Sung Imperial clan is a specifically complicated social mechanism. The American Scholar, Professor John. W. Chaffee, collects a wealth of objective historical documents and compile them into the great book Branches of Heaven: A History of the Imperial Clan of Sung China. The research objective of this thesis is to employ the Sung Imperial Clan Poetry objectively as the research materials for the investigation of their mentality. The research content shall be confined to the following four topics:a. The evolution of content in Imperial Clan Poetry from Northern to Southern Sung.b. The similarities and differences in emotional expression among three different clans: Tai Tsu, Tai Tsung, and Wei Wang Ting-mei.c. Social intercourse poetry between Imperial Clan poets and their contemporary scholars and intellectuals.d. The literary reception of Imperial Clan Poetry.About the first topic, this thesis divides the historical period of 320 years in Sung Dynasty (960-1279) into four different stages: Northern Sung, Southern Migration Period, Southern Sung, and the period immediately preceding and succeeding the overthrow of Sung regime. We shall investigate respectively the characteristics of the content as well as the causes of formation of Imperial Clan Poetry in each stage.Concerning the second topic, we shall give elaborate on the three clans of Tai Tsu, Tai Tsung, and Wei Wang Ting-mei, according to their respective position in the clan hierarchy.As for the third topic, we intend to choose several representative Imperial Clan poets, and explore their interactions with their contemporary scholars and intellectuals.With regard to the forth topic, we shall be selecting a few Imperial Clan poets on whom Sung Poetry Critics had commented, making comparison between the literary works and the literary criticism for further affirmation, and providing adequate evaluations.