Shijing Tongguo

Author: Luo Jiangsheng (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-05-01
Features: The Book of Songs, originally titled "Poetry," was later named "The Book of Songs" after being included as a Confucian classic. It was compiled during the Spring and Autumn period, collecting approximately 500 years of poetry from the early Western Zhou to the mid-Spring and Autumn period, totaling 305 poems. It is said that the Zhou royal court sent to collect folk poems, known as "poem collection," which were then compiled into the collection. According to records in the Records of the Grand Historian and other texts, it was believed that Confucius edited and finalized the Book of Songs, but modern scholars doubt this claim. The Book of Songs is divided into three major categories: "Feng," "Ya," and "Song." "Feng" includes fifteen "State Fengs," "Ya" consists of the "Great Ya" and "Small Ya," and "Song" comprises the "Zhou Song," "Lu Song," and "Shang Song." The geographical origins of these poems are in present-day Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan, Shandong, and Hubei. Among them, the "State Fengs" are mostly folk songs, "Ya" are mostly songs for banquets, and "Song" are mostly poems for worshipping gods and ancestors. The form of the poems is primarily four-character lines, with the common use of the techniques of fu, bi, and xing (narration, comparison, and evocation). The outstanding poems in the Book of Songs are vividly descriptive, with simple yet elegant language, natural and harmonious rhythms, and great artistic, earning them praise across generations. During the Han Dynasty, there were four schools of thought on the Book of Songs: the Lu, Qi, Han, and Mao schools. The Lu, Qi, and Han schools were part of the "modern literary school," which had scholars appointed as boshi (professors) during the Western Han Dynasty but gradually declined after the Wei and Jin periods. The Mao school, representing the "ancient literary school," became popular after the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Mao Commentary on the Book of Songs became the standard text after the Wei and Jin periods. Since then, the study and transmission of the Book of Songs have continued without interruption. Many scholars have dedicated their efforts to this field, contributing significantly to the development of this discipline and exerting an extremely profound influence on the development of Chinese literature. Regarding ancient pronunciation and rhyme categories, if the same source is cited earlier and later, the earlier citation is recorded without repetition. If the earlier citation is incomplete, the later one is used to supplement it. The purpose of this work is to clarify the meanings and interpretations of the Book of Songs, hence the title Comprehensive Exegesis of the Book of Songs.