Abstract: In this dissertation I analyze the formation of the Shi Zi, a text ostensibly dated to c.330bce. This formation includes its authorship, intertextuality, and transmission. Consideration of its authorship involves both the traditional notion of a single author creating one 'urtext' and the current authorial paradigm of a 'polymorphous text' that evolved out of disparate pericopes circulating independently. Its intertextuality explains some of the parallels between the Shi Zi and other early Chinese texts by positing a variety of ways an author may weave existing narrative into his work. Textual transmission always shapes early Chinese texts, but this influence is magnified for texts like the Shi Zi, which were lost and later reconstructed from other texts that quote it. For all these aspects of textual formation, the Shi Zi is an interesting case by which we may consider the several ways in which early Chinese texts were formed. Chapter One describes the content of the Shi Zi and reviews recent scholarship on it. Chapter Two traces the transmission of the Shi Zi from its earliest attestation, through its probable loss, down to its sixth extant reconstruction in 1812. Chapter Three explains the 'polymorphous text' paradigm by constructing a methodological history of 'Authentication studies,' a sub-field of textual criticism that determines textual authenticity. Chapter Four considers the authenticity of the Shi Zi by examining previous arguments for and against it. Chapter Five examines the theory of intertextuality for explaining some of the many textual parallels that occur among the Shi Zi and other early Chinese masters texts. By inquiring into the formation of the Shi Zi I hope to accomplish at least two things. First, I want to contribute to a more complex and more accurate conception of authorship and transmission for early Chinese texts in general. Second, I want to support the reintroduction of the Shi Zi into the study of early Chinese intellectual history. Further research on text formation and on other of the many lesser-known masters texts will yield a more detailed picture of the evolution of this kind of text and its relation to the intellectual concerns recorded in them.