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The reception of the Caotang shiyu (CTSY) ... in the early Qing was closely related to changes in the literary discourse on Song-ci poetry that took place during this period. In his highly influential Cizong ..., Zhu Yizun ... (1629-1709) claimed that the CTSY had adversely affected the practice of ci-composition in the Ming and early Qing, a criticism that later became the basis for orthodox discourse on ci-poetics. This discourse, however, was marred by vague and inaccurate discussions. Through a statistical analysis of zhuihe compositions of the early Qing, i.e. compositions set to the rhyming schemes of works by previous authors, this paper attempts to reconstruct the stylistic practice of the time. The analysis shows that the popular aesthetics exemplified in the CTSY seem to have enjoyed great prevalence among contemporary poets, a preference that Zhu made a conscientious effort to undermine by adopting a different set of selectional strategies for his own compilation. But it was to be another decade before the new fashion advocated by Zhu finally gained acceptance as the standard practice in ciwriting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]