Thousand Poems -- Basic Collection of Chinese Family Books

Author: (Song) Xie Fangde, Wang Xiang and others compiled, Wang Yanjun, Zhao Juan, Jiang Jianyun annotated
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-08-01
Features: "Thousand Poems" is the abbreviation of "Selected Poems of a Thousand Masters from the Tang and Song Dynasties, Classified and Compiled." It was compiled by Liu Kezhuang during the Southern Song Dynasty. Since its publication, it has had an ever-expanding influence across the Southern Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties. "Thousand Poems" is appreciated by both the refined and the common, suitable for all ages, and remains an excellent read for learning traditional Chinese culture. It is hoped that readers can extract the essence and discard the dross, applying the ancient wisdom to modern life.
The works collected in "Thousand Poems" are mostly five- or seven-character quatrains and regulated poems, with the majority being famous pieces by Tang and Song poets. These poems cover a wide range of themes, are short in length, easy to understand, and simple to memorize. In terms of arrangement, they are distinctive, which has made them beloved by people over the centuries and ensured their enduring popularity. To this day, they still hold vitality. However, the annotations in some earlier editions are often shallow and occasionally contain errors, leading to numerous reprinted versions. This edition has been carefully collated based on widely accepted texts, with annotations striving for conciseness, focusing on clarifying difficult terms. Occasionally, brief explanations, evaluations, or introductions to the writing background, analysis of ideological connotations, or appreciation of artistic features are provided. Annotations are lengthy when necessary and brief when there is little to say.