''Complete Tang Poems'' (or ') is the largest collection of
Tang poetry
Tang poetry () refers to poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907, including the 690–705 reign of Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered a ...
, containing some 49,000
lyric poems by more than twenty-two hundred poets. In 1705, it was commissioned at the direction of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...
and published under his name. The ''Complete Tang Poems'' is the major reservoir of surviving
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
poems, from which the pre-eminent shorter anthology, ''
Three Hundred Tang Poems
The ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' is an anthology of poems from the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907). It was first compiled around 1763 by Sun Zhu (1722–1778Yu, 64–65), who was a Qing Dynasty scholar and was also known as Hengtang Tuishi (, ...
'', is largely drawn.
Name
The ''Complete Tang Poems'' is known as the ''Quan Tangshi'' ( zh, t=全唐詩, s=全唐诗, p=Quán Tángshī, l=Complete (collection of) Tang ''
shi'' poetry, w=Ch'üan T'ang shih, first=t) in Chinese (also transliterated as the ''Quan Tang Shi'', ''Quantangshi'', or ''Ch'uan-T'ang-shih''). It is also translated in English as the ''Collected Tang Poems'' or the ''Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty''.
Compilation
In 1705, the
Kangxi Emperor
The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...
issued an edict to
Cao Yin, a trusted imperial
bondservant, official, and a literary figure in his own right. He commanded Cao to compile and publish all the surviving (lyric poems) of the Tang, inaugurating the first of the great literary projects for which the Manchu dynasty became famous. The emperor also appointed nine scholars of the
Hanlin Academy
The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. It has also been translated as "College of Literature" and "Academy of the Forest of Pen ...
to oversee the collation of the texts. The team compared texts from various libraries as well as checking into private collections. Cao trained calligraphers in a common style of writing before carving the wood blocks for printing. The work was finished in the remarkably short time, though Cao felt called upon to apologize to the emperor for the delay. More than one hundred craftsmen worked on the printing, for which paper was specially procured. Although the emperor decided that Cao's name would be the first to be listed in the book itself, in the
annotated catalog to the ''
Complete Library of the Four Treasuries
The ''Siku Quanshu'', literally the ''Complete Library of the Four Treasuries'', is a Chinese encyclopedia commissioned during the Qing dynasty by the Qianlong Emperor. Commissioned in 1772 and completed in 1782, the ''Siku quanshu'' is the larg ...
'', the ''Complete Tang Poems'' are listed as an "Imperial Compilation" () that is, of the emperor.
Significance and contents
Although the ''Complete Tang Poems'' (''Quan Tangshi'' or QTS) is the largest compilation of Tang poems, it is neither completely reliable nor complete. The work was done in some haste, and the editors did not justify or even indicate their own choices of texts or variant readings (other than perhaps by a first choice and list of variants: definitely weak by modern academic standards). Many additional poems and variant texts were discovered in the early 20th century in the cave library at
Dunhuang
Dunhuang () is a county-level city in northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city has a population of 186,027, though 2019 estimates put the city's population at about 191,800. Sachu (Dunhuang) was ...
, for instance, and the compilers ignored or could not find others. In the case of some major poets, there were better texts in individually edited volumes. Many are listed in Tang dynasty catalogs but did not survive the destruction of the imperial libraries.
The poems are arranged in sections, for instance, those by emperors or consorts and 乐府
Yuefu
''Yuefu'' are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. The term originally literally meant " Music Bureau", a reference to the imperial Chinese governmental organization(s) originally charged with collecting or writing the lyrics, later the ...
(
Music Bureau
The Music Bureau (Traditional Chinese character, Traditional Chinese: 樂府; Simplified Chinese character, Simplified Chinese: 乐府; Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin: ''yuèfǔ'', and sometimes known as the "Imperial Music Bureau") served in the capacity o ...
-style poems). Seven hundred and fifty-four sections, the largest number of sections, are arranged by author (with brief biography). Others are arranged by form or subject, such as women (five sections), monks, priests, spirits, ghosts, dreams, prophecy, proverbs, mystery, rumor, and drinking.
See also
*
Chinese poetry
Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, and a part of the Chinese literature. While this last term comprises Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, and other historical and vernac ...
*
Classical Chinese poetry
Classical Chinese poetry is traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese and typified by certain traditional forms, or modes; traditional genres; and connections with particular historical periods, such as the poetry of the Tang dy ...
*
Three Hundred Tang Poems
The ''Three Hundred Tang Poems'' is an anthology of poems from the Chinese Tang dynasty (618–907). It was first compiled around 1763 by Sun Zhu (1722–1778Yu, 64–65), who was a Qing Dynasty scholar and was also known as Hengtang Tuishi (, ...
*
Tang poetry
Tang poetry () refers to poetry written in or around the time of or in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, (June 18, 618 – June 4, 907, including the 690–705 reign of Wu Zetian) and/or follows a certain style, often considered a ...
*
Qing poetry
Qing poetry refers to the poetry of or typical of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). Classical Chinese poetry continued to be the major poetic form of the Qing dynasty, during which the debates, trends and widespread literacy of the Ming period began ...
Notes
Cited works
*
*
* Typeset punctuated edition in 25 volumes, but commentaries are not included.
*
Further reading
*
Schafer, Edward H. (1963) ''The Golden Peaches of Samarkand''. Berkeley: University of California Press. .
External links
Full text of the ''Complete Tang Poems''-
Chinese Text Project
The Chinese Text Project (CTP; ) is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Chinese Philosophical Book Digitization Project", showing its focus on books ...
* Ulrich Theobald
Chinaknowledge.de
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