Acknowledgements

My gratitude first goes to Prof．Ou Hong，who has always been helpful and patient to me．Under his guidance，I benefit a lot and my knowledge of literature studies is broadened．

I am especially grateful to the members of many kind scholars for their insightful suggestions：Prof．Huang Jiayou，Prof．Li Zhiming，Prof．Pu Ruoqian，Prof．Zhang Guangkui and Prof．Zhang Yuejun．Their close reading of the book improved my work immeasurably．Their suggestions strengthened the arguments in my dissertation．

I am grateful to all the Epsians for their encouragement．Without their constant support，it is impossible for me to accomplish this book．

I would also like to express my thanks to my family for their warm help and support in my study and in the book writing．