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Abstract

The Ming synopsis of A General Catalogue of The Complete Library of the Four Treasures provides significant insights into Qing officials' perspectives on the criticism of the Ming anthology. As an official compilation, it largely represents the official scholarly and political stance of the Qing dynasty. As a result of the Qing rulers' historical reflection that the Ming dynasty fell from factionalism, the synopsis denounces the Ming scholars' tendencies towards forming societies, advocating schools and establishing factions. It attributes the overall decline and regression of Ming dynasty anthology criticism to disputes among literary schools and academic factions. Officials at all levels involved in the compilation of The Complete Library of the Four Treasures, following the directives from above, employed three methods, including criticism and denunciation, content editing, and censorship, to suppress and eliminate Ming dynasty anthologies that touched upon sensitive topics such as literary schools, academic factions, and political rivalries. This significantly contributed to the silence and even absence of Ming anthology criticism in the official evaluation system of the Qing dynasty. In short, as a tangible representation of political bias in literary criticism, the synopsis highlights the contradictions between Qing dynasty official academic research and contemporary anxieties.

Keywords

official scholarship of the Qing dynasty, A General Catalogue of The Complete Library of the Four Treasures, Ming anthology criticism, genre criticism, factional criticism

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