Chuci Chuci
(Verse of the Chu State) is regarded as the ancestor of anthologies in Chinese literature. The earliest known edition of the anthology, in sixteen juan ("fascicles" or "volumes"), was recompiled by Liu Xiang (c. 77–6 BCE) from earlier sources; this edition was subsequently augmented to 17 juan with commentary by Wang Yi (c. 89–ca. 158). The Chuci buzhu (Subcommentary on Chuci) of Hong Xingzu (1019–1155), which incorporates Wang's commentary, is the most important edition.
Most of the Chuci poems were written during the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) in the style of folk songs of the southern state of Chu (in modern Hubei and Hunan Provinces). Performed in the Chu dialect and recording Chu culture and history, it presents a distinctive Chu style.
The anthology consists of individual poems and suites. The first and most representative work in the collection is the "Lisao" (Encountering Sorrow). This first-person, politically oriented poem in 187 couplets is one of the greatest, and longest, poems in Chinese literature; the Chuci style is often simply named, after this monumental poem, the "Sao" style. The anthology also includes shorter lyrical and narrative poems, dialogues, and hymns to local deities, most of which have traditionally been interpreted as allegories for the poet's frustrations.
The attribution of the Chuci poems is problematic. Qu Yuan (c. 343–290 BCE), a high official of Chu who was later slandered, estranged, and finally exiled, was long considered the author of "Lisao" and of most of the Chuci, and these works accordingly were read against the story of his political fortunes. Although this view is not clearly proven by the evidence, it has found sympathy from readers who see in Qu Yuan a patriotic hero, who, thwarted in his efforts to serve his king, ended his life by throwing himself into the Miluo River in northeast part of modern Hunan Province.
Further Reading
Hawkes, David, ed. and trans. (1985) The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets. New York: Penguin.
Schneider, Laurence A. (1980) A Madman of Ch'u: The Chinese Myth of Loyalty and Dissent. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
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