Ke Ting's Remarks on Ci Poetry

1. Read only five to eight entries at a time, and after each, restate the author's view in your own words, to avoid the vagueness that comes from reading straight through.
2. When you reach evaluations of earlier ci poets, first recall the relevant ci works you have read, then judge whether the author's discussion is apt.
3. Keep a pen ready to mark judgments open to discussion, and review them together afterward to form your own critical notes.

"Republic-era Commercial Press Original Editions" refers to original books printed by The Commercial Press during the Republican period, not a separate publishing house. Judging from the 300 titles held in the collection, its publishing focus centers on classical poetry and lyrics, literary appreciation, classic works, military texts, prose and miscellaneous writings, and Eastern philosophy. Representative titles include Wang Guowei's Renjian Cihua, Zhong Rong's Shipin, the lyric collections of Xin Qiji and Liu Yong, Sun Wu's The Art of War, and Lü Buwei's Xianshi Lan. Its author resources are mainly classical writers, together with modern scholars such as Li Jingbang and Guo Huaruo, whose collations and annotations are also represented, giving the list a character centered on original texts while attending to annotation and appreciation. Public information on the precise Republican-era catalog and printings is limited; this overview is based only on the titles held in the collection.