"Chinese Poetry, Lyrics, and Prose: A Comprehensive Explanation (Vol. 1 & 2)"

Author: Zhang Xiangzhu
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Features: The special colloquial terms in poetry, lyrics, and quatrains, which flourished during the Tang, Song, Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, are unique to classical poetry and literature. These terms range from single characters to phrases, mostly vernacular in nature and not fully encompassed by traditional scholarly definitions or the classical prose of the Eight Masters. There has never been a dedicated book to explain these terms. However, since lyrics are the complement of poetry and quatrains are the complement of lyrics, while the three forms—poetry, lyrics, and quatrains—remain distinct yet share the same origin, I believe compiling and interpreting them together would be more convenient.
There are two methods for this compilation: First, based on their distinct evolution, poetry is used to verify poetry, lyrics to verify lyrics, and quatrains to verify quatrains, which is called self-compilation. Second, based on their shared origin, the three forms or any two of them can be cross-referenced, which is called mutual compilation. By synthesizing all the evidence, a single interpretation is assumed. If one interpretation is insufficient to cover all cases, another interpretation is sought and assumed as an alternative. For common meanings, the scope is broad, including both poetry and prefaces, as well as dramatic quatrains and spoken parts. The collected evidence often includes ten or more, or even more, supporting examples.