Abstract: There are a large number of Pre-Tang annotations in Wen-xuan which was commented by Li Shan, its literary value is extremely high. They can be divided into three types: some single articles’ annotations, Han-shu’s and Chu-ci’s by Wang Yi. The sources of these annotations are various and complicated. It can be inferred through the investigation that these annotations may be originally presented in the copy which Li Shan annotated, rather than cited by Li Shan himself. And the adoption of annotations is an important reason for the existence of a large number of variants in Wen-xuan. Although Li Shan edited according to clear regulations, the original annotations still became very disorderly during the long-term circulation; in addition, it caused a lot of problems on the emendation and use of Wen-xuan. Therefore, it is necessary to explore and collate these old annotations with rigorous approach to philology.

Key words: Wen-xuan, Li Shan’s annotation, the original annotations