The Book of Songs——The First Collection of Poems in China

摘要

The Book of Songs was the first comprehensive collec-tion of poems in China.Compiled about the sixthcentury B.C.the collection includes poems writtenduring more than 500 years previously.Compliationinvolved thousands of ancient writers over hundreds ofyears.The final version was composed by musical offi-cials of the Zhou Dynasty(11th century-221B.C.).The collech was first called Songs;or Three HundredSongs.As it came to be regarded as a classic work ofConfucianism by emperors after the Western Han Dy-nasty(2o6B.C.-A.D.24).the title the Book of Songs wasfixed.