Song Dynasty prose commentary

Author: Hong Benjian
Review and Comments
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2001-04-01
Features: This series extensively selects renowned masterpieces from ancient Chinese literature, including poetry, ci poems, prose, fu, fiction, letters, and short essays, providing brief annotations and occasional comments and overall reviews. Considering the primary target audience of adolescents, the works already included in secondary school Chinese textbooks have been minimized. The selected content prioritizes refinement, fluency, rich literary expression, and ease of comprehension, excluding lengthy pieces or those overly replete with allusions that are excessively obscure and difficult to understand.
The "review and comments" method has been practiced since the Song Dynasty and became more prevalent during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, particularly for evaluating fiction. It includes various forms such as annotations in the margins, marginal notes, interlinear comments, and overall reviews, among others. Similar practices exist for poetry and prose. The review and comments are relatively free and flexible, allowing for personal insights into the author's intent, the value of the work, its techniques, strengths and weaknesses, distinctive features, and post-reading reflections, among other aspects.