The Book of Poems was a book of the poems and songs appearing between the early Zhou Dynasty and the middle of the Spring-Autumn

The Book of Poems was a book of the poems and songs appearing between the early Zhou Dynasty and the middle of the Spring-Autumn Period. It was collected around the sixth century B.C. Altogether the book contained three hundred and five poems. The whole book was divided into three sections: the Feng section, the Ya section and the Song section. The Feng section poems were the native songs of various states. The Ya section poems were music pieces in the territory of the Zhou kings. The Song poems were words to ghosts, and often with dances. The book has rich contents and knowledge, and academic values in various aspects.
    Many works in the Book of Poems reflected the actual social trends of that time via the aspirations and feelings of the writers and the singers. Many writers write in order to achieve their political purposes. In some poems, the writers questioned the king with a question—"The state is a mess. Why don’t you care?" All these poems contain political views in order to warn the rulers of the country at that time. They showed the realistic characteristics of the ancient Chinese literature.
    Besides its political purposes, the Book of Poems also reflected the joy and anger, happiness and sadness of the, ordinary people. The book wrote stories which described the hard life people lived at that time and expressed their hope for a good life. In this book, there were also many love poems. These poems described the joy of two lovers at daring, reflecting the pleasure and the beauty of nature. The book is always kept as a treasure in the ancient Chinese literature.