Song Shugong - A Correct Interpretation of Love Poems in the Book of Songs

Author: Song Shugong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-02-12
Features: The Book of Songs—Since Confucius established it as a teaching classic, it has been used as a political education textbook for young people throughout China's feudal society for thousands of years. This is what is known as "poetry education," where The Book of Songs is interpreted through feudal political perspectives, serving the political interests of the feudal ruling class. Since the Han Dynasty, numerous commentators emerged, with the most influential being the four schools of Qi, Lu, Mao, and Han. Later, the Qi, Lu, and Han schools faded away, while the Mao Shijing Guo Xun Chuan by Mao Heng in Western Han remained and has been passed down to this day. In the Tang Dynasty, Kong Yingda wrote commentaries on it, and in the Qing Dynasty, scholars like Ruan Yuan included it in the Thirteen Classics Commentaries. It has been a must-read classic for scholars seeking official positions throughout history. The Book of Songs, especially the "Feng" section, consists of folk songs and ballads from the streets and alleys, depicting the lives of ordinary people and their records of love and hatred. There is no grand political philosophy about the nation or the world. However, the four schools of Qi, Lu, Mao, and Han, as well as later scholars, have deliberately distorted its meaning, extracting many unnecessary interpretations to serve the official ideology in educating the people. As a result, much of The Book of Songs has been altered beyond recognition, losing its original intent. Its influence has lasted for thousands of years. This book examines approximately 137 poems about marriage, romance, and other gender-related themes from the 305 poems of The Book of Songs, nearly half of the entire collection. Many of these poems were dismissed by scholars as mere expressions of love. Based on the life content reflected in these poems, they are divided into eight categories: 1. Fertility Worship, 2. Seeking Love and Partners, 3. Marriage Worship, 4. Husband-Wife Love, 5. Longing Apart, 6. Abandoned Wives and Divorced Women, 7. Licentiousness and Sexual Disorder, 8. Miscellaneous Marriage Records. This classification is only a rough outline, aiming to interpret these poems from the perspectives of historical sociology and historical folklore, starting from the fertility worship beliefs of our ancient ancestors and the natural sexual desires of humans. The goal is to remove the political dust and the promises of poetry education piled by Han scholars and later scholars on The Book of Songs, allowing this great literary work to fully radiate its historical, cultural, and artistic brilliance. It is believed that people today will interpret these original literary works with sincerity, revealing their true form and original intent.