A Comprehensive Interpretation of the Book of Songs (3 Volumes)

Name: A Comprehensive Interpretation of the Book of Songs (3 Volumes)
ISBN: 9787559846181

王静芝Guangxi Normal University Press · ChinaJul 2022

Rating 4.3

Word count: 392K words
Chapters: 349
ISBN: 9787559846181

Summary

The Book of Songs is the first anthology of poetry in Chinese history, the wellspring of Chinese literary and poetic sensibility, and the starting point for understanding the spirit and flavour of traditional Chinese culture. This book provides a detailed and comprehensive commentary on the Book of Songs. It opens with an introduction that sets out the basic methods of reading the poems, then reproduces the full text of the Book of Songs. Each poem includes the original text, the poem's meaning, phonetic annotations, word meanings, section-by-section explication, examination of earlier commentaries, and literary appreciation. The annotations are detailed, making the book a reference work for readers of different levels and needs for reading, study, and lookup.

The Book of Songs has endured for ages and has many annotated editions, with frequent disagreements among earlier interpretations. The author, Professor Wang Jingzhi, was highly esteemed in Taiwanese academic and educational circles in the second half of the twentieth century. He taught for many years at Fu Jen Catholic University, serving successively as chair of the Department of Chinese Literature and director of the Graduate Institute of Chinese Literature. He devoted decades to the close study of classical and historical texts, taking the transmission of the classics and the continuation of the literary tradition as his mission, and gathered the fruits of a lifetime of studying the poems into this book: "word-by-word annotation and sentence-by-sentence explication, running through the whole section, single clear meanings briefly explained, striving for clarity and fluency." His aim was to provide "beginners and self-taught readers" with a concise and accessible gateway, a glimpse of the foundations of the classics and the beauty of poetic history. It is a classic work that helps today's readers and scholars grasp the Book of Songs as a whole.

Editor's review

The Classic of Poetry has endured for ages, and its commentators are numerous; beginners often feel at a loss before so many divergent readings. Professor Wang Jingzhi devoted years to the study of classical and historical texts. This book takes as its aim "glossing characters, explicating lines, threading the whole chapter, simple single meanings, striving for clarity and fluency." It first uses an introduction to set out the basic approach to reading the poems, then proceeds poem by poem through the original text, the poem's purport, pronunciation glosses, word meanings, line-by-line exposition, examination of earlier commentaries, and literary appreciation, in a comprehensive and clearly layered format. Its value lies in both presenting divergences among earlier commentaries and offering judgments in plain, accessible language, so that readers are not overwhelmed by tedious textual scholarship and can still appreciate the beauty of poetic history. In three volumes, it serves both for continuous reading and for reference, and is suited as a desk companion to the Classic of Poetry. When reading, first read the introduction to establish a method, then proceed in the order of Airs, Odes, and Hymns; where interpretations diverge, consult the examination of earlier commentaries to grasp the approach to scholarship.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who wish to read the entire Classic of Poetry systematically and need per-poem annotations
Chinese literature students and learners in classical literature courses who need a reference commentary
Lovers of classical poetry who want to understand divergences in purport and earlier commentary
Primary and secondary Chinese teachers preparing lessons on selections from the Classic of Poetry and looking up glosses

Not a good fit for

Casual readers who want only famous selections from the Classic of Poetry, not a complete commentary
Readers who prefer light reading and lack patience for pronunciation glosses and word-meaning examination
Specialist researchers seeking the latest scholarship may find the book oriented toward concise popularization

Reading tips

Read the introduction in full first to grasp the author's advocated approach to reading, then proceed to specific poems.
Read through in the order of Airs, Odes, and Hymns, examining each poem's purport and line-by-line exposition before returning to the original text.
Where earlier commentaries diverge, form your own judgment first, then compare with the examination to weigh the merits.
Keep it on your desk as a reference, looking up pronunciation and word meanings by poem when teaching or writing.

About the publisher

Guangxi Normal University Press China · Founded in 1986

Guangxi Normal University Press is a publisher known for literature, foreign literature and history titles. Its 1,175 books in the database show a solid accumulation in classics and prose collections, including foreign literary works such as Les Fleurs du mal: Annotated Poems of Baudelaire, Snow Country, Dubliners and The Wild Palms, as well as modern prose compilations like The Complete Prose of Zhou Zuoren. History and philosophy also hold a notable share, with titles such as Running Dogs: Clerks and Runners in Qing County Yamen and The History and Thought of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom reflecting attention to Qing local administration and modern history. In art literature there is the 16-volume Ten Bamboo Studio Painting and Calligraphy Manual. Its author resources include foreign writers Charles Baudelaire and Yasunari Kawabata, translators and annotators Liu Nanqi and Zou Bo, and scholars such as Zhong Shuhe, Bradly W. Reed and You Chenjun. As public information is limited, this characterization is based only on the books in the database, which together present a profile balancing Chinese and foreign literary classics with academic works in the humanities and social sciences.

版权信息
诗经通释·风
诗从平易见艰辛——思忆静芝先生的国学教育
自叙
凡例
绪论
国风
周南
关雎
葛覃
卷耳
樛木
螽斯
桃夭
兔罝
芣苢
汉广
汝坟
麟之趾
召南
鹊巢
采蘩
草虫
采蘋
甘棠
行露
羔羊
殷其靁
摽有梅
小星
江有汜
野有死麕
何彼襛矣
驺虞
邶
柏舟
绿衣
燕燕
日月
终风
击鼓
凯风
雄雉
匏有苦叶
谷风
式微
旄丘
简兮
泉水
北门
北风
静女
新台
二子乘舟
鄘
柏舟
墙有茨
君子偕老
桑中
鹑之奔奔
定之方中
蝃蝀
相鼠
干旄
载驰
卫
淇奥
考槃
硕人
氓
竹竿
芄兰
河广
伯兮
有狐
木瓜
王
黍离
君子于役
君子阳阳
扬之水
中谷有蓷
兔爰
葛藟
采葛
大车
丘中有麻
郑
缁衣
将仲子
叔于田
大叔于田
清人
羔裘
遵大路
女曰鸡鸣
有女同车
山有扶苏
萚兮
狡童
褰裳
丰
东门之墠
风雨
子衿
扬之水
出其东门
野有蔓草
溱洧
齐
鸡鸣
还
著
东方之日
东方未明
南山
甫田
卢令
敝笱
载驱
猗嗟
魏
葛屦
汾沮洳
园有桃
陟岵
十亩之间
伐檀
硕鼠
唐
蟋蟀
山有枢
扬之水
椒聊
绸缪
杕杜
羔裘
鸨羽
无衣
有杕之杜
葛生
采苓
秦
车邻
驷驖
小戎
蒹葭
终南
黄鸟
晨风
无衣
渭阳
权舆
陈
宛丘
东门之枌
衡门
东门之池
东门之杨
墓门
防有鹊巢
月出
株林
泽陂
桧
羔裘
素冠
隰有苌楚
匪风
曹
蜉蝣
候人
鸤鸠
下泉
豳
七月
鸱鸮
东山
破斧
伐柯
九罭
狼跋
诗经通释·雅
雅
小雅
鹿鸣之什
鹿鸣
四牡
皇皇者华
常棣
伐木
天保
采薇
出车
杕杜
鱼丽
南有嘉鱼之什
南有嘉鱼
南山有台
蓼萧
湛露
彤弓
菁菁者莪
六月
采芑
车攻
吉日
鸿雁之什
鸿雁
庭燎
沔水
鹤鸣
祈父
白驹
黄鸟
我行其野
斯干
无羊
节南山之什
节南山
正月
十月之交
雨无正
小旻
小宛
小弁
巧言
何人斯
巷伯
谷风之什
谷风
蓼莪
大东
四月
北山
无将大车
小明
鼓钟
楚茨
信南山
甫田之什
甫田
大田
瞻彼洛矣
裳裳者华
桑扈
鸳鸯
頍弁
车舝
青蝇
宾之初筵
鱼藻之什
鱼藻
采菽
角弓
菀柳
都人士
采绿
黍苗
隰桑
白华
绵蛮
瓠叶
渐渐之石
苕之华
何草不黄
大雅
文王之什
文王
大明
绵
棫朴
旱麓
思齐
皇矣
灵台
下武
文王有声
生民之什
生民
行苇
既醉
凫鹥
假乐
公刘
泂酌
卷阿
民劳
板
荡之什
荡
抑
桑柔
云汉
崧高
烝民
韩奕
江汉
常武
瞻卬
召旻
诗经通释·颂
颂
周颂
清庙之什
清庙
维天之命
维清
烈文
天作
昊天有成命
我将
时迈
执竞
思文
臣工之什
臣工
噫嘻
振鹭
丰年
有瞽
潜
雝
载见
有客
武
闵予小子之什
闵予小子
访落
敬之
小毖
载芟
良耜
丝衣
酌
桓
赉
般
鲁颂
駉
有駜
泮水
閟宫
商颂
那
烈祖
玄鸟
长发
殷武

FAQ

Can readers without a foundation in classical Chinese understand this book?

Yes. The book provides pronunciation glosses, word meanings, and line-by-line exposition, and the introduction specifically explains the basic approach to reading the poems, striving for clarity and accessibility precisely to offer a gateway for beginners and self-learners. But the Classic of Poetry is ancient, and readers still need patience to read poem by poem; with pronunciation and glosses, unfamiliar characters and words can be worked through.

How does this book differ from ordinary annotated translations of the Classic of Poetry?

Besides the original text, pronunciation glosses, and word meanings, this book includes the poem's purport, line-by-line exposition, examination of earlier commentaries, and literary appreciation, with particular attention to presenting and analyzing divergences among earlier interpretations; it serves both for reference and for continuous reading, and its format is more comprehensive than ordinary brief annotations.

Must the three volumes be read in order?

No. The book is arranged by the poems of the Classic of Poetry; you may read through in the order of Airs, Odes, and Hymns, or look up individual poems as needed. For a first reading, it is still advisable to begin with the introduction and then proceed in order, to understand the author's annotation format and approach to reading.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

王静芝 Author

Wang Jingzhi is an author about whom limited public information is available. What is known is that four of her works are extant, all centered on the Classic of Poetry (Shijing): An Exegesis of the Classic of Poetry: Feng, An Exegesis of the Classic of Poetry: Ya, An Exegesis of the Classic of Poetry: Song, and the collected An Exegesis of the Classic of Poetry (3 volumes). This series follows the three divisions of the Shijing—feng, ya, and song—offering commentary and interpretation piece by piece, and belongs to the category of literary appreciation. Judging from the composition of these works, the author focuses on interpreting and appreciating the text of the Shijing, attending to both the structure of the sections and the poetic experience, making the series suitable for general readers and literature enthusiasts who wish to read this classic systematically. Although details of her life and nationality remain unclear, through this complete and clearly organized set of commentaries, Wang Jingzhi provides a relatively full reader for the popularization and appreciation of the Shijing, useful as an introductory reference for understanding its feng, ya, and song sections.