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第27章 Crystallization of Chinese...(5)

Famous poets from the Tang Dynasty such as Li Bai, Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Wang Wei and Cen Shen all have extant collections of poems that are widely read and recited by later generations. Most Tang poetry has been collected in the Complete Collection of Tang Poetry edited during the Qing Dynasty. This collection is considered a complete collection of Tang Poetry. Since the Tang Dynasty, selected works of Tang poetry have surfaced one after another, the most popular of which is Three Hundred Tang Poems, edited by Heng Tang Hermit or Sun Zhu.

The Complete Collection of Tang Poetry, the largest collection of the genre, is the complete collection of Tang Poetry works. It was edited in the early years of the Qing Dynasty by Cao Yin, Peng Dingqiu and others on orders from Emperor Kangxi. It contains 900 volumes. According to statistics by Japanese scholar Hiraoka Takeo, there are 49,403 poems and 1,553 Ju by 2,873 writers in the Complete Collection of Tang Poetry. Editing started in May 1705 and finished in October 1706. The reason why it took such a short time to compile the collection was that scholars from past dynasties made great efforts to keep track of Tang poetry. Cao Yin and other scholars made full use of the achievements of their ancestors. Among these achievements, Tang Yin Tong Qian by Hu Zhenheng (1569–1645) from the Ming Dynasty and Tang Poetry by Ji Zhenyi (1630–1674) from the beginning of the Qing Dynasty were the most important.

The Complete Collection of Tang Poetry was printed and published by the inner court in the years after it was finished. The Poetry Institution of Yangzhou then published it. The two editions both contain 120 volumes and are split into 10 cases. Collecting Tang poetries into one book, the Complete Collection of Tang Poetry facilitates study, although there are some flaws in it due to the speed in which it was collected.

After the publication of this book, many supplements and textual criticisms were published in the later dynasties. Among them, the Supplement of the Complete Collection of Tang Poetry published by the Zhonghua Book Company was the most significant. Meanwhile, the complete electronic and a complete network retrieval system for the Complete Collection of Tang Poetry has been established to provide convenience to readers.

Three Hundred Tang Poems by Heng Tang Hermit or Sun Zhu is the most popular selected work of Tang poetries. It is the best primer reading material. Heng Tang Hermit original name was Sun Zhu. He was from Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. He was a diligent, studious and incorruptible official. Because he thought there was a shortage of Tang poetry for beginners, he decided to edit a new collection suitable for private schools that could be handed down to later generations. He chose often-quoted and easy-to-read poems.

In 1765, the book was finished. It was based on the styles and times of the poems. There were 310 poems by 77 poets from the Tang Dynasty, 33 of which were Wu Yan or poems with five characters in each line, 46 were Yue Fu or folk poetry, 28 were Qi Yan or poems with seven characters in each line, 50 were Qi Lü or eight-line poems with seven characters per line and following rigorous prosodic rules, 29 were Wu Jue or classical poems with four five-character lines, 51 of which were Qi Jue or septasyllabic. Each of the poems was matched with an explanation and comment.

Opinions about the origin of the book title vary. Some say the title stemmed from a saying which read like this: “If you are familiar with three hundreds Tang poems, you can recite poems even if you cannot compile them.” Others say the title originated from The Book of Odes. After the book was published, it becomes so popular that almost every family has a copy. It has become the most common book of selected Tang poems that is suitable for everyone and continuously published. For hundreds of years, it has maintained its popularity.

Anthology of Ci of People from the Song Dynasty: Complete Collection of Song Ci

Song Ci, another literary genre that appeared after Tang, and Tang Poetry are known as the Two Excellencies of Literature. Both represent the pinnacle of literature from a particular dynasty. In terms of style, Song Ci can be divided into two schools as follows: One is graceful and restrained with Li Qingzhao, Liu Yong and Qin Guan and others as representatives; the other is bold and unconstrained with Xin Qiji, Su Shi and Chen Liang and others as representatives. The Complete Collection of Song Ci is the largest collection of Song Ci edited by contemporary Tang Guizhang.

The publication of The Collection of Sixty Famous Ci writers in The Song Dynasty by the famous publisher Mao Jin at the end of the Ming Dynasty marked the beginning of the edition and printing of collections of ci writers in the Song Dynasty. After that, different collections by other editors in later dynasties were published. However, none of them could give the whole picture of the Song Ci.

In the 1930s, on the basis of different collections by different editors, Tang Guizhang collected and started to compile the Complete Collection of Song Ci. After sever years of hard work, his collection was finished and Commercial Press published a thread-bound edition in 1940. After the founding of the PRC, Tang Guizhang started the supplement and revision of his book and Zhonghua Book Company published a new edition in 1965.

There are more than 1,400 ci included as supplements in the new edition whose style is different from that of the old one. In the old edition, ci are arranged according to the classification of “Emperor” and “imperial clan”; while in the new one, it is arranged based on time with an index of authors at the end of the book. There are 20,000 ci by 1,330 writers from the Southern Song Dynasty and Northern Song Dynasty with more than 530 reference books.