Connotation of Yuefu Poems in Han Dynasty

"Yuefu" was originally an organization established in the Han Dynasty to manage music. Later, people called the songs collected and sung by this organization "Yuefu Poetry", also referred to as "Yuefu". His Yuefu poems are composed by nobles and literati, as well as some folk songs. According to records, only the areas where Yuefu institutions collected folk songs in the Western Han Dynasty were almost all over the country at that time, which exceeded the areas where the fifteen-country style in the Book of Songs was produced. However, due to the age and other reasons, many folk songs collected at that time have been lost.

The existing folk songs of Yuefu in Han Dynasty are mostly included in Yuefu poems compiled by Guo Maoqian, a poet in Song Dynasty. Yuefu Poetry Collection collects Yuefu poems from Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, which are divided into twelve categories according to different music. Among them, Yuefu folk songs in Han Dynasty are more common in preaching songs, harmony songs and miscellaneous songs, with about thirty or forty songs. Some of these works truly reproduce people's misery, some expose the evils of feudal ethics and feudal system, and some reflect people's love life and pursuit of beautiful ideals. They are characterized by simplicity and naturalness. There are often many narrative elements, free and diverse forms, and the language characteristics are vigorous, fresh and simple.