Around 500 BCE, Confucius is traditionally credited with compiling and editing the Shijing (Classic of Poetry), China's oldest existing collection of poetry containing 305 poems dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BCE. This anthology became one of the Five Classics of Confucianism and established foundational principles for Chinese literary criticism and poetic composition.

The Classic of Poetry became the cornerstone of Chinese literary education for over two millennia, influencing countless poets including Du Fu and Li Bai. It established the four-character line as an early poetic form and introduced themes of social commentary, love, and ritual that permeated Chinese poetry. Confucius's emphasis on poetry's moral function shaped how generations of scholars approached verse.