 Chinese literature begins with the emergence of Shi Jing ( 诗经 ) , which consists of 305 poems dating from the Zhou Dynasty ( 周朝 ) to the Spring and Autumn Period ( 春秋时期 ) . Geographically, these poems were collected from the area which is now central China and the lower Yellow River Valley of north China where Chinese civilization began and flourished.
As the first major collection of Chinese poems, Shi Jing ( 诗经 ) comprises 305 poems divided into 160 folk songs ( 风 ) ; 74 minor festal songs ( 小雅 ) , traditionally sung at court festivities; 31 major festal songs ( 大雅 ) , sung at more solemn court ceremonies; and 40 hymns and eulogies ( 颂 ) , sung at sacrifices to gods and ancestral spirits of the royal house.
The work is one of the Five Classics ( 五经 ) , canonized by the Han Dynasty ( 汉朝 ) , whose scholars framed the 305 poems as having been edited by Confucius from a total corpus of some three-thousand poems. The 305 poems had to be reconstructed from memory by classicists since the previous Qin dynasty ( 秦朝 ) had burned the poems along with other classical texts.
 Commentators have also given the Book of Songs a second tripartite division based on their use of literary figures and devices, into fu ( 赋 ) , bi ( 比 ) and xing ( 兴 ) poems. Roughly, fu poems are those with a straightforward narrative content; bi are those with explicit comparisons; while xing are based on implied comparisons.
Shi Jing influence on Chinese literature is overwhelming and undeniable by any one at any time. Not only does it lay in the foundation for the formation of style and rules for Chinese classical poems, it is also frequently quoted in other canonical Chinese texts and has always been referred to as moral truth and lessons. Poems collected in the anthology touch and reflect on all aspects of Chinese life at the time. Some describe emotion, feelings and situations of people from different classes of society, some report events and matters of state; some depict the harmonious rule of nature.
There is also the record of about one hundred kinds of plants and trees and ninety kinds of animals and insects in Shi Jing . Different kinds of musical instruments, metals, arms and munitions of war, buildings, clothing, food, etc. are frequently mentioned. Given the genuine and diverse nature of the poems collected in this anthology, in addition to its literary significance, Shi Jing is a very valuable document for those who wish to seek insight into Chinese civilization and beyond. |
