Basically， Siku Quanshu covered all the most important cultural works of literature before Emperor Qianlong’s reign.In terms of coverage and magnitude， it was unprecedented not only in China but also in the world. Under the four categories there were sub-categories， including 10 under Jing， 15 under shi， 14 under zi， and 5 under ji. In all， there were 44 categories. During the editing of Siku Quanshu， based on the content， times and biographical notes， the origin of the version and other information of the collected book， editors of The Outline of the Title Catalogue of Siku Quanshu with 200 volumes， which is the great collection of ancient title catalogues. Its numerous volumes made it difficult to read， so Emperor Qianlong ordered officials to write a concise version of this title catalogue under the name The Concise Title Catalogue of Siku Quangshu， which included 20 volumes.
To store Siku Quanshu， Emperor Qianlong had seven buildings constructed， modeled after the famous Tianyige in Ningbo. They are collectively called seven chambers in the north and the south. The north libraries are Wenyuange in the Forbidden City， Wenyuange in the Old Summer Palace， Wensuge in Shenyang， and Wenjin Chamber in the Summer Resort of Chengde. These four imperial libraries were not open to the public.
The three south libraries are Wenlange in Hangzhou， Wenhuige in Yangzhou and Wenzongge in Zhenjiang， which were open to intellectuals for reading and transcribing. Currently four of the seven copies of Siku Quanshu are preserved in the China National Library (Wenjinge)， Taiwan Library (Wenyuange)， Gansu Provincial Library (Wensuge) and Zhejiang Provincial Library (Wenlange). Three other copies were destroyed in war in the 1860s.
The copied books in Siku Quanshu have neat handwriting， clear painting and wonderful binding. Books belonging to Jing， Shi， Zi and Ji—or classical， historical， philosophical， and belles-lettres are covered by silks of different colors. Green， red， blue and grey represent four seasons respectively. Classics were covered by green silk， historical works in red， works of philosophy in blue and belleslettres in grey. Several volumes of books are stored in a delicate case made of nanmu. The frame of each volume is red with the four characters for Siku Quanshu in the middle of the cover. Below the title Siku Quanshu， was the name of the copied book， the serial number of the volume and the page number. Each volume has its own summary at the beginning.
It should be pointed out that in the process of compiling Siku Quanshu， many books that were regarded harmful to Emperor Qianlong’s rule were either deleted or destroyed， which distorted many precious works and simply made them disappear. Still Siku Quanshu played some positive roles. On the whole， the completion of Siku Quanshu highlighted the ambition of the Chinese nation and wisdom—as well as stigma—of scholars. Arguably， the Great Wall， the Grand Canal， and Siku Quanshu are precious parts of China’s heritage.
China launched the continuation of Siku Quanshu in 1994. All 1，800 volumes have been written and edited over eight years. It was published in 2002 by Shanghai Classics Publishing House. The continuation is a succession of Siku Quanshu to arrange and collect large Chinese classics across the country. The collection of Revised Continuation of Siku Quanshu includes classics published before and after Siku Quanshu went into circulation， that’s 5，213 classics， an increase of 51% compared with the original Siku Quanshu.
The best edition of each book was chosen as the basis. Following the style of Siku Quanshu， the Revised Continuation of Siku Quanshu is divided according to Jing， Shi， Zi and Ji and categories are marked with the colors green， red， blue and grey. The reare1， 800 hardback copies of book sprinted in A4 format， 260 of which are Jing or classical works， 670 Shi or historical works， 370 Zior philosophical works and 500 Ji or belles-lettres. This book and the original Siku Quanshu form a large collection of significant Chinese classics published before 1911.
Poetry Anthologies of People from the Tang Dynasty： Complete Collection of Tang Poetry and Three Hundred Tang Poems
China is known as the homeland of poetry. Poetry has always been a main form of traditional Chinese literature. Ancient Chinese poetry， or classical Chinese poetry， refers to poetry created by classical Chinese and based on rules and forms of classical poems. In a broad sense， ancient poetry includes many ancient Chinese verses such as Fu， Ci and Qu and so on； while in a narrow sense， it includes ancient-style poetry and “modern style” poetry. Tang Poetry， Song Ci and Yuan Qu respectively represent the greatest accomplishment of literature in different times in thousands of years of poetic history.
The Tang Dynasty (618–907) was the most splendid and prosperous time for Chinese ancient poetry. Tang Poetry stands as the pinnacle of ancient Chinese poetry. Based on the conclusions by scholar Cheng Yuzhui， the prosperity of Tang Poetry can be demonstrated by six aspects. First， the quantity of poems produced， at more than 50，000， is unparalleled. Second， Tang poetry included an unprecedented number of poets from a wide range of social classes， many of which are famous. Third， Tang poetry was created from various schools of poetry and focused on a wide range of subjects and styles. Fourth， Tang Poetry consists of different types of poems such as Yue Fu or folk poetry， Wu Jue or classical poems with four five-character lines， Qi Jue or septasyllabic， Wu Lü or classical poem with eight fivecharacter lines， Qi Lü or septasyllabic regulated verse， and so forth. Fifth， Tang poetry includes numerous famous poems. Sixth， Tang Poetry reflects the creative spirit and pursuit of novelty and change.
