Xia Chengtao

Xia Chengtao (1900–1986), styled Quchan and later known as Quchan the Elder, was a native of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, and a pioneer and founder of modern ci studies, honored as “a master of ci of his generation.” He taught for many years at Zhijiang University, Zhejiang University, and Hangzhou University. His scholarship stressed chronological biography and annotated collation, as shown in works such as Chronological Biographies of Tang and Song Ci Poets, Essays on Tang and Song Ci, and The Chronologically Arranged and Annotated Ci of Jiang Baishi. His selected and commented edition of Three Hundred Song Ci Poems and his co-edited Dictionary for the Appreciation of Song Ci serve general readers while balancing scholarship and readability. His annotated studies of Lu You and Xin Qiji reflect a method moving from textual research to appreciation. Tianfeng Pavilion Selected Ci, published by Zhejiang Guji Press, gathers his own ci poems, showing that he was both a poet and a scholar.