先秦文学之《诗经 》

Pre-Qin literature---The Book of Songs 

诗歌在其发展的最初阶段是一种口头创作。《诗经》是中国古代最早的一部诗歌总集，收集了从西周初年到春秋中叶约五百年间的诗歌，共计305篇。《诗经》不仅有很高的文学艺术价值，对于研究古代习俗亦有很高的史料价值。 

Poetry in the initial stage of its development is a kind of oral creation. The Book of Songs is the earliest known poetry collection in ancient China. From the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century-771 BC) to the mid-Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) about 500 years of poetry were collected: 305 works in all. The Book of Songs has very high artistic value, but it also has a very high value in terms of historical data, which is important for the study of ancient customs. 

《诗经》内容上分为“风”、“雅”、“颂”三部分。“风”是不同地区的地方音乐，大部分是民歌，是从广大农民生活中创作出来的，比较具有现实性；“雅”和“颂”基本上是贵族的创作，主要是歌功颂德描写贵族阶级的生活。国风是《诗经》的精华部分，反映了社会现实，是现实主义文学的源头。诗歌创作的早期都是口口相传的,其中劳动人民对其传播起了巨大的作用。可以说，早期的诗歌创作是以劳动人民为主体的。 

The Book of Songs is divided into three parts: “custom” “elegant” and “odes.” “Custom” is local music fromvarious regions, mostly folk songs created based on farmers’ lives; it is realistic. “Elegant” and “odes” are basically the creation of noblemen and mainly represent a flattering description of aristocratic life. National customs serves as the “essence” of the Book of Songs; it reflects social realities and is a source of realistic literature. The early stages of poetic creation involved “mouth-to-mouth” transmission. Working people played a huge role in spreading this poetry. It can be said that working people were the main body of the early stage of poetic creation.