Compiled around 1763 by Qing scholar
孙洙 (pen name
蘅塘退士) as a child's reader. The proverb
熟读唐诗三百首，
不会作诗也会吟 - 'read the Three Hundred Tang Poems till you know them, and even a non-poet will be able to recite' - appears in his preface and remains the standard pitch for memorising it.
