Biography of the Talented Scholars of the Tang Dynasty (Free Public Edition Book)

A compilation of biographies of poets of the Tang and Five Dynasties. There is an introduction at the beginning of this book written in the eighth year of Zongdade (1304) in the first year of the reign of Emperor Zong, so it should have been compiled at this time. The book lists 398 poets of the Tang Dynasty (including the Five Dynasties) in 10 volumes, of which 278 have biographies and 120 have appendixes. There had never been a biography of a generation of poets before the publication of this book. Therefore, this book is one of the most important classics for studying Tang poetry, both in terms of its groundbreaking significance and its rich information and wide coverage. By the early Qing Dynasty, there were no domestic copies of this book. During the Qianlong period, when the "Sikuquanshu" was being compiled, lost texts were compiled from the "Yongle Dadian" and reorganized into eight volumes, but only 287 biographies of poets remained. Since the publication of this book in the Yuan Dynasty, it has been introduced to neighboring countries. Japan still has its 10-volume original version. During the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty, Yang Shoujing visited the original 10-volume copy circulated in Japan and made photocopies of it. Only then can the complete picture of this book be seen in China.