Abstract

The style of preface was written before or after the books and records，and the contents included all aspects of the text.The writing was free，whereas there were certain manners.There were about 1191 prefaces in the Northern Song Dynasty.It was collective contribution by more than 410 authors in a civilized and peaceful times.

The style of preface showed prosperity generally in the Northern Song Dynasty.The achievement lied in the explosion of quantity，large group of authors and emergence of masterpieces.The style presented flexible and pregnant artistic appearance.Intense self-consciousness rebuilt the style of preface in the Northern Song Dynasty，and it helped this style to enlarge its function.There were some virtuosos of the style of preface in the Northern Song Dynasty.For example，Wang Yuchen’s prefaces had themanner of biography in historical records;Ouyang Xiu wrote the prefaceswith intense sense of life;Zeng Gong created the new style of Mu Lu Xu;Wang Dingguo Shi Ji Xu was the best work in Su Shi’s prefaces.

Preface was important tool of spread and criticism in the communication process of the books.Excessivemodesty in author’s preface，and refusal and excessive praise in prefaces written by other authors had been fixed in the Northern Song Dynasty and influenced later ages.The writers of preface paid attention to selectmotivated materials.As important paratext，Preface would influence the following criticism magisterially.As the first criticism，Preface would form a different degree of growth in the reception history，and inappropriate criticism in the pref-ace would influence the readers’comprehension.

The prefaces in the Northern Song Dynasty have important value of historicalmaterials，and were the important clue about lost books and edition criticism.For examp le，Taking advantage of Tang Yi Shi Ji，Dong Guan Ji and Xie Ximeng Shi Ji’s prefaces，we could write summary of these lost books.The prefaces are the storages for textual research aboutwriters’story and groups.Taking advantage of Shi Zhiyuan’s prefaces，we can research the life of Shi Zhiyuan.Taking advantage of Zeng Gong’s prefaces，we can research social intercourse of Wang Hui and his brothers in the literary world.On the other side，prefaces had a lot of publishing materials.For example，taking advantage of Zeng Gong’s Ci Bu Ji Xu，we can research editions of Qiang Zhi’sworks.Taking advantage of prefaces of the early of Song Dynasty，we can found their pride and happiness about the block printing，and their comparison and selection about the different publication methods.

Key words:the Northern Song Dynasty　the Style of Preface Whole Achievement　Individual Manner　the Function of Communication　the Function of Criticism　the Value of Historical Materials