The earliestChinese poetrybegins with the 'Shi Jing', or the 'Book of Songs', which is sometimes also known as the 'Book of Odes', a collection of 305 poems of varying length, drawn from all ranks of Chinese society. This is the first comprehensive anthology ofZhou Dynasty(1122BC-256 BC) poems. Each poem in the Book of Songs is set to music and can be sung. Those who compiled it classified the 305 poems into folk songs, ceremonial songs, and sacrificial songs, according to their content and the style of music.
The Book of Songs is said to have been compiled byConfuciushimself (551BC-479BC). There were four versions of the collection: those in the states of Lu, Qi and Han, and one in the private collection of Duke Mao. Only the last has survived until now. Hejian City is the cradle of Mao's version of The Book of Songs.
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