Thousand Poems, Lyrics of the Two Sovereigns of the Southern Tang

Author: Liu Kezhuang and others
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-04-01
Features: "Thousand Poems" is a widely circulated poetry collection in history, a shortened name for "Selected Thousand Poems of Tang and Song Scholars Categorized and Compiled." It was compiled by Liu Kezhuang of the Southern Song Dynasty. Liu Kezhuang is also known as Houcun Jushi, hence the name "Houcun Thousand Poems." The entire collection consists of 22 volumes, limited to regulated verses and quatrains, categorized into 14 sections: seasons, weather, climate, day and night, hundred flowers, bamboo forest, astronomy, geography, palaces, utensils, music, birds and animals, insects, and human characters. It selects poems from Tang, Five Dynasties, and Song dynasties, with a particular emphasis on Song poetry. However, Liu Kezhuang's original edition was overly extensive, making it inconvenient for children's early education in the old era. As a result, by the Ming Dynasty, the selected editions underwent changes, with some adding, deleting, and adjusting the format based on Liu Kezhuang's original work. Wang Xiang's widely used edition, "Thousand Poems for Learning," selects 224 poems from Tang, Five Dynasties, and Song dynasties, arranged according to the four seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Most of the selected poems are easy to understand, read, and remember, and many are works by famous Tang and Song scholars. The broad themes, rich poetic flavor, and strong artistic quality are its main features, as well as the reasons for its enduring popularity and widespread appeal.