Literature

Author: Wei Chongxin / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Most of the poems in the Book of Songs are lyrical, but some are narrative poems that tell stories, such as Shijing·Daya·Shengmin, which tells the story of the founding ancestor of the Zhou people, Houji. It describes how Houji's mother, Jiang Yu, worshipped the gods for a child and stepped on the giant footprint of the Lord, becoming pregnant and giving birth to Houji. She abandoned Houji in an alley, but cows and sheep came to nurse him; she left him in the forest, and woodcutters protected him; she left him on ice, and birds flew to spread their wings over him. When Houji grew up, he invented agriculture and taught people how to grow crops, becoming the founding ancestor and god of agriculture of the Zhou people. The Zhou people revered their founding ancestor Houji and wrote his story full of mythological elements.
Songs about love between men and women and longing for each other, as well as poems about family and marriage life, make up the largest number and are also the best-written in the Book of Songs. The poem Zhounan·Guanju, for example, is about the love between men and women, describing a man pursuing a woman but failing to win her, suffering from unrequited love and great distress. Beifeng·Jingnü tells the story of a couple meeting secretly at the foot of a city wall. The man arrives first but doesn't see the woman, becoming anxious and scratching his head while pacing back and forth. When the woman arrives, she gives him a red musical tube, and the man is overjoyed, holding it tightly because it is from a beautiful woman. Other poems, such as Zhengfeng·Qianshang (about playful banter between lovers), Tangfeng·Choumou (about the excitement of a wedding night), and Zhengfeng·Luo You Mei (about the life of a married couple), are all very interesting. People's love and marriage bring both joy and pain, comedy and tragedy. Some poems in the Book of Songs also depict the pain of unrequited love and misfortune in marriage, such as Weifeng·Meng, which tells the story of a woman from falling in love to marriage until being abandoned by her husband. At first, the man actively sought her and proposed, but after marriage, his attitude changed, and he grew resentful of his wife. Despite her diligent household chores, she was eventually driven out of the house. The poem is narrated from the perspective of the abandoned woman, expressing her regret and moving readers deeply.
Some poems in the Book of Songs also reflect the life scenes of people at the time, including the lives of nobles drinking, archery, and enjoying banquets, as well as the hard labor of farmers. For example, Binfeng·Qiyue presents a realistic picture of farmers' labor life: they work in the fields, hunt, raise silkworms, and weave all year round, yet during festivals, they must toast and celebrate the nobles. In the end, their hard-earned fruits areed by the nobles, leaving them hungry and cold. Even the beautiful girls suffer humiliation from the nobles' sons. The oppressed and exploited laborers naturally harbored dissatisfaction and resistance, which they expressed through poetry. Wei Feng·Fatan shows strong anger toward the rulers who live off others' labor, asking: "Do not plow or harvest, yet why do you take three hundred bundles of grain? Do not hunt or forage, yet why do you see a wild boar hanging in your courtyard?" In modern Chinese, this means: "Do not plant or reap, yet why do you get three hundred bundles of grain? Do not hunt or fish, yet why do you see a wild boar hanging in your courtyard?" In Wei Feng·Shoushu, the laborers even compare the rulers to big rats, cursing them for eating up all their crops and grains, forcing them to flee with their families.
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