Nine Songs, Ten Debates

Author: Zhang Yuanyun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This book conducts a comprehensive and in-depth study of Jiu Ge (Nine Songs). Based on extensive research of literary sources, the author organizes the chapters and verses of Jiu Ge and resolves many puzzling mysteries. The author argues that Jiu Ge is a record of sacrificial rites for the high and auspicious worship of children. The sequence of the poems reflects the hierarchy of deities worshipped in the Jiu Ge rites, and the arrangement of these deities should be related to the ritual principles of "sequential worship," "paired offerings," and "no worship beyond the prescribed limits" in pre-Qin rituals. Donghuang Taiyi is the legendary ancient emperor, Taiwu Fuxi. Yunzhong Jun is likely the national, local, and ancestral deity of Chu, the Lord of Yunmeng. The poems of Er Xiang are dedicated to the two consorts of Shun. Er Siming refers to "the two stars of Yu." From the perspective that Xunbei Siming is "the two stars," "Xuanming" was originally two deities, and this is the true reason why Siming is represented as two! Dongjun is a ritual for driving away drought and shooting the sun, similar to the myth of "Hou Yi shooting the sun." The appearance of Hebo from Beijin in the sacrificial rites of southern Chu is likely related to the original form of Jiu Ge. Shan Gui, Guo Shang, and Li Hun all worship human ghosts. The threat posed by ghosts to humans cannot be ignored, and the fact that Jiu Ge worships human ghosts and divides them into three separate sacrifices is the best historical evidence of such grand worship of human ghosts. This book presents original arguments and is supported by substantial evidence, making it an important reference for the study and research of Chu Ci and pre-Qin literature.