Contents Acknowledgments List of Figures, Maps and Tables Introduction 1 The Chronology and Geography of Early Shi -Related Manuscripts2 The Distribution of Literary and Technical Manuscripts in Warring States Finds 3 Literary Manuscripts and Their Agents 4 Material Format, Visuality, and Use of Shi -Related Manuscripts5 Writing, Vocalization, and the Procedures of Reading in Comparative Perspective 6 Reading the Poems in Manuscripts: Writing, Orality, and the Question of Stability 7 Defining the Canonical: the Poems as Discourse and Social Practice8 Writing after Interpretation Conclusion: The Poems as Discourse in Their Interpretive Community at Ying Appendix: List of the Poems in Warring States Manuscripts from Chu Bibliography Index.