Reflection and development: A review of 70-year study on ci-poetry in Shanghai

The study of ci-poetry in Shanghai since the founding of the People's Republic of China can be divided into three stages; transition, prosperity, and development. In the transitional period, the study of ci-poetry in Shanghai focused more on ideological content than on artistic characteristics, and more on the style of " haofang" (the bold and unrestrained) than "wanyue" (the graceful and restrained) . During its prosperous period, the study of ci-poetry in Shanghai began to reflect on the previous research. Driven by the fever for aesthetics and methodology, Shanghai has witnessed fruitful production of scholarly works on ci-poetry. Aftercntering the stage of development, lexicologists often conduct research with a reference to such ideas as returning to the historical context and nationalist discourses, with an attempt to get rid of "imposed interpretation" that is justified by its internal logic. In the meantime, the "view of medium" study becomes popular. Ci-poetry of the Ming and Qing dynasties and the Republic of China has gradually become the focus of academic research. Accomplishments have been made in areas such as literature collation, poet studies, and musicology. The scholarly community of ci-poetry studies in Shanghai is marked by diversity and continuity, which has formed its own academic tradition passed down from generation to generation.