南北宋之爭是清代詞學史上貫穿始終的論題。雲間派崇尚南唐北宋，黜斥南宋；浙西詞派反其道而行之，力推南宋，標舉姜（夔）、張（炎）。常州詞派崛起之後，對南北宋詞的特點進行了深入的探討，對前人南北宋之爭的得失進行了全面的反思。張惠言在〈詞選序〉中對詞人的褒貶均沒有南北宋的域界標準，實際上摒棄了清初以來偏取北宋、南宋的流派意氣。周濟、陳廷焯更是具體分析了南北宋詞不同的風格特點以及優缺點，並指出了南北宋詞各自的價值定位。常州詞派對南北宋詞的論析呈現以下特點和意義：由「南北宋之爭」到「南北宋之辨」；對南北宋詞各自特點以及二者的比較有了更為深入的認識；對今人認識南北宋詞有直接影響。常州詞派之後以晚清四大家為代表的傳統詞學和以王國維為代表的新詞學又形成了新的南北宋之爭。

The disputes about Southern and Northern Song Dynasty was throughout Ci poetry criticism in Qing Dynasty. YunJian Ci School advocated Southern Tang Dynasty and Northern Song Dynasty, they rejected Southern Song; ZheXi Ci School had the opposite attitude, they respected the Southern Song, and set the Jiang Kui and ZhangYan as an symbol. After ChangZhou Ci School rose,they discussed the features about Ci in Southern and Northern Song Dynasty deeply, and rethought the gains and loses about the dispute comprehensively. Zhang Huiyan didn’t set a boundary line between Southern and Northern Song Dynasty when he commented the poets in The Preface of CiXuan. he discarded the school’s personal feeling from the beginning of the the Qing Dynasty that advocated Southern or Northern Song. Zhou Ji and Chen Ting-zhuo analysed the different styles, advantages and disadvantages of the Ci in Southern and Northern Song, and pointed out the respective value of them. ChangZhou Ci School’s analysis showed the characteristics and significances as follows: from disputing to distinguishing; deeper recognition of respective features and the comparison of Ci in Southern and Northern Song; the direct influence on people’s perspective today. After ChangZhou Ci School, traditional ci-poetry criticism which represented by the Four masters of the late Qing dynasty, and the new ci-poetry criticism which represented by Wang Guo-wei, started a new dispute on Southern and Northern Song again.