Abstract: The focus of the dispute between Wang and Ban over the appraisal of Qu Yuan lies in the fact that Ban took Qu as a “virtuous subject” while Wang regarded Qu as a “loyal subject”. Ban read Qu Yuan in the light of Qu’s talented frustration and criticized Qu for his extremes, but in the reading of Qu’s loyalty, Wang weakened Qu’s resentment at the monarch and towards the society. Wang and Ban both changed the emotionally-emphasized acceptant dimension in the reading of Qu Yuan by the scholars, and put rational explanation at the first place of the reading activity. They truned the following into two major themes in the history of the reading of Qu Yuanone being the frustration of the talented, the other, the loyalty to the monarch and the affections to the country.

Key words: Wang Yi, Ban Gu, appraisal of Qu Yuan, acceptant dimension, rational explanation