Abstract: The theoretical construction of a contextual poetics is consistent with the reality of literature and art in the multi-media era，and also with the academic trend of literature and art theories in the 21st century. Defining the concept of literary context stipulates the basic connotation of its dimension construction，that is，its relationship，meaning，and field. The iteration of the concept of context in Chinese and Western literary theories has formed four internal dimensions of literary context：The intratextual context emphasizes the relatively independent context domain formed by the organic nature of the internal structure of literary works；situational context is concerned with the“scene”dimension when literary meaning is generated；world context refers to the non-linguistic dimension related to the value of literary works；and inter-contextual context is the relevant compositional，variable，and relational context formed between different context dimensions. The relationship between the aforementioned context dimensions is not one like a“joint，”but one like the“flowing water.”This relationship can be effectively supported by the ontology of Chinese classical poetics，which emphasizes wholeness，life，and intuition.

Key words: literary context, intra-textual context, inter-contextual context, context of situation, world context, literary qi（atmosphere）