So, the textual study method used by Weng to examine
“shenyun” becomes convincing.