What were the poetic achievements in the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty?

The 500 years from the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period is the golden age for the development of four-character poems. The rulers of the Zhou Dynasty collected and sorted out The Book of Songs, the first collection of poems in ancient China, according to the system of rites and music and the need to inspect people's feelings. The Book of Songs is very rich in content, especially folk songs, with a wide range of themes, including people's social life such as opposing exploitation and oppression, dissatisfaction with war corvee, exposing the ugliness of rulers, marriage and love, and productive labor. The artistic achievements of The Book of Songs are also very high. For example, the techniques of comparison, neat chapters, beautiful and vivid language and natural rhythm are unprecedented. His progressive thoughts and artistic achievements created the realistic tradition of China ancient literature and had a great influence on later literature. As far as four-character poems are concerned, the Book of Songs reached a peak as soon as it appeared. Almost where, before me, were those lost years? Behind me, where is the next generation? .

It not only marks the emergence of four-character poems, but also marks the completion of four-character poems. Generally speaking, folk songs and literati's four-character poems have never surpassed them in the future. Prose in this period mainly includes Zhou Shu, Chronological Historical Prose and The Analects of Confucius. In addition to the above three works, there are inscriptions on Western Zhou Dynasty. Shangshu is a comprehensive compilation of ancient proclamations and lectures, including Yu Shu, Shangshu and Zhou Shu. Yu Shu and Xia Shu can only be regarded as posthumous title, and some Shangshu belong to the literature at that time, while Zhou Shu can be regarded as the true record of the proclamation from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, which is the same as the Pan Geng language. Spring and Autumn Annals is an outline of annals compiled by Confucius on the basis of Lu Shi, which briefly records the history of various countries in the Spring and Autumn Period and is an important material for studying the history of the Spring and Autumn Period. The Analects of Confucius is a record of Confucius' words and deeds and a dialogue between Confucius and his disciples. The annotations in Chunqiu and The Analects of Confucius are simple and clear, unlike Zhou Shu, which is archaic and difficult to understand.

The Book of Songs, Shangshu, Yijing, Chunqiu and Book of Rites compiled by Han Confucianism were recognized as Confucian classics by later generations, collectively known as the Five Classics, which had a great influence on the history of cultural thought in China.