Series of Poetic Notes Taken by the Recluse of the Brook Tiao can be seen as a concise and imaginable history of Northern
Song poetry. It lays emphasis on the great poets, particularly the Four Masters in Northern Song; and it highly appreciates the poets in the Age Yuanyou , such as Su Dongpo, Huang Tingjian and the like; Furthermore, it pays attention to the time background and the tremendous influence towards Song poetry rendered by the precedent writers, such as Du Fu, etc. As to its
historically poetic views, Series of Poetic Notes Taken by the Recluse of the Brook Tiao has laid down such a guideline of "holding the Tang poetry in esteem and inheriting the legacy of the Song poetry" ; in reality, it is soberly aware of the gain and loss of the Song poetry while acknowledging their historical position. Besides, Series of Poetic Notes Taken by the Recluse of the Brook Tiao breaks through the customary classifying system centered on the "poetic styles" ("品"),but resorts to the classifying centers of the "Masters" and "eminent writers", thus having truly reflected the actual development of the Song poetry and given those poets the fixed and accurate
historical positions. So, this book has lent a profound influence upon the posterior poetic notes .