On the Chu Ci Commentaries and Their Development in the Ming Dynasty

Abstract: The Ming Dynasty was an important period for the formation and development of Chu Ci (《楚辞》) commentaries. Prior to the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, Chu Ci commentaries were only in the shaping period—even though there had already appeared Lou Fang’s attempts to insert annotations in his relevant anthologies, as well as the headnotes in some versions of Chu Ci, they were far from mature. The Wanli era proved to be a crucial stage in the development of Chu Ci commentaries because it was in this period that some genuine annotated versions of Chu Ci were engraved for printing and publication, followed by a series of versions of increasingly high quality. During the Tianqi era, Chu Ci commentaries reached its peak, marked by Jiang Zhiqiao’s Notes on Chu Ci. Apart from this primary path of development, Chu Ci commentaries in various periods were also characterized by their rich diversity and great prosperity.