Life

Jiang was born in Poyang (in today's Jiangxi province). His family was of mediocre social status and Kui himself did not obtain any post in the government throughout his life. His father was a county magistrate during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song.

Jiang made multiple attempts on the imperial exam but was not able to pass them. He traveled extensively between the regions of Hubei, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangsu and Fujian. He had close contacts with his contemporary poets and literati. Jiang Kui moved to Huzhou from Poyang before finally settling down in Hangzhou where he died.

Poetry

Jiang's poetic style is notably influenced by Zhou Bangyan but his own style was distinct from other poets. In his early years as an abecedarian of poetry, his mentor was Xiao Ju (蕭𣂏). According to his own biography, Jiang values the originality of his poems more than the following of established poetic theories from the past. In the eyes of 13th century artist and art theorist Chen Yu, the poetry of Jiang Kui is marked by his candidness(as a lack of overly ink-horn words) and originality. Chen noted that Jiang's poetry was not influenced by his contemporaries. As a result, Jiang was able to establish his own school at the time and influence other poets that admired his works.

Another 13th-century Ci poet Zhang Yan described Jiang's poetic style as "Clouds that leave or stay without a trace", underlining the unpredictability of Jiang's poems.

Musicology

Aside from being a poet, Jiang was also a musicologist of classical Chinese musics. He was best known for his lyric poems. Jiang tried to restore the lost tunes of ancient times but was scoffed by the officials of Taichang Si (Office of Great constancy, a government department of ancient China in charge of ritualistic affairs as well as classical musics).

詞風

姜夔精於音律，自度曲頗多，詞譜有定調，詞前多有小序。題材上，多是紀遊與詠物之作，其中偶然流露他對時事的感慨，更多是慨嘆他身世的飄零和情場的失意。

姜詞琢煉字句，喜用清淡生新的字句，追求清幽深邃、清空的意境，善於寫景，詠物詞則稍覺堆砌。

姜夔用江西詩派的創作方法來填詞，講究點竄前人詩句入詞，間用拗句拗調，愛用典故，提倡「僻事實用，熟事虛用」，致使詞的語意隱晦含糊，境界朦朧。姜詞也講求寄託和含蓄，喜用暗喻聯想等手法。

作品

• 詞集《白石道人歌曲》，少數流傳樂譜的宋詞，存詞84首，今收錄於四庫全書。

• 主要詞作：

　• 《暗香·舊時月色》

　• 《疏影》

　• 《揚州慢·淮左名都》

　• 《齊天樂·黃鐘宮》

　• 《慶宮春·雙槳蓴波》

　• 《踏莎行·燕燕輕盈》

　• 《念奴嬌·鬧紅一舸》

　• 《淡黃柳·空城曉角》

• 主要古琴曲

　• 《古怨》

評價

• 張炎《詞源》：「姜白石如野雲孤飛，去留無跡。」又：「不惟清空，又且騷雅，讀之使人神觀飛越。」

• 陳廷焯《白雨齋詞話》：「詞法之密，無過清真。詞格之高，無過白石。詞味之厚，無過碧山。」

• 朱彞尊《詞綜·發凡》：「詞之南宋始極工，姜堯章最為傑出。」《黑蝶齋詩餘‧序》：「詞莫善于姜夔。」

• 《四庫全書》：「夔詩格高秀，為楊萬里等所推，詞亦精深華妙，尤善自度新腔，故音節文採，並冠一時。」