The Book of Poetry is the earliest collection of poetry in China, and the poems contained in it stretch from the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, reflecting all aspects of social life at that time. Because of the long time, the things described in the Book of Poetry still have traces and names that can be compared, and it is likely that only mountains, rivers and plants are left. They are not only relatively constant natural objects, shaping the life form of a place, but also participating in shaping the spiritual world and cultural core of a place.
A few days ago, the Life, Reading, and Xinzhi Triptych Bookstore launched the book "Geography of the Book of Poetry", which mainly tells the topics of mountains, water and plants related to the Book of Poetry, taking the classic document of the Book of Poetry as a clue, taking the geographical elements mentioned in it as the entry point, combining the history of the pre-Qin era with the documentary records, and at the same time constantly switching lenses, from history to reality, reflecting on history from reality, vividly showing the theme of "Poetry Geography".
Things change like floating clouds, but mountains and water are constant natural objects that can be found and perceived. Mountains, rivers, and plants have become the three veins that we have sorted out for the geography of the Book of Poetry today, like a skeleton, setting up the main structure of the Geography of the Book of Poetry. As Qiu Lian, the author of this book, said: "What is unchanged in ancient and modern times, there are human feelings, and there are also rivers." ”
The whole book is based on the text of the Book of Poetry, the objects chosen are the mountains, water, and plants in the Book of Poetry, and the method of methodological support is to visit. For the choice of destination, the creative team has an important criterion, not to choose a simple landscape geography, they value the place where there is humanistic life in history and the present, and the scope of discovery is determined by people's way of living, economy and geography. In the end, in the mountains described in the Book of Poetry, Shouyang Mountain, Taishan, Wanqiu, Zhongnan Mountain and Suizao Corridor were selected, while the rivers were selected as Qishui, Hanshui, Weishui, Wenshui and Fenhe.
The author Zeng Yan wrote: "We hope that in the relationship between the ancestors and nature, after opening the countless layers of time, we can get close to discovering a little bit of the genetic code of Chinese culture; through the analysis of sites, the excavation of historical materials, and more importantly, through the field visits in reality, the cultural history and life history that occur around mountains and rivers will be opened layer by layer." ”
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhang Zhiyi
Editor/Cui Wei