Book of Songs · Chu Ci

Author: Chong Dayue, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-08-01
Features: The Book of Songs is composed of three parts: "Feng," "Ya," and "Song," all of which are related to music. "Feng" refers to folk songs, including the "Fifteen States Feng," which consists of 160 folk songs from 15 different regions. "Ya" refers to court songs, divided into "Great Ya" and "Small Ya," akin to classical and modern songs, with 105 songs in total. "Song" refers to sacrificial songs, which include both singing and dancing, and are divided into the "Zhou Song," "Lu Song," and "Shang Song," with 40 songs in total.
The Chu Ci is a collection of works by the great poet Qu Yuan of the Chu State during the Warring States period and his successors. It is the first individual collection in Chinese history. The Chu Ci is considered a new style of poetry because "the works of Qu Yuan, Song Yu, and others all use the Chu dialect, compose in the Chu style, record the Chu region, and name Chu-related objects," hence the name Chu Ci. The Chu Ci is primarily composed of Qu Yuan's works, including Li Sao, Jiu Ge, Tian Wen, Jiu Zhang, Yuan You, Bu Ju, and Yu Fu, totaling 25 poems. It also includes works by other authors such as Song Yu and Tang Le.