Shi Jing (traditional Chinese: 詩經; simplified Chinese: 诗经; pinyin: Shī Jīng; Wade-Giles: Shih Ching), translated variously as theClassic of Poetry, theBook of Songs or theBook of Odes, is the earliest existing collection of Chinese poems. It comprises 305 poems, some possibly written as early as 1000 BC. The Confucian tradition holds that the collection, one of the Wu Jing, orFive Classics, came to what we have today after the editing ofConfucius. The poems are written in four-character lines. The airs are in the style of folk songs, although the extent to which they are real folk songs or literary imitations is debated. The odes deal with matters of court and historical subjects, while the hymns blend history, myth and religious material.
English-language translations of詩經 include:
