Scholarly Tendency of Literati Collections in the Ming and Qing Dynasties

The compilation of literati collections in the Ming and Qing Dynasties showed a striking characteristic of breaking the tradition of purely collecting poems and articles. There appeared a significant tendency of scholarliness shown in the title, content and classification of the literati collections. There even emerged a large number of scholarly collections dominated by academic discussions and ignoring poems and articles. This change reflects the unique understanding of the origin, feature and function of literati collections and the literary conceptions by the intellectuals in Ming and Qing Dynasties. It also reveals the declining status of poems and articles.