The Book of Songs (Selections)
Forthcoming The translation of this work is in preparation and will be published in the library.
Introduction
The Book of Songs is China's earliest anthology of poetry: three hundred and five poems from some five hundred years, from the early Western Zhou to the middle of the Spring and Autumn period, in three parts, the Airs, the Odes and the Hymns. The Airs are folk songs from the various states, about courtship, marriage, labour, soldiers far from home and resentment of harsh rule, and lines such as 'Guan guan cry the ospreys on the islet in the river' and 'When I went away, the willows were soft and green' have been recited for three thousand years; the Odes are mostly songs of the nobility for feasts and admonition, and the Hymns are music for the ancestral temple. Confucius said: 'The three hundred songs can be summed up in one phrase: no evil thoughts.' This volume brings together the most beautiful and most representative of them.