Searching for Meaning in Accordance with Individual Feelings in Wang Zhi's Shi Zong Wen

New learning of studies of the Classics in the Song Dynasty began with Liu Chang's The Gong Shibi Commentary, and was greatly encouraged by Wang Zhi's Shi Zong Wen. Wang's interpretations of the classics are sometimes affected by his admiration for Tao Qian's lifestyle of seclusion. The outstanding achievement of Shi Zong Wen lies in the two interpretation methods in searching for meaning in accordance with feelings. The first method is that he degrades The Book of Songs and brings it to the category of history to establish connection with historical events and literary works of later ages; and the second is that the current customs and life experience are employed for the purpose of interpretation, to show that human feelings from ancient times do not differ much from those of the present.