Chu Ci is a poem written by Chu people represented by Qu Yuan during the Warring States Period. It is a new poetic style after 300 articles in The Book of Songs. This word was not recorded in the pre-Qin period. It was first edited by Liu Xiang when the Han Dynasty became emperor, and the works of Qu Yuan, Song Yu and others were edited into a book, named Chu Ci. The word "Chuci" gradually enriched and expanded in the later evolution, covering the works of Qu Yuan, Song Yu and others, as well as the poems created by later generations imitating the works of Qu Yuan and Song Yu. In the Han Dynasty, the aristocrats in the pre-Western Han Dynasty liked to decorate articles with novel and complicated words and expressions in the Songs of the South, imitating the tone and style of Qu Yuan and Song Yu, which became a trend, which also changed the connotation of the Songs of the South.
Therefore, the connotation of the word "Songs of the South" has been constantly changing in the historical evolution, from initially referring to the works of Qu Yuan, Song Yu and others, to later covering poems created after imitating "Songs of the South" and becoming a literary style and genre.