poems,' and a collection of poems! This last is its meaning when we
speak of the Shih or the Shih King.

The earliest Chinese utterance that we have on the subject of poetry is
that in the Shu by the ancient Shun, when he said to his Minister of
Music, 'Poetry is the Expression of earnest thought, and singing, is the
prolonged utterance of that expression.' To the same effect is the
language of a Preface to the Shih, sometimes ascribed to Confucius and
certainly older than our Christian era: 'Poetry is the product of
earnest thought. Thought cherished in the mind becomes earnest; then
expressed in words, it becomes poetry. The feelings move inwardly, and
are embodied in words. When words are insufficient for them, recourse is
had to sighs and exclamations. When sighs and exclamations are
insufficient for them, recourse is had to the prolonged utterance of
song. When this again is insufficient, unconsciously the hands begin to
move and the feet to dance..... To set forth correctly the successes and
failures (of government), to affect Heaven and Earth, and to move
spiritual beings, there is no readier instrument than poetry.'

Rhyme, it may be added here, is a necessary accompaniment of poetry in
the estimation of the Chinese. Only in a very few pieces of the Shih is
it neglected.

The contents of the Shih.

2. The Shih King contains 305 Pieces and the titles of six others. The
most recent of them are assigned to the reign of king Ting of the Kau
dynasty, B.C. 606 to 586, and the oldest, forming a group of only five,
to the period of the Shang dynasty which preceded that of Kau, B.C. 1766
to 1123. Of those five, the latest piece should be referred to the