The earliest form of renga can be seen in the Hachidaishu (the first eight collections of waka compiled by imperial command) as a form of tanrenga (a 31-syllable poem in which the first and latter parts are made by different composers).
そのもっとも早い形は八代集にみられる短連歌（三十一文字の上の句と下の句を別々の作者が詠む）である。