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Qianziwen 千字文 "Thousand-characters text" is a character text book for elementary learning. There are two books with that title, namely one from the Liang period 梁 (502-557) written by Prince Xiao Zifan 蕭子範 (486-550) which is already lost, and one by Zhou Xingsi 周興嗣 (469-537), courtesy name Sizuan 思纂, from the same period.
The book was compiled on imperial order by using one thousand characters of the oeuvres of the famous calligrapher Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303-361) from the Eastern Jin period 東晉 (317-420). Zhou selected one thousand different, oft-used characters and composed them to a long poem, of which each verse is 4 words or characters long. Each two verses rhyme, so that they are easily to remember. The words cover all aspects of nature and human life, and thus also serve to learn the most important characters of all fields, like the universe, history, self-cultivation, learning, eating and drinking, living, gardens, sacrifices, and much more.
The characters of the Qianziwen serve for numbering a large amount of chapters, books or other data. Each character represents a number, like 天=1, 地=2, 玄=3, 黃=4, 宇=5, 宙=6, 洪=7, 荒=8,... 焉=997, 哉=998, 乎=999, 也=1000. One example for this method is the numbering of the juan fascicles in some editions of the Daoist Canon Daozang 道藏.
The Qianziwen was so popular that it was translated into Manchurian during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911), with the title Man-Han ciyan dzi wen.
There were several supplements or alternatives written:
Also called Fan-Tang qianzi wen 梵唐千字文, by the Tang-period 唐 (618-907) monk Yijing 義淨 (635-713), served as a help for the translation of Sanskrit (fan 梵) terms into Chinese, content wholly different than the original Qianziwen.
By Shiqi Wei 侍其瑋 or Shiqi Liangqi 侍其良器 (1022-1104) from the Song period 宋 (960-1279), with a preface written by Ge Wenkang 葛文康 (Danyang ji 丹阳集) and one by Ge Gangzheng 葛剛正, included in the series Yunzizaikan congshu 雲自在龛叢書 and Yiyuan milu chuke 藝園秘錄初刻.
Also called Sanxu qianwen 三續千文, by Ge Gangzheng 葛剛正, also from the Song period, with 8-syllable verses and commentaries, focusing on geography, personalities, self-cultivation and politics, included in the series Haiyuange congshu 海源閣叢書 and Changzhou xianzhe yishu 常州先哲遺書.
By the Song-period scholar Hu Yin 胡寅 (1098-1156), with a commentary by Huang Hao 黃灝; focuses on history, included in the series Yueyatang congshu 粵雅堂叢書.
By the Yuan-period 元 (1279-1368) scholar Xu Heng 許衡 (1209-1281), written in four-syllable verses, focuses on history. Included in the series Xu Wenzhenggong yishu 許文正公遺書, Xijing qinglu chongshu 西京清麓叢書 and Hongshitang shijingguan congshu 洪氏堂石經館叢書.
By Zhou Lüjing 周履靖 (1549-1640) from the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644), divided into the four parts Chuguang qianwen 初廣千文, Erguang qianwen 二廣千文, Sanguang qianwen 三廣千文 and Siguang qianwen 四廣千文, with one thousand characters per part. The second and third parts are in fact copies of Shi Qiwei's and Ge Gangzheng's books. To be found in the series Yimen guangdu 夷門廣牘.
By Li Deng 李登 (fl. 1576), also from the Ming period, focuses on the correct use of similar characters that are easy to confuse. The text is introduced by a short essay on standard writing, the Kaishu zifa 楷書字法 that explains the use of the character yong 永 as a standard for the shape of the eight different brush strokes (yong zi ba fa 永字八法, see script), and the meaning of radicals in Chinese characters. The text of the whole book is written in the three styles seal script (zhuanshu 篆書), grass script or cursive (caoshu 草書) and chancery script (lishu 隸書). Compared with the other thousand-character texts, Li Deng's book achieved not very many editions except the Kuibi Studio 奎壁齋 print. It is listed in the bibliography Qianqingtang shumu 千頃堂書目.
By He Guizhen 何桂珍 (1817-1855) from the Qing period, with a description of the teachings of the ancient Confucian masters. It was included in the canon of obligatory textbooks (Xunmeng bidu shu 訓蒙必讀書) and to be found in the Xijing qinglu congshu xubian 西京清麓叢書續編.
By Feng Sijing 馮嗣京 from the Qing period, which is actually the original text, in which the character jie 潔, which appears two times, is once replaced by the character shou 壽. There is an introduction into this version included in Xie Qikun's 謝啟昆 (1737-1802) book Xiaoxuekao 小學考.
By the Qing-period scholar Wang Xiaoyin 汪嘯尹, a word-by-word commentary of the original text, with additional explanation for each paragraph. Included in the collection Chongke Xushi sanzhong 重刻徐氏三種 (by Xu Shiye 徐士業, author of Sanzijing xungu 三字經訓詁).
By Sun Jixiu 孫枝秀 from the Qing period, a collection of 130 calligraphies of the original Qianziwen through the ages, mostly written in seal-script style (zhoushu 篆書), but also in very extraordinary writings styles like the script of the Utmost Extreme (taiji 太極), River Chart script (Hetu 河圖), eight-trigram script (bagua wen 八卦文), script from the River Luo (Luoshu 洛書), ancient seal script (zhouwen 籀文), bell-and-tripod script (zhongding wen 鍾鼎文), tadpole script (kedou wen 蝌蚪文), phoenix script (luanfeng shu 鸞鳳書), rice-ear script (huishu 穗書), dragon script (longshu 龍書), jewel-tripod seal script (baoding zhuan 寶鼎篆), carved-tallies seal script (kefu zhuan 刻符篆), small seal script (xiaozhuan 小篆), gold-bracelet script (jinchuan wen 金釧文), stone-drum script (shigu wen 石鼓文), standard script (kaizi 楷字), wild-goose script (yanzi 雁字) or fish-shaped or streamline script (weizi 瀢字). The preface was written by Xu Qianxue 徐乾學 (1631-1694) in 1679. The most important print it that from the Guangxu reign-period 光緒 (1875-1908) by the Shanghai Tongwen Press 上海同文書局. A modern edition was published during the Republican period by the Guji Shudian 古籍書店.
The Qianziwen belongs to the "canon" of elementary education, the San-Bai-Qian 三百千, which also includes the texts Sanzijing 三字經 and Baijiaxing 百家姓, and instead of the Qianziwen sometimes the poems anthology Qianjiashi 千家詩.
Some small "mixed-words" texts (zazi 雜字) imitating the pattern of the Qianziwen are: Jiejing zazi 捷徑雜字; Baoju zazi 包舉雜字; and Nongcun zazi 農村雜字 (also called Nongcun siyan zazi 農村四言雜字 or Nongcun riyong zazi 農村日用雜字).
| 天地玄黃、宇宙洪荒。日月盈昃、辰宿列張。 |
| 寒來暑往、秋收冬藏。閏餘成歲、律呂調陽。 |
| 雲騰致雨、露結為霜。金生麗水、玉出崑岡。 |
| 劍號巨闕、珠稱夜光。果珍李柰、菜重芥薑。 |
| 海鹹河淡、鱗潛羽翔。龍師火帝、鳥官人皇。 |
| 始制文字、乃服衣裳。推位讓國、有虞陶唐。 |
| 弔民伐罪、周發殷湯。坐朝問道、垂拱平章。 |
| 愛育黎首、臣伏戎羌。遐邇壹體、率賓歸王。 |
| 鳴鳳在樹、白駒食場。化被草木、賴及萬方。 |
| 蓋此身髮、四大五常。恭惟鞠養、豈敢毀傷。 |
| 女慕貞絜、男效才良。知過必改、得能莫忘。 |
| 罔談彼短、靡恃己長。信使可覆、器欲難量。 |
| 墨悲絲染、詩贊羔羊。景行維賢、克念作聖。 |
| 德建名立、形端表正。空谷傳聲、虛堂習聽。 |
| 禍因惡積、福緣善慶。尺璧非寶、寸陰是競。 |
| 資父事君、曰嚴與敬。孝當竭力、忠則盡命。 |
| 臨深履薄、夙興溫凊。似蘭斯馨、如松之盛。 |
| 川流不息、淵澄取映。容止若思、言辭安定。 |
| 篤初誠美、慎終宜令。榮業所基、籍甚無竟。 |
| 學優登仕、攝職從政。存以甘棠、去而益詠。 |
| 樂殊貴賤、禮別尊卑。上和下睦、夫唱婦隨。 |
| 外受傅訓、入奉母儀。諸姑伯叔、猶子比兒。 |
| 孔懷兄弟、同氣連枝。交友投分、切磨箴規。 |
| 仁慈隱惻、造次弗離。節義廉退、顛沛匪虧。 |
| 性靜情逸、心動神疲。守真志滿、逐物意移。 |
| 堅持雅操、好爵自縻。都邑華夏、東西二京。 |
| 背邙面洛、浮渭據涇。宮殿盤鬱、樓觀飛驚。 |
| 圖寫禽獸、畫彩仙靈。丙舍傍啟、甲帳對楹。 |
| 肆筵設席、鼓瑟吹笙。升階納陛、弁轉疑星。 |
| 右通廣內、左達承明。既集墳典、亦聚群英。 |
| 杜稿鐘隸、漆書壁經。府羅將相、路俠槐卿。 |
| 戶封八縣、家給千兵。高冠陪輦、驅轂振纓。 |
| 世祿侈富、車駕肥輕。策功茂實、勒碑刻銘。 |
| 磻溪伊尹、佐時阿衡。奄宅曲阜、微旦孰營。 |
| 桓公匡合、濟弱扶傾。綺迴漢惠、説感武丁。 |
| 俊乂密勿、多士寔寧。晉楚更霸、趙魏困橫。 |
| 假途滅虢、踐土會盟。何遵約法、韓弊煩刑。 |
| 起翦頗牧、用軍最精。宣威沙漠、馳譽丹青。 |
| 九州禹跡、百郡秦并。嶽宗恆岱、禪主云亭。 |
| 雁門紫塞、雞田赤城。昆池碣石、鉅野洞庭。 |
| 曠遠綿邈、岩岫杳冥。治本於農、務茲稼穡。 |
| 俶載南畝、我藝黍稷。税熟貢新、勸賞黜陟。 |
| 孟軻敦素、史魚秉直。庶幾中庸、勞謙謹敕。 |
| 聆音察理、鑒貌辨色。貽厥嘉猷、勉其祗植。 |
| 省躬譏誡、寵增抗極。殆辱近恥、林皋幸即。 |
| 兩疏見機、解組誰逼。索居閑處、沉默寂寥。 |
| 求古尋論、散慮逍遙。欣奏累遣、慼謝歡招。 |
| 渠荷的歷、園莽抽條。枇杷晚翠、梧桐早凋。 |
| 陳根委翳、落葉飄颻。游鵾獨運、凌摩絳霄。 |
| 耽讀玩市、寓目囊箱。易輶攸畏、屬耳垣牆。 |
| 具膳餐飯、適口充腸。飽飫烹宰、饑厭糟糠。 |
| 親戚故舊、老少異糧。妾御績紡、侍巾帷房。 |
| 紈扇圓潔、銀燭煒煌。晝眠夕寐、藍筍象床。 |
| 弦歌酒宴、接杯舉觴。矯手頓足、悦豫且康。 |
| 嫡後嗣續、祭祀烝嘗。稽顙再拜、悚懼恐惶。 |
| 箋牒簡要、顧答審詳。骸垢想浴、執熱願涼。 |
| 驢騾犢特、駭躍超驤。誅斬賊盜、捕獲叛亡。 |
| 布射僚丸、嵇琴阮嘯。恬筆倫紙、鈞巧任釣。 |
| 釋紛利俗、並皆佳妙。毛施淑姿、工顰妍笑。 |
| 年矢每催、曦暉朗曜。璇璣懸斡、晦魄環照。 |
| 指薪修祜、永綏吉劭。矩步引領、俯仰廊廟。 |
| 束帶矜莊、徘徊瞻眺。孤陋寡聞、愚蒙等誚。 |
| 謂語助者、焉哉乎也。 |