一般文學批評史均認為清代沈德潛之格調說乃上承明代復古詩派、近濟清初王士禛神韻說之弊而崛興，而又與後起的袁枚所提出的性靈說相頡頏。這實在簡化了其詩學的深度。其實，沈氏之詩學遠伸至明中葉自李東陽以至於明代復古詩派所提出的格調說，並作出突破，此為其縱向的詩學傳承與批判。而其縱向方面並不止於標舉格調，而是以格調為主，轉化性靈，匯通神韻，從而自成一家之詩學體系。

Nearly every history of literary criticism has regarded Shen Deqian,s沈德潛 theory of gediao 格調 as a supplement to Wang Shizhen,s 王士禛 theoryof shenyun神韻 and a rival to Yuan Mei,s 袁枚 theory of xingling 性靈. Theprofundity of Shen,s poetics was oversimplified by such traditional viewpoints.In fact, Shen was in dialogue with other poetic theorists of gediao, such as LiDongyang 李東陽 and the Ming Neo-Classical School, as early as the Mid-Ming, and made breakthroughs on this front. Shen not only emphasized gediaoas his main theory; he also tried to communicate with shenyun and xingling.For his creative transformation of gediao, shenyun and xingling, he should berecognized as a poetic master of the Qing dynasty.