诗经英语介绍

1、Communication of The Book of Songs As the first collection of poems in china, The Book of Songs (sh jng 诗经) recorded a total of 305 poems created over a period of 500 years or so, from the early Western Zhou Dynasty (西周) to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period . It had a history as long as two

2、 thousand and five hundred years. So many poems in The Book of Songs were not worked out by one person, but lots of poets, ordinary people and officials worked together to accomplish them. In ancient China, specific officials were appointed to collect poems among the mass. Someone composed poems and

3、 presented them to the emperor, so The Book of Songs was the result of team work. The edit of The Book of Songs began in the warring period, and Confucius made great contribution to it. As we know, poems were consist of music and dancing, so the officials who in charge of the music became the origin

4、al editor. These poems were used to offer sacrifice to the Heaven or ancestors. Later different editions of The Book of songs appeared in different kingdoms, so Confucius made up his mind to compile it after traveling through all the kingdoms. During the process of editing, Confucius poured his spir

5、it of “stable world” into it. So The Book of songs was not only a general collection of ancient Chinese books, but also conveyed the spirit of Confucianism. It is indeed a rare cultural heritage which is not only the pride of the Chinese people, but also a pearl in the treasure house of cultural her

6、itages of the world. Traditional research of The Book of Songs mainly had three directions: literary direction, historical direction and the direction of Confucian classics.The first direction regarded The Book of Songs as the beginning of Chinese literature. Appreciating these beautiful and gracefu

7、l poems, we could get a panoramic view of the society of the remote ancient Chinese society. Researchers concerned more on basic human problems such as love, marriage, work, thought and war. If we research The Book of Songs in the direction of literature, it should be regarded as the source of Chine

8、se realistic poems. The great work was written for politic reform, exposing serious society problems and reflecting normal peoples life. The strong realistic spirit and excellent artistic experiences influenced history of Chinese literature greatly.The second direction regarded The Book of Songs as

9、historical materials. The existed ancient Chinese works were not so faithful and authentic, and some false and mistakes misleaded us during the historical research. Especially after the Qin Shi Huangs “burning books and burring Confucian scholars alive”, almost no book in that time was totally true.

10、 But The Book of Songs was an exception. It was passed down by peoples memory so that the great work could be well maintained without any distorting. Thus it could be seen that The Book of Songs was more authoritative than other ancient Chinese books. It owned precious historical value, which was co

11、nsidered as one of the most important historical material to study ancient Chinese history. Whats more, The Book of Songs was regarded as indispensable material to study Zhou Dynastys society and culture. The great work had great significance in studying Zhous politics, economy and peoples daily lif

12、e. Furthermore, its research would produce deep influence in subject of archaeology, folklore and linguistics.The third direction regarded The Book of Songs as Confucian classics. Confucian scholars of every generation studied and explained The Book of songs carefully, which made it hallowed and pol

13、iticized. Their activities influenced Chinese culture in every aspect and directed ancient Chinese politic life and Chinese peoples spirit. Moreover, The Book of Songs extended and consolidated Chinese feudal system objectively. Researching in this direction, scholars mainly compiled The Book of Son

14、gs basic condition, historical development, function and the related main problem.My research will be totally different from traditional ones. In fact, The Book of Songs good preservation and pass down can not be separated from communication. First of all, The Book of Songs was often used in banquet

15、 in ancient china, important ceremony and foreign affairs. These poems could not only add to the fun, but also present love or friendship tactfully. The mean of poems had diverged from the original one, but oral communication enlarged the influence of the poem. Besides, the oral communication made r

16、eading and singing songs a cultural tide. Thus we can see that The Book of Songs made great contribution to Chinese language habit. Second, The Book of Songs was regarded as text book in ancient China, and children of the nobles and officials must learn it very well. Confucius said that:“One could n

17、ot talk well without learning The Book of Songs.” During the Sui and Tang Dynasty, imperial examination became mature. The Book of Songs was important content of the examination in every dynasty. In that time, it was necessary “stepping stone to success” for intellectuals to enter the upper levels.

18、With the appearing of printing media, printing form of The Book of songs became popular in society, and highly recognized governmental edition appeared in this time.Third, the intellectuals not only learned The Book of Songs, but also researched it. From Han Dynasty, scholars in this area criticized and attacked each other, which improved the spreading and flourishing of the great work. Different dynasty had varied characters in the