Preface and Postface Volume

Author: Fu Xuanzheng, Editor-in-Chief; Zeng Zilu, Translated and Annotated
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-09-01
Features: Prefaces and postfaces are a common yet important genre in classical Chinese prose. From Xiao Tong's Wen Xuan to Yao Nai's Classified Collection of Classical Prose, they were all specifically categorized as a distinct type. The term "preface" is also written as "introduction." In the Explanation of Literary Forms, Xu Shiceng of the Ming Dynasty, citing the definition of "xu" (introduction) as "xu" (threadbare) from Erya, defined it as "to narrate well, to arrange in order, like the threadbare of silk." This means that the genre of preface is highly orderly and logical in narration, much like a single threadbare can be drawn from a bundle of tangled silk to form a coherent thread. Based on this characteristic, the ancients also called it "introduction." Thus, the preface is primarily used to introduce or lead into another work, helping readers better understand and engage with the text. Earlier prefaces were generally placed at the end of the work, such as Sima Qian's Preface by the Grand Historian in Records of the Grand Historian or Liu Xie's Preface and Records in The Heart of the Mencius. Later, most prefaces were moved to the beginning of the book, while a few that retained the nature of prefaces were placed at the end and called "postfaces" (postscripts), such as Han Yu's Postscript to the Biography of Zhang Zhongcheng or Li Qingzhao's Postscript to The Catalogue of Jades and Stones.