簡述此項研究的緣起和基本思路。討論傳統《詩經》學的認知困境：在西周與東周之間以及東周數百年間劇烈且曠日持久的社會變遷導致中國古代文化傳承的連續性發生斷裂。斷裂發生後，人們已不知道許多疑難詩篇的產生時代，包括該時代社會形態、制度和宗教觀念，還包括詩篇產生時的性質與用途。考察漢以來《詩經》研究者對疑難詩篇研究方法和注釋結論中存在的謬誤。討論對《詩經》注釋質量進行嚴格甄別的客觀標準。在前人基礎上歸納《詩經》學主要方法、認識途徑和認識素材。結論：認識視野的開放與研究方法的嚴謹同等重要。

In this part, we present the original motivation and the basic idea of our research; discuss the cognitive difficulties in the current study of the Book of Poetry. During the Western and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the protracted and severe changes of the society broke the continuity of the cultural heritage. Therefore, the time of birth of a few knotty poems as well as the social form, social system and religions of that period became unknown, and the natures and functions of these knotty poems became quite confused. To solve this problem, we investigate the methods used by other researchers since Han Dynasty; check the errors in their conclusion notes; and discuss the objective standards to strictly evaluate the quality of those notes. Based on the existing results, we generalize the main ideas, approaches and materials of the research on the Book of Poetry, which leads to the assertion that the wide vision and rigorous methods are both important for our research.