The ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' () is an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...

of poems from the Chinese

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(618–907). It was first compiled around 1763 by Sun Zhu (1722–1778Yu, 64–65), who was a

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

scholar and was also known as Hengtang Tuishi (, "Retired Master of Hengtang"). Various later editions also exist. All editions contain slightly more than 300 total poems. The number 300 (or more exactly 305) was a classic number for a poetry collection due to the influence of the ''

Classic of Poetry The ''Classic of Poetry'', also ''Shijing'' or ''Shih-ching'', translated variously as the ''Book of Songs'', ''Book of Odes'', or simply known as the ''Odes'' or ''Poetry'' (; ''Shī''), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, c ...

'' (, ''Shijing''), which was generally known as ''The Three Hundred Poems''. Dissatisfied with the anthology ''Poems by a Thousand Masters'' (, ''Qianjiashi'') compiled by

Liu Kezhuang Liu Kezhuang (, 1187–1269), was a Song Dynasty Chinese poet and literary critic. He is credited with selecting the first version of the anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it ...

in the late

Southern Song The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, and influenced by

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

poetry anthologies, Sun selected the poems based on their popularity and educational value. The collection has been popular ever since and can be found in many Chinese households. For centuries, elementary students memorized the poems and used them to learn to read and write. It contains poems by

Du Fu Du Fu (; 712–770) was a Tang dynasty poet and politician. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets.Ebrey, 103. His greatest ambition was to serve his country ...

, Li Bai, Wang Wei, Chen Zi'ang,

Meng Haoran Meng Haoran (; 689/691–740) was a major Tang dynasty poet, and a somewhat older contemporary of Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu. Despite his brief pursuit of an official career, Meng Haoran mainly lived in and wrote about the area in which he wa ...

Han Yu Han Yu (; 76825 December 824), courtesy name Tuizhi (), and commonly known by his posthumous name Han Wengong (韓文公), was a Chinese essayist, poet, philosopher, and politician during the Tang dynasty who significantly influenced the devel ...

, Du Mu,

Bai Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; ; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a renowned Chinese poet and Tang dynasty government official. Many of his poems concern his career or observations made about everyday life, including as g ...

, Liu Changqing,

Cen Shen Cen Shen or Cen Can (), 715–770, was one of the great Chinese poets of the Tang dynasty. His poems were included in the Three Hundred Poems anthology. Name He is also called Cen Jiazhou (). During the reign of Emperor Suzong he was made gov ...

Wang Changling Wang Changling (; 698–756) was a major Tang dynasty poet. His courtesy name was Shaobo (). He was originally from Taiyuan in present-day Shanxi province, according to the editors of the '' Three Hundred Tang Poems'', although other sources c ...

, Wei Yingwu, and more.

Organization of poems

The original Qing Dynasty version of the ''300 Tang Poems'' was organized by the poem's formal type, of which there were seven: *Folk song styled verse ('' yuefu'') *Ancient verse ('' gushi''): **Five-character ancient verse **Seven-character ancient verse *Modern style verse (''

jintishi Regulated verse – also known as Jintishi () – is a development within Classical Chinese poetry of the '' shi'' main formal type. Regulated verse is one of the most important of all Classical Chinese poetry types. Although often regarded as a T ...

''): **Eight-line regulated verse ('' lüshi''): ***Five-character regular verse ***Seven-character regular verse **Quatrain (''

jueju ''Jueju'' (), or Chinese quatrain, is a type of '' jintishi'' ("modern form poetry") that grew popular among Chinese poets in the Tang Dynasty (618–907), although traceable to earlier origins. ''Jueju'' poems are always quatrains; or, more s ...

''): ***Five-character quatrain ***Seven-character quatrain Out of 317 poems in one edition, 90 were in the ''gushi'' form and 227 were in the ''lüshi'' or the ''jueju'' forms.

Poets

The poets of the ''Tang shi'' include a number of authors ranging from the well-known and famous to obscure or anonymous poets, and even include at least one emperor. The poet with the most pieces included in this collection is

, with thirty-nine. Li Bai is a close runner-up, with thirty-four. Wang Wei has twenty-nine poems included in the anthology and

Li Shangyin Li Shangyin (, 813858), courtesy name Yishan (), was a Chinese poet and politician of the late Tang dynasty, born in the Henei Commandery (now Qinyang, Henan). He is noted for the imagist quality of his poems and his "no title" () style of ...

has twenty-four.

has fifteen, Wei Yingwu twelve, Liu Changqing eleven, and Du Mu ten. After that, each of the other poets' included pieces number in the single digits; however, some of these poets are quite important, such as

Liu Zongyuan Liu Zongyuan (; 77328 November 819) was a Chinese philosopher, poet, and politician who lived during the Tang Dynasty. Liu was born in present-day Yongji, Shanxi. Along with Han Yu, he was a founder of the Classical Prose Movement. He has been ...

. Some important poets, such as Li He, are not represented at all.

Translations

The first complete translation of the ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' into English was published as ''The Jade Mountain'', translated by

Witter Bynner Harold Witter Bynner (August 10, 1881 – June 1, 1968), also known by the pen name Emanuel Morgan, was an American poet and translator. He was known for his long residence in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and association with other literary figures the ...

and

Jiang Kanghu Jiang Kanghu (; Hepburn: ''Kō Kōko''), who preferred to be known in English as Kiang Kang-hu, (July 18, 1883 – December 7, 1954), was a politician and activist in the Republic of China. His former name was "Shaoquan" () and he also wrot ...

. From 1929 through 1972 it went through ten editions. A new translation of the anthology by Peter Harris was published in 2009.

References

Sources

* Wu, John C. H. (1972). ''The Four Seasons of Tang Poetry''. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle. *

Watson, Burton Burton Dewitt Watson (June 13, 1925April 1, 2017) was an American sinologist, translator, and writer known for his English translations of Chinese and Japanese literature.Stirling 2006, pg. 92 Watson's translations received many awards, includin ...

(1971). ''CHINESE LYRICISM: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century''. (New York: Columbia University Press). * Rexroth, Kenneth (1970). '' Love and the Turning Year: One Hundred More Poems from the Chinese''. New York: New Directions. *Yu, Pauline (2002). "Chinese Poetry and Its Institutions", in ''Hsiang Lectures on Chinese Poetry, Volume 2'', Grace S. Fong, editor. Montreal: Center for East Asian Research, McGill University.

External links