The Book of Songs

The Book of Songs is the earliest poetry collection in China. It is a treasure of the Chinese nation. The Book of Songs was originally called "Poems" and contains 305 poems (another 6 have titles but no content, that is, they have goals but no words, and are called Sheng poems), so it is also called "Three Hundred Poems". Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has regarded it as a classic, so it is called "The Book of Songs". Mao Heng and Mao Chang in the Han Dynasty once commented on the Book of Songs, so it is also called "Mao Shi". The authors of most of the poems in the Book of Songs cannot be verified.

Most of the poems recorded in the Book of Songs come from the folk. It is said that the Zhou Dynasty had a special poetry collector to collect folk songs to understand folk customs and political gains and losses. Most of the poems in the Book of Songs come from this. The other part is composed of poems written by ministers and scholar-bureaucrats to the Emperor of Zhou, praising virtue and whitewashing peace. Among them, some people have verified the author of some poems, some are conjectures, and some are well-founded, but they are not very important. As for the compiler of the Book of Songs, some thought it was Duke Zhou, but it seems that this cannot be established now. There is also an argument that Confucius deleted poems, which is not convincing either.

The poems recorded in The Book of Songs span a long time span, from the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century BC) to more than 500 years of social life in the middle Spring and Autumn Period (6th century BC), covering a wide area, from the north of the Yellow River to They are found in the Jianghan River Basin. In the Han Dynasty, there were three schools of Lu, Qi and Han first, who were established as academic officials, and then "Mao Shi". After "Mao Shi" became popular, the poems of Qi, Lu and Han were lost one after another. There are many interpreters of the Book of Songs in the past, among which the better ones include Zhu Xi of the Song Dynasty's "Collected Poems", Wang Fuzhi of the Qing Dynasty's "The Book of Songs", Ma Ruichen's "General Commentary on the Biography of Mao's Poems", and Wang Xianxuan's "Collected Works of the Three Schools of Poetry", etc.

The "Book of Songs" contains 305 chapters, divided into three parts: "Wind", "Ya" and "Song". "Wind" has the style of fifteen countries and is a folk song from various places. This part has the highest literary achievement. It contains songs about love, labor and other beautiful things, as well as laments and anger about homeland, longing for people, and anti-oppression and bullying. . "Ya" is divided into "Daya" and "Xiaoya". Most of them are poems for nobles to pray for good harvests and praise their ancestors' virtues. It is the correct sound of Xiji. 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 to our investigation of early history, religion and society. Confucius once summarized the purpose of the Book of Songs as "innocence", and taught his disciples and children 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. Later, "The Book of Songs" was regarded as a classic by Confucianism and became the "Six Classics" (including "Poetry", "Book", "Li", "Yue", "Yi", "Spring and Autumn") and "Five Classics" (without "Music"). ")one.

The area covered by the works of "The Book of Songs" is mainly the Yellow River Basin, starting from Shanxi and part of Gansu in the west, southwestern Hebei Province in the north, Shandong in the east, and Jianghan Basin in the south.

The process of writing the book

The earliest work in "The Book of Songs" was probably written in the early Western Zhou Dynasty. According to "Shangshu", "Binfeng·Owl" was written by Ji Dan, Duke of Zhou. The latest work was completed in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period. According to Zheng Xuan's "Preface to the Book of Poetry", it is "Chen Feng·Zhu Lin", spanning about 600 years.

As for the collection and compilation of "The Book of Songs", there are sayings that "Wang Guan collected poems" and "Confucius deleted poems":

Wang Guan collected poems

"Han Shu· It is recorded in "Shi Huo Zhi" that the Zhou Dynasty court sent special envoys to collect folk songs across the country during busy farming periods. The historians of the Zhou Dynasty collected and compiled them and showed them to the emperor in order to understand the sentiments of the people.

Confucius deleted poems

This statement is found in "Historical Records". It is said that there were originally 3,000 ancient poems. Confucius compiled and selected 300 of them according to the standards of etiquette and justice, and compiled the "Book of Songs" .

It is now generally believed that the Book of Songs was collected by various vassal states with the assistance of the Zhou Dynasty court, and was later compiled and compiled by historians and musicians. Confucius also participated in this sorting process.

Style Classification

As for the classification of poems in the Book of Songs, there is a theory of "Four Beginnings and Six Meanings". "Four Beginnings" refers to the top four poems of "Feng", "Daya", "Xiaoya" and "Song".

The "six meanings" refer to "wind, elegance, praise, fu, bi, and xing". "Feng, Ya, and Song" are the classifications of the Book of Songs according to different music, and "Fu, Bi, and Xing" are the expression techniques of the Book of Songs.

Feng, Ya, Song

"Wind" is also called "Guo Feng". There are 15 groups in one song. "Wind" is the general name of music. The 15 sets of national styles are not music from 15 countries, but music from more than a dozen regions. The national style includes 160 songs from Zhou Nan, Zhao Nan, Bei, Yong, Wei, Wang, Zheng, Hui, Qi, Wei, Tang, Qin, Bin, Chen and Cao. Guofeng was a popular local song at that time, with local flavor. In terms of content, most of them are folk songs. Most of the authors are folk singers, but there are also some nobles.

There are various views on the understanding of "Ya". One view is that it refers to the music in the areas directly ruled by the Zhou Dynasty. "Ya" means "righteousness", and this kind of music is regarded as "zhengsheng", which is intended to show the difference from music in other places. Some people also say that "Ya" is connected with "Xia", and Xia is the name of the area directly ruled by the Zhou Dynasty. There is also a view that "Ya" refers to elegant music that everyone can understand. There are 105 chapters in "Ya", divided into 31 chapters in "Daya" and 74 chapters in "Xiaoya". Most of "Ya" are works by court officials and officials, and a small part are folk songs. The contents are almost all about politics, some praising good people and good governance, and some satirizing bad governance. There are only a few poems expressing personal feelings. But there are no love poems.

"Ode" is a piece of music used by nobles to worship ghosts and gods in their family temples and praise the merits of rulers. It is accompanied by dance when played. It is divided into "Zhou Song", "Lu Song" and "Shang Song", with a total of 40 chapters. Among them, 31 "Songs of Zhou" are believed to be works of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and most were written before King Zhao and King Mu of Zhou; 4 "Songs of Lu" are believed to be works of the reign of Duke Xi of Lu; "Songs of Shang" are believed to be Works from the Song Dynasty before the Spring and Autumn Period.

Fu, Bi, Xing

"Fu, Bi, Xing" are the expression techniques of poetry. "Fu" is to tell the story directly and describe the process of an event. "Bi" is a metaphor, using one thing to compare another thing. "Xing" means to associate one thing with another.

Preface to Mao's Poems

In the early Western Han Dynasty, there were four main schools of teaching the Book of Songs. One is Shen Gong from Lu, the other is Yuan Gu from Qi, and the other is Han Ying from Yan. However, except for "Han Shi Wai Zhuan", these three works no longer exist. The other one is Mao Shi. That is, it was passed down by Da Mao Gong Mao Heng and Xiao Mao Gong Mao Chang. Each of the existing Mao poems has an explanation, called a "small preface". Most of their authors are unknown. Nowadays, it is generally believed that except for a few of the explanatory texts, most of them are unreliable. But the preface to Mao's poems had a great influence on future generations. The ancients loved to use the explanations inside when writing poems and articles.

Social and political poetry

There are three main categories

1. Poems in which lower-class people criticize politics

2. Poems in which officials express dissatisfaction with politics Poems

3. Calligraphy Poems about depression and sadness in life

Love poems

This is the most important and famous part of the Book of Songs. For example, "Jing Nu" uses gifts as tokens to describe pure love, which is quiet and beautiful; "Zheng Feng·Cunning Boy" is about a girl's lovesickness; "Zhou Nan·Tao Yao" is about a woman's marriage.

Evaluation and influence

The Book of Songs has a profound impact on China's literary history, politics, language, and even thought.

Confucius had a high opinion of the Book of Songs. Regarding the ideological content of "The Book of Songs", he said, "Three hundred poems can be summed up in one sentence, and the thoughts are innocent." As for its characteristics, it is "gentle and honest, and poetic education" (that is, it is believed that the Book of Songs can clarify people's soul after reading it, and it is the best way to use it as a tool for education). Confucius even said, "If you don't learn poetry, you won't be able to express it." This shows the profound influence of the Book of Songs on ancient Chinese literature. Confucius believed that studying the Book of Songs can cultivate the ability to associate, improve observation, and learn satirical methods. You can use the principles to serve your parents and the emperor, so as to achieve order in the family, rule the country, and bring peace to the world.

In ancient times, the Book of Songs also played a political role.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, in diplomacy between countries, songs or poems were often used to express unspeakable or unspeakable words, similar to today's diplomatic rhetoric.

The Book of Songs is the first of thousands of years of literature in China, and also the first of many Chinese literary works that have been dominated by realism for many years.

Nowadays, the study of the Book of Songs is more used to examine the differences in phonology between ancient and modern times, or to study the history of ancient times. There are even more ancient and modern writings on the Book of Songs.

The Qin Dynasty burned all Confucian classics including the Book of Songs. However, because the Book of Songs is easy to memorize and is generally familiar to scholars, it was circulated again in the Han Dynasty. In the early Han Dynasty, there were four scholars who taught the study of the Book of Songs, that is, four schools: Yuan Gusheng of Qi, Shen Pei of Lu, Han Ying of Yan, Mao Heng and Mao Chang of Zhao, referred to as Qi Shi and Lu. Poetry, Korean poetry, and Mao poetry (the first two take the name of the country, and the latter two take the surname). The modern classics of Qi, Lu and Han belong to the officially recognized school, while Mao Shi belongs to the ancient classics and is a folk school. But after the Eastern Han Dynasty, Mao's poetry became increasingly prosperous and officially recognized; the first three schools gradually declined, and by the Southern Song Dynasty, they were completely lost. The "Book of Songs" we see today is the biography of Mao's school of poetry.

The beginning of the Book of Songs

The first poem with a clear meaning in the Book of Songs is "Guan Ju" in "Guofeng·Zhou Nan".

Guan Guan Jujiu, in the river island. A graceful lady, a gentleman is fond of quarrels.

Scattered waterlilies flow left and right. A graceful lady, I long for her.

I can’t get what I want, so I sleep hard and think about it. Leisurely leisurely, tossing and turning.

Pick them from left to right. A graceful lady, she is a friend of the piano and the harp.

There are different kinds of waterlilies, with leaves growing on both sides. The fair lady is played with bells and drums.

It is important to know what the original meaning of "yaoyao" is. Quiet, elegant, profound and wise (not a petite woman). It should be noted why the whole poem is "inspired" by a bird like "Jiujiu". Jujiu, a type of osprey, was praised by the ancients as the king dove because it only looks for one mate throughout its life.

The Book of Songs opens with this poem on the meaning of husband and wife. This shows the importance of couples in the traditional five-ethnic relationship. The breakdown of the family will directly lead to an increase in the crime rate (that is, the next generation cannot get the care of their parents and learn bad things). The increase in crime rate directly affects the stability of society.

To add, it is Guan Song. Many people know that there is Shang Song, "The mysterious bird of destiny descends on me, the great Shang." However, there are "Long Hair" and "Yin Wu" in it, which may be Song songs

Note: "Long Hair"

Long hair is auspicious. The floods are shining brightly, and Yu is laying down the earth. The great foreign country is the frontier. After a long period of time, there was a noble general, and the emperor established a son to give birth to business.

Xuanwang Huanbo, if you accept small countries, you will be successful, if you accept big countries, you will be successful. If you follow the lead and don't go further, then you will see what has happened. The prime minister is fierce, and there are interceptions overseas.

The emperor's order is not violated, as for Tang Qi. It's not too late for the soup to come down, and the saint will be there soon. Zhaojia is late, God is the only one, and the emperor's decree is in Jiuwei.

Accept the small ball and the big ball, and decorate the country. What a break, neither competitive nor timid, neither strong nor soft. The administration is excellent and the salary is high.

Accepting the little brother and the big brother, he became the king of the country, the dragon of the sky, and demonstrated his bravery. Be neither shaken nor immovable, neither cunning nor ruthless. Bailu is the leader.

King Wu Zai was a pious and loyal leader. If the fire is fierce, no one dares to burn it. The buds have three tillers, which are mostly moda. Jiuyou has cut off, Wei Gu has already cut down, Kunwu and Xia Jie.

In the middle of the past, there were earthquakes and karma. Yun Ye, the emperor, surrendered to the ministers, actually maintained Aheng, and actually influenced the king of Shang.

Original reading: /shijing/index.htm

●National Style·Zhou Nan

○Guan Ju

Guan Guan Jujiu, In River Island. A graceful lady, a gentleman is fond of quarrels.

Scattered waterlilies flow left and right. A graceful lady, I long for her.

I can’t get what I want, so I sleep hard and think about it. Leisurely leisurely, tossing and turning.

Pick them from left to right. A graceful lady, she is a friend of the piano and the harp.

There are different kinds of waterlilies, with leaves growing on both sides. The fair lady is played with bells and drums.

○Kudzu

Kudzu is planted in the middle valley, and the leaves are luxuriant. The yellow birds are flying and gathering in the bushes. They are singing and singing.

Ge Zhiqin Xi, applied to Zhonggu, Weiye Momo. It's a pruning method, it's a piece of cloth, it's a piece of cloth, it's a piece of silk.

Tell the Master, tell the Master, and return home. Thin dirt on my private parts, thin clothes on my clothes. No matter if it harms Huan, I would rather return to my parents.

○ Curling ears

Picking curly ears will not fill the basket. Alas, I am pregnant with someone, leaving him to travel around.

The enemy is Cui Wei, and my horse is slumped. I will consider that golden lei, and I will not cherish it forever.

His horse is high and my horse is black and yellow. I'll give him a drink so that I won't be hurt forever.

The enemy is in trouble, my horse is in trouble, and my servant is in trouble, so why bother?

○樛木

There are 樛木 in the south, and the kudzu is tired of them. A gentleman is a happy man, and he is blessed with good fortune.

In the south there are locust trees and kudzu trees. A gentleman is only happy, and he will be blessed with good fortune.

There are locust trees in the south, and kudzu trees linger on them. Only a gentleman who enjoys happiness will achieve it through good fortune.

○Katydids

The katydids have feathers, and they are flying. The descendants of Yi'er are vibrating.

The katydids are feathered and dying. Descendants of Yier. Ropey.

The katydid feathers are bowing to each other. The descendants of Yier are hibernating.

○Peach blossoms

The peach blossoms shine brightly. When the son returns home, it is suitable for his family.

The peaches are actually sweet. When the son returns home, it is suitable for his family.

The peach is young, its leaves are pure. When the son returns home, it will be a good time for his family.

○Rabbit's cock

The rabbit's cock is solemn and its penis is tiny. Jiujiu martial artist, Duke Qiancheng.

Sure the rabbit's head and apply it to Zhongkui. A brave warrior, a prince and a feudal prince.

Be solemn and avoid blindness, and apply it to the middle forest. A brave warrior, the confidant of a prince.

○芣芋

Cai Cai Feng Yi, pick it up with thin words. It's all about picking and choosing, but there are few words.

It’s easy to pick and choose and brush it off with thin words. Picking up the bad things, and stroking them with thin words.

Cai Cai is not willing to talk about it. It's easy to pick and choose, and it's easy to talk about it.

○Hanguang

There are trees in the south, so you cannot rest. There are wandering girls in the Han Dynasty, so don’t ask for them.

The Han Dynasty is so vast that it is impossible to think about it. The river will last forever and cannot be imagined.

The wrong salary is raised, and the Chu is cut off. When his son returned home, he said that he wanted to build his horse.

The Han Dynasty is so vast that it is impossible to think about it. The river will last forever and cannot be imagined.

The wrong salary is raised, and the grass is cut off. The son returned home. Talking about the horse's strength.

The Han Dynasty is so vast that it is impossible to think about it. The river will last forever and cannot be imagined.

○Your tomb

Follow your tomb and cut down its strips. When I don't see a gentleman, I feel as scared as if I were hungry.

Follow your grave and cut down its strips. Now that I see a gentleman, I won't abandon him.

The bream has its tail exposed, and the royal family seems to be ruined. Although it is destroyed, the parents are far away.

○Lin's toe

Lin's toe vibrates the young master and makes Lin Xi come.

Lin Zhiding, Zhen Zhen Gong’s surname, Yu Linxi.

The horns of the lin invigorate the clan, and the lin comes to the fore.

Since the Han Dynasty, there are no fewer than a thousand works that have annotated the Book of Songs. Today, there are no less than a thousand works. Among them, there are Han people who annotated the Book of Songs, called "Mao Shi Zheng Jian"; The Yishu is called "Mao Shi Zhengyi"; with Song annotations, it is called "Collected Poems"; the most popular ones include modern annotations and modern translations.

"Mao's Poems and Zheng's Notes"

"Mao's Poems and Zheng's Notes", "Si Bu Yao Yao" has twenty volumes, and "Four Bu Congkan" has twenty volumes of "Mao's Poems". It is a Han Chinese commentary on the Book of Songs. "Poetry" was passed down in the Han Dynasty. There are four families, Qi, Lu, Han and Mao, and the three families of Qi, Lu and Han are said to have been lost. "Selected Poems of Mao" is the abbreviation of "Exegesis of Poetry" written by Mao Heng of the Han Dynasty; Heng was from Lu. Zheng Xuan of the Later Han Dynasty wrote the "Jian"; "The Biography of Mao's Poems" mainly explains the vocabulary of "Poems", and generally preserves some ancient meanings of the pre-Qin Dynasty; each poem is preceded by a small preface, which explains the theme of the poem, uses feudal ethical viewpoints, promotes feudalism, and has many words. Attachment is not enough to be trusted. "Zheng Jian" mainly focuses on Zong Mao. If there is any hidden meaning in Mao's meaning, it will be explained for it. If there is a difference, the meaning will be stated. It will also adopt the poetry of three schools of thought to smooth it out. In terms of ideological content, it still cannot escape the path taken by "The Biography of Mao's Poems".

"Mao's Poems on Justice"

"Mao's Poems on Justice", "Sibu Yao", has seventy volumes. "It is compiled together with the three books "Explanation of Mao's Poems" in Tang Lu Deming's "Explanation of Classics". "Justice" gives a detailed explanation of "Mao's Poems and Zheng's Notes". "Shiwen" is an annotation of the pronunciation and meaning. Kong Yingda, courtesy name Zhongda, was born in Hengshui (now Hengshui County, Hebei) in the Tang Dynasty. When he was an official, he offered wine to the emperor and was ordered by Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty to write the "Five Classics of Justice". Lu Deming, named Yuan Long and courtesy name Deming, was a native of Wu County, Tang Dynasty (now Wuxian County, Jiangsu Province). During the reign of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, he was a doctor of Guozi and the author of "Interpretation of Classics". This book includes the interpretations of the Book of Songs by people during the Han and Sui Dynasties, and is an important reference book for studying the Book of Songs.

"Biography of the Collection of Poems"

"Biography of the Collection of Poems", "Sibu Yaoyao", a twenty-volume volume, was written by Zhu Xi (1130-1200 AD), a famous thinker and scholar in the Southern Song Dynasty. Xi, whose courtesy name was Yuanhui, was from Wuyuan (now Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province). This book is a collection of poems from "Mao Shi", "Zheng Jian" and three schools of poetry, trying to explore the original meaning of "The Book of Songs". The explanation of the poems can break through the old theory of "Preface to Poems". Be skeptical. Some views are more pertinent than "Mao Shi" and "Zheng Jian", but they are also subjective. Here, the works involving love in the Book of Songs are all denounced as poems about "male and female adultery". They measure the love between men and women from a feudal moral point of view, which distorts the content of the works. The text in this book is relatively simple and easy-to-understand, and the explanation method generally includes explanations of the questions, exegesis of chapters and sentences, simple comments on the performance techniques of the poem, and the pronunciation is marked with fanqie, which is convenient for learning and reference.

Selected Book of Songs

Selected annotations by Yu Guanying, published by People's Literature Publishing House. ***Selected ninety poems, including two from Zhou Song, three from Daya, sixteen from Xiaoya, and the rest are all style poems. Each article is accompanied by annotations. In addition to explaining the words and sentences, the annotations also provide explanations when necessary, and finally explain the meaning of the article. The selected poems are all excellent works, poems that truly reflect the lives of all walks of life at that time. There are some debatable points in the annotations, but it is still a convenient read for beginners.

"Selected Translations of Guofeng"

Compiled by modern Chen Zizhan, published by Classical Literature Publishing House. This book selects 80 articles from the 160 articles in the 15th "National Style", each article has a translation, annotations and explanations. Before and after each group of romantic poems, there is an excerpt from "An Interpretation of Mao's Poems" written by Gu Donggao of the Qing Dynasty. The translation strives to be accurate and fluent, while retaining its original flavor and folk song style, and is compared with the original work to facilitate browsing and comparison. The annotations are based on the opinions of predecessors, paying special attention to the results of the Qing Dynasty scholars' research on the Book of Songs. New interpretations by modern people are also based on extensive knowledge. The interpretation strives to be close to the original meaning of the poem. The approval or opposition of the "Preface to Songs" All theories are briefly criticized. However, the editor also made many use of the topic, and when reading for reference, strict distinctions must be made.

"Selected Translations of Yasong"

Compiled by modern Chen Zizhan, published by Classical Literature Publishing House. This is a companion volume to the editor's "Chinese Style Selection". Sixty of the 145 "Ya" and "Song" chapters in the Book of Songs have been selected. They are all excellent works and have taken into account the subject matter. , style and reflect the life of all walks of life in that era. This can also give a glimpse of the basic style of the Book of Songs. Annotations are still made in the form of summaries, and problem solving is also synthesized into explanations, criticized, or opinions and questions raised. The shortcomings of the book are also the same as those of "Selected Translations of Guofeng".