Abstract: Quoting saints and following classics are the foundation of Yang Xiong's literary criticism, which is made up of three antithetical categories, namely, event versus diction, mildness versus profundity, classicistic rhapsody versus verbalistic rhapsody. Following classics is the inevitable demand of quoting saints. Event and diction can be and have already been unified in the classics written by saints. Mildness and profundity can be and have already been the textual features of classics. Classicists and verbalists are two types of men quite different from each other, and their personality features are expressed most sufficiently in their rhapsodies. Verbalistic rhapsody betrays classics and therefore it has to be got rid of. Classicistic rhapsody expands classics and therefore it ought to be carried forward. In Yang's literary criticism, there are three developmental curves. One is from a boy to a great man. Another is from rhapsody to learning. The third is an upward spiral from quoting classics to upholding the Way. These three curves of Yang's literary criticism clearly present us with his ambition for further developments, which has rendered him finally into a great thinker.