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Chuci 楚辞 and Poetry of the South by Qu Yuan 屈原

Qu Yuan 屈原(d. 278 BC) was a high minister at the Warring States time court of the king of Chu 楚, proposing him reforms in government and an alliance with other states to encounter the power of the neighboring state of Qin 秦. When the king did not follow his advises and was taken a prisoner by Qin, Qu Yuan wrote "Sorrow after department" Li Sao 离骚, a kind of autobiography. The disappointed poet drowned himself in the Dongting lake after the king of Chu died in his prison far from home. People offered rice balls to his soul, and during the mid autumn moon festival, rice balls (zongzi 粽子) are still a popular meal. Other poems that are ascribed to Qu Yuan are the Nine Songs (Jiu Ge 九歌), the Nine Elegies (Jiu Zhang 九章), "Asking Heaven" (Tian Wen 天问) and some more. The particular style of this poetry gave it the name "Poetry of Chu (the most southern state of that period)" Chu Ci 楚辞. It is different from the northern poetry styles both in verse (the verse divider xi 兮, a particle expressing sighing) and in content. The northern literature is much more plain of feelings, while the poems in the southern state of Chu are full of sentiment and even mystical visions. Qu Yuan is guided on his horse chart to a heaven far from the human world. His evokings of the Goddess of the river is an example of shamanism widespread in the southern religion. Southern poetry later became very popular among Taoists that also saw man as a mere small being the cosm and nature.

有关楚辞的英文网络资源：

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Scenes Illustrating Melodies from the Chu Ci

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Ancient Poems: The Songs of the South (Chinese-English)

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