Book of Odes
The Book of Odes is the very first general collection of ancient Chinese poems, and is the source of the Chinese poetry. It is composed of three hundred and five poems, divided into the ‘Feng’ ‘the ‘Ya’ and the ‘Song’.
The ‘Feng’ mainly reflects the local traits and customs, or the life of the broad masses of the people from the lower classes; the ‘Ya’ reflects the life of the nobles and upper circles; and the ‘Song’ comprises poems used when people are sacrificing to ancestors and praying to spiritual beings.
The poems in The Book of Odes were composed from the early Zhou Dynasty to the mid-Spring and Autumn Period, spanning a time of more than 500 years, and even the latest pieces were about 2500 years old. Since The Book of Odes is of the remote past, and fundamental changes have taken place in language and the social environment, the language, content, feelings and the social situation it reflects differ from what they are today. Therefore, it is rather difficult for the readers today to read and understand the pieces in The Book of Odes.
Anyhow, The Book of Odes must be read because it is not only the originator of the Chinese poetry, but also valuable historical records, reflecting the real social situation of the China thousands of years ago. The vast majority of the poems in The Book of Odes came from the ordinary people, while a small number were composed by princes, marquises and the nobles. The exact author of each poem can’t be traced, and only the vivid figure and contents in the poems, and the refined and precise language reveal for us a colourful historical scene of the ancient China.
