The Shih King: Book of Poetry (Annotated)
Enriched Edition. Ancient Chinese Poems of Love, Ritual, Labor, and Virtue from the Five ClassicsBy Confucius
Length7h 27m
About this audiobook
The Shih King: Book of Poetry, or Classic of Songs, gathers 305 ancient Chinese poems ranging from court hymns and dynastic odes to rustic love songs, work chants, laments, and ritual pieces. Its style is deceptively spare: patterned repetition, natural imagery, and compressed emotional suggestion turn everyday scenes—reeds by a river, soldiers on campaign, brides leaving home—into enduring moral and political reflections. As one of the Five Classics, it occupies a foundational place in Chinese literary history, shaping ideas of poetry as both aesthetic expression and ethical witness. Confucius (551–479 BCE), the preeminent teacher and moral philosopher of the late Spring and Autumn period, is traditionally credited with editing and transmitting this anthology. Living amid political fragmentation and social disorder, he looked to antiquity for models of humane government, ritual propriety, and cultivated feeling. The poems' attention to family, hierarchy, longing, labor, and public virtue accords closely with his conviction that literature refines character and trains judgment. This book is highly recommended to readers of world literature, comparative poetics, philosophy, and Chinese civilization. It rewards slow reading, revealing how lyric beauty can preserve history, encode social values, and speak across millennia with clarity and grace.
This enriched edition has been carefully crafted to add value to your reading experience.
- A comprehensive Introduction outlines these selected works' unifying features, themes, or stylistic evolutions.
- The Author Biography highlights personal milestones and literary influences that shape the entire body of writing.
- A Historical Context section situates the works in their broader era—social currents, cultural trends, and key events that underpin their creation.
- A concise Synopsis (Selection) offers an accessible overview of the included texts, helping readers navigate plotlines and main ideas without revealing critical twists.
- A unified Analysis examines recurring motifs and stylistic hallmarks across the collection, tying the stories together while spotlighting the different work's strengths.
- Reflection questions inspire deeper contemplation of the author's overarching message, inviting readers to draw connections among different texts and relate them to modern contexts.
- Lastly, our hand‐picked Memorable Quotes distill pivotal lines and turning points, serving as touchstones for the collection's central themes.
Audiobook details
GenrePoetry
Length7 hrs 27 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateSep 10, 2021
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1The Shih King: Book of Poetry (Annotated)
18The Seventh Decade: Odes 1,6
2Introduction
19The Eighth Decade: Ode 5
3Author Biography
20The Major Odes of the Kingdom
4Historical Context
21The Second Decade: Odes 1,2,3,4,5,8,9,10
5Synopsis (Selection)
22The Third Decade: Odes 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,10,11
Show all chaptersShow less
6Introduction
23Lessons From the States
7Chapter II. The Shih Before Confucius, and What, if Any, Were His Labours Upon It
24Book 2.
8Chapter III. The Shih From the Time of Confucius Till the General Acknowledgment of the Present Text
25Book 3.
9Chapter IV. The Formation of the Collection of the Shih
26Book 4.
10Odes of the Temple and the Altar
27Book 5.
11The Sacrificial Odes of Shang
28Book 6.
12The Sacrificial Odes of Kâu
29Book 10.
13The Praise Odes of Lû
30Book 11.
14The Minor Odes of the Kingdom
31Book 15.
15The Fourth Decade: Odes 5,6,7,8,9,10
32Analysis
16The Fifth Decade: Odes 1,2,3,4,6,9
33Reflection
17The Sixth Decade: Odes 3,5,6,7,8
34Memorable Quotes
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