Selections

Author: (Liang) Xiao Tong compiled, (Tang) Li Shan annotated
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: The Selection of Refined Literature (Wen Xuan) is the earliest extant literary anthology compiled in China, including the works of over 130 renowned authors and a few anonymous ones from the Zhou Dynasty to the late Southern and Northern Dynasties (roughly 700 years), totaling over 700 poems. It features major representative works of various literary genres. The compiler, Xiao Tong (501–531 AD), was the eldest son of Emperor Wu of the Southern Qi Dynasty (Xiao Yan), styled De Shi. He was designated as crown prince in the first year of the Tian Gan era (502 AD). He authored Collected Works (20 volumes), Rectified Preface (10 volumes), and Glorious Flowers Collection (20 volumes), all of which are now lost. After Xiao Tong's posthumous title was enshrined as Zhao Ming (), the anthology was later referred to as The Selection of Refined Literature by Zhao Ming (Zhao Ming Wen Xuan).
During China's feudal society, the Han and Tang dynasties were the most culturally advanced periods, with the late Southern and Northern Dynasties serving as a transitional era bridging the Han and Tang. Literary forms evolved from Chu Ci to Han Fu. This transformation indicates that by the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, literary forms had become quite refined, with increasing attention to structure, diction, and rhyme, as well as clearer literary concepts. All these developments laid the groundwork for the flourishing of Tang Dynasty literature. Xiao Tong's Selection of Refined Literature played a significant role in this process.