Pre-modern Chinese literary texts have undergone continuous evolution throughout history. Research on this evolution has traditionally relied on the methods of philology and textual bibliography， forming a set of established academic conventions. Yet in the process of reader reception， a number of implicit rules emerge that extend beyond these conventions. When the reading， reception， and dissemination of ancient poetry is brought into the study of literary criticism， it becomes evident that pre-modern Chinese readers often selected， among competing textual variants， those versions that better aligned with prevailing aesthetic preferences. Readers’ acceptance of authorial attribution exhibits a marked preference for canonical figures， while authoritative intervention exerts a decisive influence over the adjudication of textual variants. During the broader process of textual circulation， the selection of certain texts is in fact shaped by moral， political， or ideological projections. The collective consensus embedded in textual transmission and reception—what might be described as the “public opinion” of the literary sphere—exerts a powerful and often irreversible influence. Poetry anthologies likewise have played a significant role in shaping the writing of literary history and in directing the evolution of texts. These implicit rules governing the evolution of ancient poetic texts reveal the underlying structures of literary belief and cultural power， and， in essence， constitute a shared cultural consensus within Chinese literary tradition. An examination of these dynamics would not only shed light on longstanding puzzles in the circulation of textual materials and their textual evolution， but also broaden the methodological horizon of traditional literary criticism.