An Analysis on Bi and Xing in The Book of Songs.docx

1、An Analysis on Bi and Xing in The Book of Songs Understanding Chinese ClassicsThesis：An Analysis on “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs College： The College of Foreign Language Major： English Name：Fu Jiajia Class Number: 09090305 Lecturer： Jiang Yujiao Co-Lecturers: Time： 2013-12-26 Scores: Content

2、sAbstract ii1. Introduction 11.1 Introduction about The Book of Songs 11.2 Introduction about female images in The Book of Songs 12. The definition of “Bi” and “Xing” 22.1 The definition of “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs 23. The features of “Bi” and “Xing” 43.1 The features of “Bi” in The Book

3、 of Songs 33.2 The features of “Xing” in The Book of Songs 34. Functions of “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs 45. Conclusions 5Works Cited 6An Analysis on “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of SongsFu JiajiaAbstract: The Book of Songs is the first collection poem in the history of ancient China, which i

4、s a brilliant starting point of Chinese history of poetry. The book displays the historic scene between Shang Dynasty and Spring and Autumn Period from all aspects of multi-angle and multi-level. “Fu”(赋), “Bi”(比) and “Xing”(兴) are three major techniques of expression in TheBook of Songs. Over the ag

5、es, scholars have done lots of researches on “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs, mainly from the perspective of literature including rhetoric and image. Only a few scholars have analyzed them from the cognitive point of view, without a unified conclusion. This study verifies the feasibility and ap

6、plicability of cognitive metaphor theory in understanding concepts, and reveals the cognitive significance of “Bi” and “Xing” in The Book of Songs.Key words: The Book of Songs, “Bi”, “Xing”1. Introduction1.1 Introduction about The Book of SongsThe Book of Songs (Shijing), is the oldest poetry anthol

7、ogy, as well as the oldest schoolbook in China. It plays a most important role in establishing and maintaining the Chinese traditional culture. Meanwhile, it is also one of the earliest collections of poems in the world. It contains Chinese poems of the Zhou Dynasty written from the 11th century B.C

8、. to the 6th century B.C. The poems written during this period added up to over 3000, from which Confucius selected 305 to compile this anthology and gave it the name of“Shijing” instead of its original ones Shi(Poems) and Shi Sanbai (Three Hundred Poems) (Chen Zizhan & Du Yuecun, 1990: 9). The Book

9、 of Songs is also called Maoshi (Mao Poems) because it was the contribution of Mao Heng of the Han Dynasty who worked hard on the annotation to the poems to pass it down to nowadays.The poems in The Book of Songs are said to be sung as songs, which is also the reason why it is translated as “The Boo

10、k of Songs” in English. Based on the tunes they were sung by, the poems were classified into three categories, namely, Feng (Ballads), Ya (Festal Odes), and Song (Sacrificial Songs). Feng are regional songs composed in the fifteen small kingdoms (they are: Zhounan, Shaonan, Bei, Yong, Wei, Wang, Zhe

11、ng, Qi, Wei, Tang, Qin, Chen, Hui, Cao and Bin) existing at that time, 160 poems in total (ibid: 10). Most of the poems in Feng are folk songs from along the Yellow River, written in a simple and natural style, reflecting the real life of the common people in different regions, such as their daily w

12、ork and jobs, their joys and love, their sadness and hardship, and so on. Only a few of them are works of the nobles. Ya can be divided into two parts: minor odes and major odes.Among the 74 minor odes, some are songs to be sung at the noblemens banquets or sacrificial rituals, some are poems by men

13、 of letters to vent their malcontented feelings and a few of them are folk songs. Major odes are poems reflecting the political reality and events of the West Zhou Dynasty, 31 poems in all. The poems in Ya are basically written by the nobles. Song is also divided geographically into three parts, inc

14、luding 31 poems of Zhou, 4 of Lu and 5 of Shang. These 40 poems are mainly sacrificial hymns and songs chiefly serve to glorify the great ancestors in the courts of Zhou, Lu and Shang and inspire their descendants to worship them as gods.1.2 Introduction about“Bi”, “Xing”“Fu”, “Bi”, “Xing” are the t

15、hree important literary techniques in the production of the poetry in The Book of Songs, and also have a profound influence on the creation of literary works in the following generations (Xu Yuanchong, 2009: 4-5). “Fu”, the most basic technique of expression, refers to the technique of straight narr

16、ation and description (ibid:4). For instance, in“死生契阔，与子成说。执子之手，与子偕老”(“Meet or part, live or die; we made oath, you and I. When can our hands we hold and live till we grow old” tr. Xu Yuanchong) from “Complaint of a Soldier” (邶风击鼓), the author expresses his or her feelings and emotions directly. “Bi” refers to the technique of making comparison between different things, including simile and metaphor (ibid: