The Classic of Poetry (also translates to Book of Songs, Book of Poetry) is China’s earliest existing anthology of poetry. Originally titled Shi (Poetry), it was canonized as a Confucian classic during the Han Dynasty, hence the title Classic of Poetry (Shijing). Compiled in the Spring and Autumn period and traditionally believed to have been edited by Confucius, it consists of 305 pieces and is also referred to as the “Three Hundred Poems.”
The collection is categorized into three sections: Feng (Airs of the States), which includes the fifteen sections of the Guofeng (Airs of the States); Ya (Odes), comprising the Major Odes and Minor Odes; and Song (Eulogies), consisting of the Eulogies of Zhou, Eulogies of Lu, and Eulogies of Shang.
Predominantly composed in four-character lines, it employs the rhetorical devices of Fu (narrative exposition), Bi (analogy), and Xing (evocative imagery), utilizing a structure of overlapping stanzas with recurring lines. Representing the pinnacle of poetic creation prior to the mid-Spring and Autumn period, it serves as the fountainhead of realist poetry in China and has exerted a profound influence on the development of Chinese literature and culture for over two millennia.
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