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The Book of Songs is the beginning of ancient Chinese poetry and the earliest collection of poetry. It collects poems from the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period (11th century BC to 6th century BC). There are a total of 311 poems, 6 of which are Sheng poems, that is, they only have titles and no content. They are called the six Sheng poems (Nanmei, Baihua, Huashui, Youkang, Chongwu, and Youyi), which reflects the The social outlook of about five hundred years from the early Zhou Dynasty to the late Zhou Dynasty. [1]
The author of "The Book of Songs" is unknown, and most of it cannot be verified. It is said that it was collected by Yin Jifu and compiled by Confucius. The Book of Songs was called "The Book of Songs" in the pre-Qin period, or the round number was called "The Three Hundred Songs". It was revered as a Confucian classic during the Western Han Dynasty and was first called the Book of Songs, which is still in use today. The Book of Songs is divided into three parts: "Wind", "Ya" and "Song". "Wind" is a ballad from various places in the Zhou Dynasty; "Ya" is a formal song of the Zhou people, and is divided into "Xiaoya" and "Daya"; Song", "Song of Lu" and "Song of Shang".
Confucius once summarized the purpose of the "Book of Songs" as "innocence" and taught his disciples to read the "Book of Songs" as the standard for speech and action. Among the pre-Qin scholars, many quoted the Book of Songs. For example, Mencius, Xunzi, Mozi, Zhuangzi, Han Feizi, etc. often quoted sentences from the Book of Songs to enhance their persuasiveness when reasoning and demonstrating. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Book of Songs was regarded as a classic by Confucianists and became one of the Six Classics and the Five Classics.
The Book of Songs is rich in content, reflecting labor and love, war and corvee, oppression and resistance, customs and marriage, ancestor worship and banquets, and even celestial phenomena, landforms, animals, plants and other aspects. It is a masterpiece of Zhou Dynasty A mirror of social life.