Introduction to Chinese Literature: Shi Jing

China, because of its antiquity, is a country of poetry. The first Chinese poems are similar to folk songs and are written during the XIA dinasty -16th BC-. This poetry developes between centuries 5th BC and 6th BC -Confucio's times-.

To know Chinese literature we have to know the Shi Jing -known as the book that stablished Chinese canon-. This is the book of model poems and has about 300 poems written between centuries 19th BC and 11 BC.

These poems are divided into two groups:

-The Airs of the States, which are short poems with simple language. They speak about love, soldiers or housework. In these poems -most of them without a known author- what their authors feel or see is represented in a simple form. It was created because the emperors send men to wrote these folk songs to know what the population thought.

-Hymns that were sung during banquets or sacrifices.

Until Confucio's times, the Shi Jing was formed by more than 3000 poems. Confucio deleted most of them until they were 300 -which he considered that represented the population-.

Finally I'd like to show you my favourite Shi Jing's poem -giving thanks to the Library of the Univeristy of Virginia, in which you can find all Shi Jing's poems translated into English-

 蝃蝀

蝃蝀在東、莫之敢指。
女子有行、遠兄弟父母。
朝隮于西、崇朝其雨。
女子有行、遠兄弟父母。
乃如之人也、懷昏姻也。
大無信也、不知命也。

DI DONG

There is a rainbow in the east ,
And no one dares to point to it .
When a girl goes away [from her home] ,
She separates from her parents and brothers .
In the morning [a rainbow] rises in the west ,
And [only] during the morning is there rain .
When a girl goes away [from her home] ,
She separates from her brothers and parents .
This person
Has her heart only on being married .
Greatly is she untrue to herself ,
And does not recognize [the law of] her lot .