王夫之晚年作《楚辭通釋》，固有借屈原抒發「七尺從天乞活埋」亡國悲憤之意，然若僅僅視為反映楚辭「情志映照」詮釋傳統，或是明清之際遺民書寫之體現，尚不足以概括此書意義與價值。本文重新探討此書，先就楚辭學的角度考察，指出王夫之力圖還原屈原文字之言意關聯，避免舊注牽強之弊，其問題認知與解決之道，一方面受到當時最普行的楚辭版本——朱熹《楚辭集注》所影響，二方面壟罩於宋明以來詩學觀念（以注杜詩為代表）氛圍之下。進而分析王夫之的突破，當一般楚辭注本致力於將所有文字指向屈原忠君愛國的情志，王夫之卻在「有意的排遣」與「不經意的流露」中凸顯屈子忠憤出於至性。「有意的排遣」為修煉內丹，其說恐不能成立，然揭示出〈遠遊〉的養性觀念在思想史上值得進一步考察。「不經意的流露」在於景語的細膩詮釋，當對船山詩學「情景交融理論」的提出有推波助瀾之功。

A Comprehensive Commentary of the Chu Ci by Wang Fu-chih (Wang Ch’uan-shan) has not received due emphasis from the perspective of Chu Ci studies or from the development of Wang’s poetics. The traditional approach to the book succeeded in revealing Wang’s sentiments toward the termination of the Ming dynasty, but failed to provide a full understanding of the author together with his work: either the book was reckoned to be a manifestation of the sentiments from subjects of the Ming dynasty, or as a practice of typical Chu Ci exegesis. Wang’s exegetical attempts were influenced by two sources, both of which insisted on Qu Yuan’s patriotism and its disclosure: Chu Hsi’s A Great Collection of Commentaries on the Chu Ci, and the post-Sung dynasty poetic views (notably those of the commentators on Du Fu’s poetry). However, it is Wang’s achievement that he kept at a distance past critiques of the Chu Ci, and restored the close connection between Qu Yuan’s intents and verbal expressions. Thus Wang proposed another two approaches to the Chu Ci: firstly, Qu Yuan’s “intentional diversion,” a misleading yet provocative speculation for the studies of intellectual history, referring to Qu Yuan’s practice of internal alchemy (neidan); secondly, Qu Yuan’s “unintentional revelation,” a milestone toward Wang’s establishment of the theory of “sentiments and scenic writings incorporated,” was found in Qu Yuan’s detailed landscape description.