The earliest collection of poems was The Book of Songs.
The Book of Songs is the beginning of China's ancient poetry, and the earliest collection of poems. It has collected 311 poems from the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period (from the 11th century to the 6th century), of which 6 poems are Sheng poems, that is, there are only titles but no contents, which are called Six Poems of Sheng (Nanling, Baihua, Huashu).
In the pre-Qin period, The Book of Songs was called "The Book of Songs", or it was called "Poetry 3" in whole numbers. In the Western Han Dynasty, it was honored as a Confucian classic, and it was originally called The Book of Songs, which has been used ever since. The Book of Songs is divided into three parts: Wind, Elegance and Ode. The technique is divided into Fu, Bi and Xing.
The Wind is a ballad from all over the Zhou Dynasty. Elegance is the formal music of Zhou people, and it is divided into Xiaoya and Daya. Ode is a musical song sacrificed by Zhou Wangting and the aristocratic ancestral temple, and it is divided into Zhou Song, Lu Song and Shang Song.
Significance of the Book of Songs:
The Book of Songs pays attention to reality and expresses the true feelings triggered by real life. This creative attitude makes it have a strong and profound artistic charm and is the first milestone of China's realistic literature.
The Book of Songs is the source of China's realistic poetry. In July, we can see the life of slaves stained with blood and tears, and in Cutting Tan, we can realize the awakening of the class consciousness of the exploited. The disgruntled slaves boldly put forward a just question to the ruling class who got something for nothing: if you don't get enough, you will get 3 grains for nothing. If you don't hunt or hunt, is there a county in Hu Zhaner's court?
In some poems, it is also described that workers directly wage a struggle against the ruling class in order to gain the right to survive. In this respect, Shuo has a shocking power.
above content reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-The Book of Songs