Sources of Ancient Poetry

Gushi Yuan (The Source of Ancient Poetry) is a comprehensive anthology of poetry from antiquity to the Sui dynasty, compiled by the Qing scholar Shen Deqian to trace the origins of Tang poetry. Placed alongside the Complete Tang Poems, it may be called a "pre-Tang history of poetry," systematically outlining the development of poetry from the pre-Qin period to the Sui. Shen Deqian, known for his "theory of style and tone," selected poems with an emphasis on the gentle and sincere poetic teachings and on the origins and transformations of poetry; this makes Gushi Yuan not only a poetry anthology but also a classic selection embodying Qing dynasty poetics. The book includes a wealth of plain ancient ballads, the essence of the Book of Songs and the Songs of Chu, Han-Wei yuefu and ancient poems, and famous works of the Six Dynasties. Many widely recited pieces, such as the Nineteen Old Poems, "Song of Mulan," and "Song of Chile," are included. For modern readers, reading Gushi Yuan is a profound journey toward understanding the spiritual origins of Chinese poetry. It strips away the overly polished rhetoric of later ages and reaches directly to the sincere emotion and vitality of poetry at its birth—whether the work songs of early people or the impassioned songs of noble-minded figures, all radiate a raw and moving power. This edition from Harbin Publishing House is usually presented in simplified horizontal typesetting with appropriate annotations, balancing scholarship and readability. It is not a daunting academic work but a key that opens the first door to the glorious hall of Chinese literature. Reading it allows us, before savoring "moonlight before my bed," to first hear the echo of "guan-guan, cry the ospreys," and to build a more complete and more fundamental aesthetic coordinate system for poetry.