Knowra Classic of Poetry Classic of Poetry The Classic of Poetry is an anthology of 305 ancient Chinese poems, traditionally dated from the 11th to 7th centuries BCE. It became one of the Confucian Five Classics.
Airs of the States : The first and largest section of the Classic of Poetry, containing 160 songs associated with regional states. These regional songs form the anthology’s largest section and give it much of its social range.
Confucianism : A Chinese ethical and philosophical tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Confucius. Confucian scholars treated the poems as evidence about virtue, social order, and governance.
Western Zhou : The first half of the Zhou dynasty in China, conventionally dated from 1046 to 771 BCE. Many poems are associated with the Western Zhou court and its regional states.
Imperial examination : A system of examinations used in imperial China to select officials through mastery of classical learning. Knowledge of the classics, including the poetry anthology, formed part of elite scholarly education.
Mao tradition : The influential Han-era textual and interpretive tradition associated with Mao Heng and the Classic of Poetry. Its commentary became the dominant inherited framework for reading the poems.
Odes : The second section of the Classic of Poetry, comprising court and ceremonial poems. The Odes shift from regional songs to courtly and ritual settings.
Confucius : A Chinese teacher and thinker traditionally dated to 551–479 BCE, whose teachings shaped Confucianism. Tradition credits Confucius with selecting or editing the anthology, though the claim is disputed.
Eastern Zhou : The later phase of the Zhou dynasty, conventionally dated from 770 to 256 BCE. The anthology’s received form and early interpretation took shape in this broader period.
Confucian education : A system of learning centered on Confucian texts, moral cultivation, and preparation for public service. Students studied the anthology as a canonical source of language, ethics, and political examples.
Three Schools of Poetry : Three early Han interpretive lineages of the Classic of Poetry, distinct from the later dominant Mao tradition. Their lost or fragmentary readings contrast with the surviving Mao recension.
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