Poems of a Thousand Masters

Poems of a Thousand Masters (千家诗; Qianjia Shi) is a 13th-century Chinese poetry anthology primarily comprising classic poems from the Tang and Song dynasties. It was originally titled "A selection of poems by a thousand distinguished poets of the Tang and Song dynasties” compiled by Liu Kezhuang (1187-1269) and subsequently condensed by Xie Fangde (1226–1289). It had been used as a children's poetry textbook throughout the late imperial eras. Ming dynasty Wang Xiang added more five-character quatrains (绝句, juéjù) and regulated verses (律诗, lǜshī) to the collection. The original edition by Liu Kezhuang consist of over 1,200 poems in 22 volumes. However, the widely circulating edition condensed by Xie Fangde and later again modified by Wang Xiang, only includes 226 poems by 126 poets, divided into 4 volumes based on poetry form. The title "a thousand masters" is more hyperbolic than descriptive. The top three Tang poets featured in the anthology are Du Fu (twenty three poems), Li Bai (nine poems), and Wang Wei (six poems).

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