Wei Qingzhi: public records of his life, including his birth and death years and native place, are limited; he is known today only as a traditional Chinese critic of poetry, with two works handed down, Shiren Yuxie (Jade Splinters from the Poets) and Wei Qingzhi's Remarks on Ci Poetry. His writings fall under culture and literary appreciation, showing that his focus was on the evaluation and appreciation of shi and ci. Shiren Yuxie is the more representative of the two, gathering remarks on poetry and commenting on poetic craft, and offering later readers material for the study of classical verse. His writing leans toward appreciation and criticism, plain in language and clear in organization, in the essayistic manner of the shihua tradition. Though records of the man are scarce, his works retain a place in the tradition of classical literary criticism and appreciation, serving readers who wish to understand the shihua genre and the evaluation of classical poetry.
