张伯行

Zhang Boxing: reliable public information about his dates, birthplace, and nationality is limited, so details of his life cannot be firmly established. Judging from the ten works held in the library, his editorial interests center on the Tang and Song prose tradition. He compiled An Anthology of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song, and also edited separate selections of Su Shi, Ouyang Xiu, the Three Su, Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, and Wang Anshi. These works consist mainly of selected texts and compilations, presenting and transmitting classic works with a character that also suits historical reading, and making it easier for readers to study the writings of famous Tang and Song authors in a concentrated way. His editorial approach emphasizes preserving the original texts and keeping the sequence clear; the style is plain and readability is stressed, which has helped popularize classic prose. Given the limited sources, no speculation is offered about his career or intellectual background.