Introduction -- Part I. Setting the stage. Early circulation -- Origins -- Part II. The early and mid-eleventh century. The Yuezhang ji and Liu Yong -- The Xiaoling collections (I) -- The Xiaoling collections (II) -- Yan Jidao -- Part III. The age of Su Shi. Su Shi -- The generation after Su Shi -- Su Shi's protégés -- Qin Guan -- He Zhu -- Zhou Bangyan -- Part IV. Into the twelfth century. Recovering a history -- The last generation of the northern song and on -- Conclusion by way of continuing -- Reference matter. Appendix A. The manuscripts of Feng Yansi -- Appendix B. Lyrics adrift -- Appendix C. The "high style" and its opposites.