is the second imperially commissioned Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese kanshi

Kanshi (poetry)

is a Japanese term for Chinese poetry in general as well as the poetry written in Chinese by Japanese poets. It literally means "Han poetry". Kanshi was the most popular form of poetry during the early Heian period in Japan among Japanese aristocrats and proliferated until the modern period.The...

 collection. The text was compiled by Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, Sugawara no Kiyotomo, Nakao Ō, Isayama no Fumitugu, Shigeno no Sadanushi, and Kuwahara no Haraaka under the command of Emperor Saga

Emperor Saga

was the 52nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Saga's reign spanned the years from 809 through 823.-Traditional narrative:...

. The text was completed c. 818

818

Year 818 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.-Europe:* Al-Andalus: Grave rebellion in the suburbs of Cordoba against the Umayyads.- Religion :...

, four years after the previous imperial collection, Ryōunshū

Ryounshu

is the first imperially commissioned Japanese kanshi collection. It was compiled by Ono no Minemori, Sugawara no Kiyotomo and others under the command of Emperor Saga. The text was completed in 814.-Title:...

.

Contents

The text is three volumes in length. It begins with a preface by Nakao Ō. The main text contains 148 poems composed by 28 authors, including poems from an 814

814

Year 814 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Charlemagne dies in Aachen, aged 67 or 72...

 Balhae

Balhae

Balhae was a Manchurian kingdom established after the fall of Goguryeo. After Goguryeo's capital and southern territories fell to Unified Silla, Dae Jo-yeong, a Mohe general, whose father was Dae Jung-sang, established Jin , later called Balhae.Balhae occupied southern parts of Manchuria and...

 delegation. However, only 143 poems still exist as the final five have since been lost.

While Ryōunshū ordered its poems by author, Bunka Shūreishū orders its poems by subject matter:

Volume 1

• Sights (遊覧)
• Banquets (宴集)
• Partings (餞別)
• Exchanges (贈答)

Volume 2

• Historical (詠史)
• Reminiscence (述懐)
• Love (艶情)
• Yue fu
  Yue fu
  Yue fu are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. The term literally means "Music Bureau", a reference to the government organisation originally charged with collecting or writing the lyrics....
  
  (楽府)
• Buddhist (梵門)
• Laments (哀傷)

Volume 3

• Miscellaneous (雑詠)