The Book of Songs is a collection of poems from 1 1 century BC to the 6th century BC, and it is also the first collection of poems in China, with 305 poems. According to different music, it can be divided into three categories: wind, elegance and ode. "Ode" poems are music songs used by rulers to sacrifice, including ancestors, mountains and rivers and farmers. "Elegance" can be divided into elegance and indecency, both of which are used for banquet ceremonies. The main content is to praise heroes of past dynasties and satirize current politics. Wind is the essence of The Book of Songs, which contains 15 local folk songs.
In the 4th century BC, the great poet Qu Yuan was born in Chu State during the Warring States Period with its unique cultural foundation and the influence of northern culture. Influenced by him, Qu Yuan and Song Yu created a new poetic style. Qu Yuan's Lisao is an outstanding masterpiece of Chu Ci.
Chuci developed the form of poetry. It broke the four-word form of The Book of Songs, from three or four words to five or seven words. In terms of creative methods, Chu Ci absorbed the romantic spirit of myth and opened up the creative road of romanticism in China literature.
Following the Book of Songs and Songs of the South, a new form of poetry appeared in the Han Dynasty, that is, the folk songs of Han Yuefu. There are more than 65,438+000 folk songs in Yuefu in Han Dynasty, many of which are five-character poems. Later, the intentional imitation of classical writers became the main form of poetry in Wei and Jin Dynasties.