Shijing essays

Shijing essays In the present world, we listen to pop music as an entertainment. Shi-jing, the classic of poetry or Book of songs is a collection of hymns and folk poetry from the Zhou Dynasty. These songs are collected by Confucius. Two thousand years ago, people did not have much entertainment, one of the entertainments were to sing. They used these songs (or in Chinese shi) to express their feelings and thinking. Not only had they use these songs for entertainment, but also in rituals, and formal parties. Using these songs is a good way to express elegantly. These songs often gives words to what the mind is intent upon, in Chinese it is called Shi Yan Zhi. There are four main sections in Shi-jing; the first one is Guofeng (Air), Xiaoya (Elegantiae), Daya (Great Elegantiae), and Song (Hymn). Guofeng is the largest section on the Book of songs. This section is a collection of poems which is about the daily life about the common people in the Zhou Dynasty, including their attitude and feelings towards work, love relationship, and family. The poem Mang (35) is a typical example in this section. This is a narrative poem about a bad marriage. In the story, the engagement broke up at the end. In the first two stanzas of the poem, it illustrates how the guy chasing the women, and the women except him, and willing to give him all the goods. In the third stanzas, she use mulberry tree leaves as a metaphor of her out-look. When the mulberry tree is strong, the leaves co lour must look green and fresh. When the mulberry tree leaves falls, the leaves turn yellow. That means, when young, everything is beautiful, but beauty wont last forever. She feels regret of her passion. She thinks that women should not be licentious, and always indulges in love games, because women can not pay the price. In the forth and fifth stanzas, it talks about the tragedy of this bad marriage. Everyd...