The Decade of the Large Field
Tags
Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Students of ancient literature studying the original text of the Minor Odes in the Book of Songs
- Readers interested in pre-Qin farming, feasting, and ritual culture
- Teachers and students needing the text of this poem group for teaching or research
Not a good fit for
- Readers expecting vernacular stories or a modern novel-like reading experience
- Beginners who prefer to read straight through without consulting annotations
Reading tips
- Group the ten poems by theme—farming, feasting, complaint and satire—and then compare changes in tone group by group.
- Choose two or three poems and read them aloud repeatedly, noting the pauses in four-character lines and the effect of repeated stanzas and refrains.
- Read alongside an annotated edition of the Book of Songs, first resolving the meanings of names and terms and then discussing the main purport of each poem.
About the publisher
Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 序
- 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
FAQ
What is the difference between the Decade of Futian and the Decade of Shengmin?
Is this book suitable as an introductory text to the Book of Songs?
Does the order of the poems in the decade affect understanding of the content?
Comments
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About the author
Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.
