久久亚洲国产成人影院-久久亚洲国产的中文-久久亚洲国产高清-久久亚洲国产精品-亚洲图片偷拍自拍-亚洲图色视频

Weight of early poetry felt through the ages

By Zhao Xu | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2025-06-09 07:32
Share
Share - WeChat
Two children play with a moon-shaped balloon printed with ancient poems in Huainan city, Anhui province, last September. [PHOTO BY CHEN BIN/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Bureaucrats in ancient China had to have knowledge of verse as reflection of their soul, Zhao Xu reports.

What did poetry mean to the ancient Chinese? Confucius (551-479 BC) offered an answer. "Poetry can inspire the mind, offer insight, foster social connection, and give voice to discontent," he declared in The Analects, a philosophical text composed of sayings and ideas attributed to Confucius and his disciples.

As ancient China's foremost moral guide, Confucius was referring to a specific collection of poems: the Shi Jing (literally Classics of Poetry, more commonly translated as the Book of Songs), the oldest surviving anthology of Chinese poetry, containing 305 works dating from the 11th to 6th centuries BC. Alongside The Analects (Lunyu in Chinese), the Book of Songs has long been regarded as a cornerstone of Confucian thought. For over two millennia, it was essential reading for aspiring bureaucrats, who were required to demonstrate their understanding of its verses in the rigorous civil service examinations.

"To select officials based on their knowledge of poetry — though it may seem slightly odd at first — rests on a deeper logic: that writing, and poetry in particular, is a reflection of the soul," says Zhang Yinan, a researcher from the National Library of China.

"A poet remains a poet even when not writing verse, for being a poet is an existential state of mind: One that fosters heightened sensitivity and the ability to see from a broader, more historical perspective. Those lacking such depth were deemed unfit to govern."

In other words, the act of writing poetry, as an often idiosyncratic if not entirely whimsical pursuit, was deeply entwined with politics in ancient China. That tradition was set by Shi Jing, says Tan Zuowen, who teaches ancient Chinese literature at Beijing's Capital Normal University.

1 2 3 Next   >>|

Related Stories

Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 亚洲国产成人久久综合一区 | 国产成人夜间影院在线观看 | 久久一本色系列综合色 | 亚洲美女一级片 | 国内精品一区二区三区最新 | 国产一级毛片免 | 国产成人久久综合热 | 精品久久免费观看 | 日本欧美在线视频 | 亚洲精品第一第二区 | 免费一级欧美在线观看视频片 | 成年女人毛片免费观看97 | 国产99精品一区二区三区免费 | 亚洲视频免 | 毛片基地免费视频a | 欧美成亚洲 | 喷潮白浆直流在线播放 | 欧美va免费大片 | 欧美一级永久免费毛片在线 | 日本一区二区三区四区不卡 | 国产精品亚洲综合天堂夜夜 | 国产合集91合集久久日 | 国产呦系列免费 | 精品国产91久久久久久久a | 国产在线激情视频 | 日韩在线视频线视频免费网站 | 亚洲一区在线观看视频 | 九九精品免费观看在线 | 精品视频99| 一区免费在线观看 | 香蕉久久网站 | 韩国黄色一级毛片 | 亚洲午夜网站 | 免费在线观看的毛片 | 毛片免费视频网站 | 中国做爰国产精品视频 | 在线观看精品自拍视频 | 国产永久在线视频 | 日本精品一区二区三区在线视频一 | 久久久久国产精品美女毛片 | 亚洲伦 |