On the Self-record of Ancient Prose in the Individual Works in the Qing Dynasty

Many ancient prose writers were fond of attaching their own notes (or self-knowledge) to their individual works, which was a prevailing and particularly noticeable phenomenon in the Qing Dynasty. Of course, the application of self-record was not limited to a certain style, but it was most common in ancient prose creation. It is not only a sign of the academic creation of ancient prose under the influence of the strong academic atmosphere in the Qing Dynasty, but also an outcome of the efforts of ancient prose writers in the Qing Dynasty to promote the dissemination of their works in order to be known and valued under the strong practical purpose and fierce creative competition at that time. As a kind of paratext, the self-record of ancient prose in the Qing Dynasty provides us with a large amount of first-hand information for understanding the authors' concepts of writing, and grasping the writing motivation, backgrounds, processes, content, characteristics and the readers' acceptance condition.