The Book of Songs is divided into three categories: "Wind", "Ya", and "Song". These poems were mainly produced from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period. A small part of them were handed down by the ancestors and supplemented by later generations. Or compiled, but the prototypes of these poems were produced long before the founding of the Western Zhou Dynasty, such as the sacrificial songs used by merchants to worship their heroic ancestors in "Shang Song", and the odes to the entrepreneurship and founding of the Zhou clan by the Zhou kings in "Daya" wait.
There are ***40 poems in "Song", including 31 "Zhou Songs", 5 "Shang Songs", and 4 "Lu Songs". They mainly describe the achievements of the ancestors of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties and praise their contribution to great contribution to national development. The ancestors of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties were not only the military leaders of the tribes, leading the tribes to defend their homes, expand their territories, and lay the foundation for the unification of the nine states, but they were also the labor organizers and leaders of their tribes, and some of them made inventions and creations through labor production. Or, these poems praising heroic ancestors have become the essence of the "Ode" poems. These ancestors were representatives of the advanced social forces and advanced productive forces at that time. The heroic images portrayed in the poem were also vigorous and made great contributions to the development of history. They were completely different from the flattery of later generations of imperial literati who abstractly praised the emperor's merits.
There are 105 "Ya" poems, including 31 "Daya" poems and 74 "Xiaoya" poems. Most of "Daya" are poems dedicated by officials and officials of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and are mainly used for court meetings, banquets, and court appointments. But there are also ballads that circulated before the Zhou Dynasty, such as "Shengmin", "Gongliu", "Mian", etc. These epics describe the struggle and development of the Zhou people led by Houji, Gongliu and Gu Gongfu, the ancestors of the Zhou people. The era is not too far away from the era described in the poem. Judging from the rhythm and rhyme of the poem, it still retains the characteristics of ancient poetry. There is also a small part of political satire in "Daya". In "Xiaoya", political satirical poems account for the vast majority. This is not only because these poems were produced against the historical background of the decline of the Zhou royal family, but also because some scholar-bureaucrats, lower-class members of the aristocratic class and even individual civilians also participated in the creation. Because they were dissatisfied and even disgusted with the stupidity and corruption of those in power, their satirical poems contained a lot of resentment and criticism, blaming the current ills, exposing the darkness, expressing their worries about the current situation, and reflecting some of the people's sufferings. "Xiaoya" also contains poems expressing the conflicts between the Zhou Dynasty and surrounding tribes, which reveal the patriotic thoughts of anti-invasion. There are also a small number of poems that reflect people's lives, and their style is close to that of "Wind" poems.
"Wind" poems are different from "Ode" poems and "Ya" poems. They are numerous and come from a wide range of sources. They were produced in the 15th "Country" and covered most of China at that time; it The authors included all classes and strata of society at that time, and the working people were the main body, so the content it reflected was extremely rich and extensive, comprehensively and profoundly reflecting the social life before the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period. For example, it reflects the painful life of working people under political oppression, economic exploitation, and heavy labor and military service; it expresses the workers' unyielding spirit of resistance against oppression and exploitation and their yearning for a better society; it exposes the debauched and decadent life of the ruling class, It accuses them of crimes that harm the people and the country; narrates the lives of working people and praises their hard-working spirit; reflects marriage and love life, and shows the frank, sincere and pure love of working young people, as well as their struggle for free love. In the struggle against the old forces, there are also some poems that describe women's low social status, the tragic experience of being bound by etiquette, and being abandoned by others, and they accuse and protest against unreasonable social customs and etiquette. The one hundred and sixty "Wind" poems are the main body and essence of the "Book of Songs". In later generations, people even used "wind" to replace the name of the "Book of Songs". "Wind" poems are mostly folk songs with free and diverse forms. They are ideal art forms that reflect the rich content of social life. The artistic characteristics of "Wind" poems represent the artistic achievements of "The Book of Songs". The most basic feature of the art of "The Book of Songs" is its distinctive creative spirit of realism.
The folk songs in "The Book of Songs" all face social reality, summarize life pictures and artistic images from real life, truly and profoundly reflect the social reality at that time and people's true thoughts and feelings, thereby revealing the essence of real life. This distinctive The creative spirit of realism has become the best tradition in literary creation in my country for thousands of years