It is a verse composed of one thousand Chinese characters compiled by the Liang Dynasty in the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Zhou Xingsi in the Middle. Emperor Wudi of the Liang Dynasty (502 -- 549) ordered 1,000 non-repeating Chinese characters from Wang Xizhi's calligraphy works. He had Zhou Xingsi compile them. The full text is four words, antithesis neat, clear, brilliant. It is easy to recite and remember, and has been translated into English, French, Latin and Italian. It is a highly influential primer for children in China.