The Function of Literary Criticism and the Concept of Anthology Editing in Early Anthology Prefaces

As the earliest literature to study the works of writers in this period, the anthology prefaces in the Wei, Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties contain rich information on literary criticism and anthology compilation. The preface writers’ biographical or eulogized writings for the anthology authors adhere to the tradition of portraying a person by his literary works, and use the method of understanding one’s work by referring to his time and background consciously to provide important support for readers, which belong to the author theory of literature researches in nature. The preface authors’ comments on the poetic style and literary accomplishments of the anthology authors are often a highly concentrated collection of their literary criticism thoughts and opinions, which are quite classic and profound, and play a leading role for researching the later works and authors. Under the circumstance that the old anthologies from the two Han dynasties to the six dynasties had already dispersed and disappeared completely, the compilation principles and compilation styles embodied in the anthology prefaces are the most precious materials for us to investigate the compilation conditions and editing concepts of different anthologies at that time.