A Collection of Poems on Bamboo Through the Ages

Author: Cheng Nai Fan
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2004-01-01
Features: This book is specifically compiled with poems about bamboo from ancient times. The time span covers from the pre-Qin period to the late Qing Dynasty. The scope includes poems that describe bamboo itself, those that use bamboo as a metaphor to write about people and events, those that mention bamboo-related places or objects, and those that depict bamboo in paintings or inscribe bamboo-themed artwork. The book is divided into six historical sections: Pre-Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties, Song and Jin, Yuan Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, Qing Dynasty, Unclear Era, and anonymous works are included in a supplementary section. Each section is accompanied by calligraphy and paintings related to bamboo to enhance the artistic atmosphere. The authors are arranged in order of their death year and then by their lifespan. Those with unknown death or lifespan years are arranged by the stroke order of their surnames. Works by the same author are generally arranged in the order of their inclusion in the collection. There is also a supplementary section for newly discovered poems, which follows the main entries. The titles of each poem are retained as originally written. Poems without titles are tentatively titled based on their content or left as untitled. Whenever possible, each author is accompanied by a brief biography, placed before their poems. These biographies are compiled from various sources and aim to be concise and factual. If a work by the same author exists in different versions, the better one is chosen based on the poem's meaning. If a poem appears in the works of two authors, it is recorded separately. If evidence can be provided to attribute it to a specific author, it is moved from the other entry to the correct one. Works mistakenly attributed to others are corrected based on evidence.