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What kinds of poems appear in the Shijing anthology?
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Chinese literature
Zhang Fei on the Long Sloped Bridge Turning Away One Million Wei Troops with a Powerful Stare, woodblock colour print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1884. It depicts a scene from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
The Shijing (Classic of Poetry) is the earliest anthology of Chinese literature, containing 305 poems that were originally composed to be sung to musical accompaniment. These works are traditionally classified into three primary categories:12
- Popular songs and ballads (feng, or "wind"): These pieces often reflect the daily lives, aspirations, and disappointments of the common people, covering themes such as agricultural labor, rural scenes, love, and military service.12
- Courtly songs (ya, or "elegant"): These poems are generally associated with the aristocracy and formal settings.12
- Eulogies (song): These are ceremonial songs, including temple songs, that were often performed with dance to celebrate royal ancestors or historical events.12
While the anthology contains a few narrative cycles celebrating the rise of the Zhou kingdom, the collection is predominantly lyrical in nature. The poems are noted for their spontaneity and their proximity to the daily speech of the time, exerting a lasting influence on the development of Chinese poetic traditions.2