由於明亡，船山對於竟陵派之批評，較之明代另一立門庭之復古派要遠為嚴苛。此種批評映帶船山晚年追悔心境，給予了其持續寫作以完善詩歌批評及理論構思的誘惑。本文嘗試揭示船山的家族、師友、地域、政治同盟及遺民社群等社會關係，如何深入到船山的竟陵批評論述之中，又是如何影響了船山從竟陵派學習者轉變至嚴苛批判者的過程。此種竟陵學習者身份，也讓船山與其他明清之際的亡國論批評者區別開來。在社會學角度之外，船山的竟陵派亡國論亦體現出他獨特的「體要」／「文質」思想，這其中潛藏了深刻的夷夏論內容。船山所憂懼的，不僅是詩文導致國亡道喪，更是詩文作為樂的替代物，在夷狄侵入下亦會遭受與樂音同樣的命運；其之所以重視文質、體要、詩文，正是由此種存中夏文明的極端嚴峻性出發。

Due to the fall of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Fuzhi's commentary on the Jing-Ling School was more critical than that of the Classical School. Such criticism reflected Wang's pang of repentance in his later years, and gave him the urge to constantly perfect his poetic criticism and theoretical framework. This paper provides evidence to reveal the influence and interconnectedness of Wang's social relationships- such as family, teachers, friends, regions, political alliances, and loyalist communities- and investigates how such interrelations had penetrated into his critical discourse of the Jing-Ling School as well as Wang's transformation from a Jing-Ling-style learner to an adopter of a much harsher social stance. Moreover, as a former Jing-Ling-style learner, Wang is distinguished from other contemporary critics of the fall of Ming during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. In addition to the analysis through the lens of social sciences, this paper suggests that Wang's criticism of the Jing-Ling School also exhibited his unique thoughts of tiyao (style and essentials) and wenzhi (outer grace and inner substance), which subtly embody the conceptions of the yi-xia distinction that entails the debate over the civilized xia and the uncivilized yi. Wang was apprehensive of poetry being the possible downfall of the nation, and that poetry, as a substitute for music, would suffer the same tragic fate as music under the invasion of yi. Therefore, Wang's focus on the significance of wenzhi, tiyao, and poetry derives from his concerns of the dire circumstances surrounding the survival of Xia culture.