Shijing

Author: Lü Bin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Essence of Chinese National Treasures Series. The initial compilation of this series selects more than 30 important ancient Chinese classics, divided into 20 volumes, covering five categories: philosophical classics, literary masterpieces, military strategies, elementary education materials, and life wisdom. The works included are the essence of traditional Chinese culture, reflecting the extraordinary charm of ancient Chinese culture from one perspective. This series is aimed at the general public. On one hand, it chooses content closely related to modern life, while also striving to provide concise annotations and translations of the selected texts with lively illustrations to help readers grasp the meaning and spirit. The overall organization and explanations of this series have been refined through the efforts of numerous experts and scholars over the years. Based on a thorough absorption of current research, it also incorporates the compilers' unique interpretations, reflecting their personal insights in many places.
The Book of Songs is the earliest collection of Chinese poetry, originally simply called Poetry (), later known as the Book of Songs (). It is one of the "Thirteen Classics" in Confucianism. Its influence on Chinese society extends far beyond the realm of literature, playing a significant role in the development of the Chinese language and becoming an important part of traditional Chinese thought. The Book of Songs is the oldest literary classic preserved from ancient Chinese society. Its creation began around the 11th century BCE, approximately 3,000 years ago, and it took over 500 years from composition to transmission and compilation. It reflects the broad social and cultural content of the Western Zhou period to the mid Eastern Zhou period, serving as a crucial classic for understanding the cultural landscape of ancient society.
The authors of most of the Book of Songs, except for a few exceptions, remain unknown. Within this large group of contributors, some were ordinary commoners. A significant number of folk songs from the lower classes were collected by the state's official poem collectors, organized, and then sung widely. Many chapters of the Book of Songs originated through this process.
Another group of main contributors to the Book of Songs were court musicians, and some nobles also participated in its creation. For example, the poem "Jie Nanshan" in the Small Yue section states, "My father composed this song," and the poem "Song Gao" in the Great Yue section is attributed to a noble named "Jifu" (). The collection consists of 305 poems, collectively referred to as "Three Hundred Poems" () in ancient times.
It is said that the Book of Songs was compiled by Confucius. The Records of the Grand Historian·Biography of Confucius states: "In ancient times, there were over three thousand poems. By the time of Confucius, he removed the duplicates and selected those suitable for rites and propriety, beginning with Qi and Ji, describing the prosperity of the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and the shortcomings of the You and Li eras, totaling 305 chapters."