Xiao Tong
The "Wen Xuan" was compiled between AD 520 and 530 in the city of Jiankang (modern Nanjing) during the Liang dynasty by Xiao Tong, the eldest son of Emperor Wu of Liang, and a group of scholars he had assembled. The Liang dynasty, though short-lived, was a period of intense literary activity, and the ruling Xiao family ensured that eminent writers and scholars were frequently invited to the imperial and provincial courts. As Crown Prince, Xiao Tong received the best classical Chinese education available and began selecting pieces for his new anthology in his early twenties. The "Wen Xuan" contains 761 separate pieces organized into 37 literary categories, the largest and most well known being "Rhapsodies" ("fu") and "Lyric Poetry" ("shi").