Three Hundred Tang Poems

Three Hundred Tang Poems
Traditional Chinese	唐詩三百首
Simplified Chinese	唐诗三百首
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tángshī sānbǎi shǒu Wade–Giles T'ang-shih san-pai-shou IPA [tʰǎŋʂɻ̩́ sánpǎi̯ ʂòu̯] Yale Romanization Tángshr̄ sānbái shǒu Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Tong4 si1 saam1 baak3 sau2 IPA [tʰɔ̏ːŋɕíː sáːmpāːk sɐ̌u] Yale Romanization Tòhngsī sāambaak sáu Southern Min Hokkien POJ Tông-si saⁿ-pah-chhiú

The Three Hundred Tang Poems (simplified Chinese: 唐诗三百首; traditional Chinese: 唐詩三百首; pinyin: Tángshī sānbǎi shǒu) is an anthology of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) first compiled around 1763 by Sun Zhu (1722-1778), the Qing Dynasty scholar, also known as Hengtang Tuishi (衡塘退士 "Retired Master of Hengtang"). Various later editions also exist. All editions contain over 300 poems: in this case, three hundred means not exactly 300 but refers to an estimative quantification; the ten, twenty, or more extra poems represent a sort of a good luck bonus, analogous to the "baker's dozen" in the West. Even more, the number 300 (or more exactly 305) was a classic number for a poetry collection due to the influence of the Classic of Poetry (Shijing 詩經), which was generally known as The Three Hundred Poems.

Dissatisfied with the anthology Poems by a Thousand Masters (Qianjiashi 千家詩) compiled by Liu Kezhuang in the late Southern Song, and influenced by Ming Dynasty poetry anthologies, Sun selected the poems based on their popularity and educational value. The collection has been popular ever since and can be found in many Chinese households. For centuries, elementary students memorized the poems and used them to learn to read and write. It contains poems by Du Fu, Li Bai, Wang Wei, Li Shangyin, Meng Haoran, Han Yu, Du Mu, Bai Juyi, Liu Changqing, Cen Shen, Wang Changling, Wei Yingwu, and more. Li He is one notable Tang poet absent from the compilation.

Organization of poems

Main article: Classical Chinese poetry forms

The original Qing Dynasty version of the 300 Tang Poems was organized by the poem's formal type, of which there were seven:

• Folk song styled verse (yuefu)

• Ancient verse (gushi):
  • Five-character ancient verse
  • Seven-character ancient verse

• Modern style verse (jintishi):
  • Eight-line regulated verse (lüshi):
    • Five-character regular verse
    • Seven-character regular verse
  • Quatrain (jueju):
    • Five-character quatrain
    • Seven-character quatrain

Out of 317 poems in one edition, 90 were in the gushi form and 227 were in the lüshi or the jueju forms.

Poets

Main article: List of Three Hundred Tang Poems poets

The poets of the Tang shi include a number of authors ranging from the well-known and famous to obscure or anonymous poets, and even include at least one emperor. The poet with the most pieces included in this collection is Du Fu, with thirty-nine. Li Bo is a close runner-up, with thirty-four. Wang Wei has twenty-nine poems included in the anthology and Li Shangyin has twenty-four. Meng Haoran has fifteen, Wei Yingwu twelve, Liu Changqing eleven, and Du Mu ten. After that, each of the other poets' included pieces number in the single digits; however, some of these poets are quite important, such as Liu Zongyuan or Bai Juyi. Some important poets, such as Li He, are not represented at all.

Translations

The first complete translation of the Three Hundred Tang Poems into English was published as The Jade Mountain, translated by Witter Bynner and Jiang Kanghu. From 1929 through 1972 it went through ten editions. It has also been translated by Peter Harris in 2009.

See also

• Classical Chinese poetry
• Gao Bing
• List of poems in Chinese or by Chinese poets
• List of Three Hundred Tang Poems poets
• Tang poetry
• Qing poetry
• Quantangshi
• Sun Zhu

References

• Wu, John C. H. (1972). The Four Seasons of Tang Poetry. Rutland, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle. ISBN 978-0-8048-0197-3
• Watson, Burton (1971). CHINESE LYRICISM: Shih Poetry from the Second to the Twelfth Century. (New York: Columbia University Press). ISBN 0-231-03464-4
• Rexroth, Kenneth (1970). Love and the Turning Year: One Hundred More Poems from the Chinese. New York: New Directions.
• Yu, Pauline (2002). "Chinese Poetry and Its Institutions", in Hsiang Lectures on Chinese Poetry, Volume 2, Grace S. Fong, editor. Montreal: Center for East Asian Research, McGill University.

External links

• www.zhongwen.com