In the summer of 1936, Professor Ye Li (Shi Sun), who had been teaching in the Department of Psychology of Tsinghua University, took the vacation to teach in the Chinese Department of Shandong University in Qingdao. I was in the third grade. Prior to this, Professor Zhu Guangqian's "Psychology of Literature and Art" has been published, and the Department of Chinese of Peking University has opened this course, and we know that other universities have not yet opened it, and we hope that Shandong University can also open it. The school suffers from the lack of such conditions, mainly because it lacks teachers who are both deeply involved in literature and proficient in psychology, and who are also good at ancient and modern Chinese and foreign learning like Mr. Zhu. Mr. Ye's arrival happened to solve this problem for us in a very timely manner. Mr. Ye specializes in psychology in the United States and France, and has always loved literature, reading a lot, and he can also create poems and lyrics in the old Chinese style, which are very beautiful and moving. It turned out that he had been trained in classical literature since he was a child, and his family came from a background, and only later decided to specialize in psychological science. He and Mr. Zhu are also old friends of the same generation, and although he has not taught literary psychology in the Department of Psychology of Tsinghua, he has been very interested in this course under the influence of Mr. Zhu's book, which has opened up a new field of Chinese literary research. So when the school proposed it to him, he readily agreed. It turns out that we were very lucky to hear him lectur. Just as before this year, we could hear Mr. Lao She give a lecture on "The Novel Practice". At that time, most of the content of other courses was still traditional, but the two courses were different, and the content, perspectives, and teaching methods were almost completely new to us. Mr. Lao She lectured on this course as a famous Chinese novel writer with rich life experience and Western literary concepts, and Mr. Ye taught this course as an expert in modern psychology and a scholar, author and connoisseur of Chinese classical literature and Western literature. No matter in the teaching content, learning and research methods, forming a very cordial relationship between teachers and students, etc., they have greatly broadened the students' horizons, added a lot of new knowledge, cultivated their own research ability, and educated us with practical actions what kind of person we should be, how we should care for and help the next generation younger than ourselves to grow. They leave an impression on students that will never be forgotten. Both teachers were victims and died during the tragedy of the Cultural Revolution. Mr. Ye had been "enlarged" as early as 1957. The hobbies and life choices of youth often determine the path of life that a person will not change in the future. In the more than 70 years since I started elementary school, I have not left the circle of school life. When I was a college student, I began to love literary writing, and it was Mr. Lao She who gave me guidance and encouragement. From studying novels to literary research, focusing on the study and discussion of ancient literary theory, it was Mr. Ye who gave me guidance and encouragement. When I think back on more than half a century of life, I always think of the love and education of these two gentlemen, even though in fact for nearly twenty years before their deaths, isolated by necessity, not only did they never see each other again, but they did not even receive a letter. As one of their closest students at the time, he showed such indifference, could he forgive himself with only "last resort"? Undoubtedly due to his own weakness and timidity. No one should repeat this historical mistake. The inspiration and guidance I got from Mr. Ye's teaching and research, as well as many conversations and contacts outside the classroom, had the most impact on my later research and writing until today are the following four points: First, you must have a research goal that you think is really meaningful, extremely interested, and within your ability. Objectively very meaningful, but I think it is not or meaningless; Although they also think that they are meaningful, they lack interest; Think it is meaningful and interested, but in fact it is not enough; It is not surprising that these situations exist, but it is not suitable as one's long-term research goal. I don't have much life experience, especially after listening to Mr. Ye's lecture on "Psychology of Literature and Art", I am deeply interested in the study of literary and art theory. Since I studied teacher training in high school and Chinese in college, I read very little foreign languages and did not strive to read them well, it is appropriate to focus on the study of ancient literary and artistic theories in my country, which is more within reach, and this range cannot be considered small. He endorsed my long-term efforts towards that goal. Second, it is necessary to obtain as much first-hand information as possible that is closely related to the research objectives. I was amazed by the fact that he was free to provide information on a particular issue, including a number of different opinions, both ancient and modern, and attributing its source. He has a good memory, but he said that he mainly has to rely on accumulating information after frequent exhibitions, that is, making cards himself, and diligent in writing notes after reading. He showed us his lots of cards and notes and told us how he did it, how he used it, and how he got into it. Since then, I have also learned to accumulate this accumulation. Third, we should gradually cultivate and improve our ability to analyze and identify different schools and opinions on the basis of accumulation. What is reasonable should be eclectic, each taking its own strengths, and not bound by anything; They should have their own opinions, neither disagree nor agree, correct mistakes when they find them, and explore them again if they are imperfect. Fourth, you cannot study for the sake of research, theory for theory's sake; You can't learn theory without reading literary works, and you have no creative experience; You can't study literary theory and only read books on this aspect, and knowledge of philosophy, history, psychology and so on is indispensable. He attached great importance to life and the needs of the country and society. He was deeply worried about the crisis in North China caused by Japanese imperialism at that time. This also deeply influenced me, making me understand that researchers are not just people who live in a study and eat books. Just as I was beginning to follow his instructions, the Lugou Bridge Incident happened. Qingdao was originally a major stronghold of the Japanese Empire's invasion of China, and at this time it was already a stormy front, so Mr. Ye had to return to his hometown of Sichuan University with his family. I moved west with the university, and finally merged into Chongqing Shapingba Central University until I graduated. The initial plan had to come to a complete halt during this period. The reason why I entered the Institute of Liberal Arts of the Central University Research Institute to explore the poetry of the Song Dynasty was because I wanted to continue the original research project. At that time, the reason why I spent part of my time writing a lot of articles discussing the literature and art of the War of Resistance was because I thought of his consistent guidance: researchers must not be separated from national affairs and must not forget their social responsibilities. The two are not actually contradictory, and they should and can be unified. By this time, he was already serving as the provost of Sichuan University, and I had moved from Yunnan to northern Guangdong. He still found time to give me a lot of guidance in the newsletter. During my two years at the institute, I accumulated tens of thousands of cards. The so-called card is a substitute that is pasted together with three layers of earthen paper, which can barely be written on both sides, and it is still lucky to be preserved. In the five years that he stayed in the school to teach, there were conditions to continue to accumulate at the beginning, but later, due to the fall of most of Xiang and Gui, the school moved to the Dongjiang area, and the books were lost, and there were no conditions. After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, I returned to school with Shanda University, but I was secretly dismissed midway because I sympathized with the students' "anti-hunger and anti-civil war" movement, and was accused of being a "traitor" by the Ministry of Education of the Kuomintang government. From then until the end of the "anti-rightist" in the fifties, due to frequent movements and sudden changes in concepts in the past decade, it seems that the ancient literary heritage no longer needs to be studied. On the contrary, in the 20 years that he was expanded by the "anti-rightist" and became a "cow, ghost, snake and god" during the "Cultural Revolution," since all due rights no longer existed, in addition to "isolation," raiding homes, sweeping the floor, endorsing, and being tried, he had some hope in his soul in order to make himself in a "separate book," and felt that taking this opportunity to use all his spare time to continue his achievements was a way to have both. I never imagined that this difficult period of twenty years since I left the original plan became a vigorous stage for me to sink into again. I went on to make 450,000 cards from more than 700 books on the subject, and estimated that I wrote no more than 10 million words. The means are primitive, the methods are stupid, but when I read and write like this, I no longer have any troubles and complaints, and I don't regard this as a hard work. I was "raided" many times, and these were not damaged because they were all regarded as waste, and I was selfishly happy and "useless". But if so, when is it useful? There was a blur in front of my eyes. But I always think that this kind of learning is useful, I can't do it, I can't do it well, others will still do it in the future, they will do it and do it well. The mad national nihilists will not last forever. More than ten years passed, and I turned into a situation where I was in a slightly better mood but had a lot of affairs, my previous achievements were far from complete, I was getting old, my accumulation plummeted from my peak, almost no gain, and I didn't have enough time and energy. On the one hand, the more I feel the importance of this work in the process of accumulation, and on the other hand, the more anxious I am, how should I try to continue this very meaningful work? I haven't had time to make good use of this large amount of information myself, not to mention that there is more information to collect, organize and use! I thought of working on this project with some of my colleagues and several graduate students in ancient literature, which was the only possible and feasible way. This is the reason for the creation of this "Special Information Series on Ancient Chinese Literary and Art Theory". Human life is so short, day by day it seems to be very long, and when you look back, it is only a moment, and it is really like the beginning has suddenly come to an end. Without the joint efforts of the above-mentioned comrades, I alone would not have been able to come up with something that I knew was still very crude and omissional. Ancient Chinese literary and art theory has a long history, put forward many arguments in line with the law, the information is very rich, and the more contact you have, the more you feel that it is really like a vast ocean, which is extremely valuable. I believe that the subjectivity of aesthetics, the integrity of observation, the contemplation of arguments, and the conciseness of descriptions are the thinking characteristics of ancient Chinese literary theory with national characteristics. Most of Chinese don't like tedious and abstract speculation, and start from a theoretical framework that they have built behind closed doors. Chinese is by no means lacking this ability, not that no one has done it, but the average person is unwilling, unaccustomed, and even thinks it is inappropriate. Even when discussing problems and expressing their opinions, literary theorists always abide by the laws of literature and art: they have feelings, and they have no choice but to say that they are shining and breaking the point, so that people can realize themselves and draw inferences from one another, and they always maintain literary and artistic colors such as concrete, sensual, depicting, metaphor, imagination, and intention beyond words, which are reasonable and interesting, weight-lifting, and pleasing to themselves. The short length and variety of forms are its characteristics. When we compare it with Western literary and artistic theories in ancient and modern times, we feel more and more that it can at least be comparable to the achievements of Western culture, and has played an equally huge role in the development of human civilization. The difference between literary theory and scientific and technological knowledge is that there are much more stable things in it, and there are many spiritual experiences and artistic sensitivities, which are often existing in the past, but the later ones are greatly dull. Some subtle and mysterious feelings and insights in the field of literature and art are often not refined later, and time and space cannot limit their aura. It should be natural that we cannot distinguish between the superior and the inferior from the way of thinking and expression. If it is good to have a system and a system, then how to judge whether there is one? What do you want future generations to study and sort out? Moreover, aren't there already enough systems, systems that have long been thrown into the trash in bundles by people? Many things, including literary criticism, have proved that the possibility of complementarity, transformation, and integration is increasing, and the necessity is also increasing. It is a historical necessity to draw on the best and use the macro, to be eclectic, and to seek progress together. The preliminary collection and collation of ancient literary and art theoretical materials is precisely to facilitate the research and exploration of the achievements of predecessors, to carry forward their contributions, so that the wisdom and talents of Chinese literary artists can be understood, exchanged consensus, and integrated among peers around the world. Needless to say, if it is really knowledge that conforms to the laws of literature and art, no matter how many years ago the discoveries and experiences are, it will definitely still have a positive effect on the current literary and artistic creation and literary criticism. At this moment, when our vision has become significantly broader with the tide of reform and opening up, we feel that even if we compile and select literary and art theoretical materials, we should not only focus on the literary and art theoretical materials themselves, but expand their scope. But this range is so broad, who would have predicted that the calligrapher would still realize some kind of artistic essence from "the princess and the bearer fighting for the road"? When we have read the countless books containing direct information on literary and art theory yet, we can only leave it for later to gradually supplement, revise, and expand. I am anxious about this and still have the determination to continue to do it for the rest of my life. As for the fact that it should be done quite perfectly, I am afraid that it will take at least several generations of continuous efforts. Fortunately, our great nation is eternal, and there will always be a day when this goal will be achieved. Once again, let me take this opportunity to pay tribute to the two teachers Lao She and Ye Shisun, thank my colleagues and graduate students who participated in this project for their close cooperation, and express my heartfelt feelings to China Social Sciences Press and Ji Shurong and other comrades who have put in a lot of labor with us! Xu Zhongyu, June 17, 1991