문선
Xiao spent much of his leisure time in the company of the leading Chinese scholars of his day, and their serious discussions of literature impelled the creation of the "Wen Xuan". His main purpose in creating the "Wen Xuan" was the creation of a suitable anthology of the best individual works of "belles-lettres" available, and he ignored philosophical works in favor of aesthetically beautiful poetry and other writings. In the "Wen Xuan"s preface, Xiao explains that four major types of Chinese writing were deliberately excluded from it: 1) the traditional "Classics" that were anciently attributed to the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, such as the "Classic of Changes" ("I Ching") and the "Classic of Poetry" ("Shi jing"); 2) writings of philosophical "masters", such as the "Laozi (Dao De Jing)", the "Zhuangzi", and the "Mencius"; 3) collections of rhetorical speeches, such as the "Intrigues of the Warring States" ("Zhan guo ce"); and 4) historical narratives and chronicles such as the "Zuo Tradition" ("Zuo zhuan"). After Xiao Tong's death in 531 he was given the posthumous name "Zhaoming" 昭明 ("Resplendent Brilliance"), and so the collection came to be known as the "Zhaoming "Wen xuan"". Despite its massive influence on Chinese literature, Xiao's categories and editorial choices have occasionally been criticized throughout Chinese history for a number of odd or illogical choices.