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 the formal song of the Zhou people, and is divided into "Xiaoya" and "Daya"; "Song" is a song worshiped by the Zhou royal court and aristocratic temples Music songs are divided into "Songs of Zhou", "Songs of Lu" and "Songs of Shang". There are 305 chapters in "The Book of Songs" (in addition to 6 chapters with no poems and 311 chapters), divided into three parts: "Wind", "Ya" and "Song".
The Book of Songs is China's first poetry collection and the beginning of ancient Chinese poetry. It occupies an important position in the cultural history of China and the world. The content is rich, 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 mirror of social life in the Zhou Dynasty. Its writing techniques of describing reality and reflecting reality created a fine tradition of realism in poetry creation, which influenced the poetry creations of poets of all ages to varying degrees.
Introduction to the works of "The Book of Songs"
In the early Han Dynasty, the poets included Shen Peigong from Lu, Yuan Gusheng from Qi, and Han Ying from Yan, collectively known as the three schools of poetry. Qi poetry died in the Wei Dynasty, Lu poetry died in the Western Jin Dynasty, and Korean poetry was still circulating in the Tang Dynasty. Today, only 10 volumes of external works are left. The Book of Songs circulating today is Mao's poems passed down by Mao Gong. The Book of Songs as a whole is an image reflection of the social life of China during the five hundred years of the Zhou Dynasty's rise and decline. It contains hymns about ancestors' entrepreneurship and music for worshiping gods and ghosts.
"Wind" comes from folk songs from various places and is the essence of the "Book of Songs". It contains songs about love, labor and other beautiful things, as well as laments about nostalgia for the homeland, longing for people, and resistance to oppression and bullying. Anger and anger are often chanted repeatedly using the technique of duplication. Each chapter in a poem often differs only by a few words, which reflects the characteristics of folk songs.
"Ya" is divided into "Daya" and "Xiaoya". They are mostly sacrificial poems by nobles, praying for good harvests and praising ancestors' virtues. The author of "Daya" was an aristocratic scholar, but he was dissatisfied with the real politics. In addition to banquet songs, sacrificial songs and epic poems, he also wrote some satirical poems that reflected the people's wishes. There are also some folk songs in "Xiaoya".
"Ode" is a poem for worship in the ancestral temple. The poems in "Ya" and "Song" are of great value for examining early history, religion and society.
For the above content, please refer to Sogou Encyclopedia - Book of Songs