Classic of Poetry

Classic of Poetry

The first song in the Classic of Poetry, handwritten by the Qianlong Emperor, with accompanying painting
Language	Old Chinese
Subject	Ancient Chinese poetry and song
Publication place	China

Classic of Poetry
"Classic of Poetry" in seal script (top),[a] Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	詩經
Simplified Chinese	诗经
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Shījīng Wade–Giles Shih1-ching1 IPA [ʂɻ̩́ tɕíŋ] Wu Romanization Sy-chin Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Sī-gīng Jyutping Si1-ging1 IPA [si˥ kɪŋ˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ Si-keng Middle Chinese Middle Chinese /ɕɨ keŋ/ Old Chinese Baxter (1992) *stjɨ (keng)[a] Baxter–Sagart (2014) *s.tə (k-lˤeng)[a]
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	Kinh Thi
Hán-Nôm	經詩
Korean name
Hangul	시경
Hanja	詩經
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Sigyeong McCune–Reischauer Sigyŏng
Japanese name
Hiragana	しきょう
Kyūjitai	詩經
Shinjitai	詩経
Transcriptions Romanization Shikyō

The Classic of Poetry, also Shijing or Shih-ching, translated variously as the Book of Songs, Book of Odes, or simply known as the Odes or Poetry (詩; Shī), is the oldest existing collection of Chinese poetry, comprising 305 works dating from the 11th to 7th centuries BC. It is one of the "Five Classics" traditionally said to have been compiled by Confucius, and has been studied and memorized by scholars in China and neighboring countries over two millennia. It is also a rich source of chengyu (four-character classical idioms) that are still a part of learned discourse and even everyday language in modern Chinese. Since the Qing dynasty, its rhyme patterns have also been analysed in the study of Old Chinese phonology.
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