Book of Songs Annotations (Volume 1 and 2) -- Basic Series of Chinese Classical Literature

Author: Cheng Junying / Jiang Jianyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: The Classic of Poetry (Shijing) as the first comprehensive collection of poems in Chinese literary history is timeless. However, since it was elevated to the status of Confucian classics, the meaning of the poems has been distorted by scholars, with each one being enclosed in the halo of "innocence" and marked with the label of "gentle and kind." To summarize the entire Shijing solely with "gentleness and kindness" does not align with the facts. Please refer to the Analysis of the Classic of Poetry. As a classic, the Shijing has been studied for over two thousand years. Yet, its essence as a work of literary art has long been neglected and sidelined. The study of Confucian classics has come to an end. The Shijing should be freed from the shackles of being a classic and restore its true literary identity.