Classic of Poetry

) appellation would not have been used until the Han dynasty, after the core Old Chinese period.|name="appellation"}} Traditional (middle), and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters |picupright=0.4 |t = |s = |w = Shih¹-ching¹ |p = Shījīng |mi = |wuu = Sy-chin |poj = Si-keng |j = Si¹-ging¹ |y = Sī-gīng |ci = |mc = /ɕɨ keŋ/ |oc-b92 = * |oc-bs = * |shinjitai = |kyujitai = 詩經 |hiragana = しきょう |romaji = Shikyō |vie = |hn = |hangul = 시경 |hanja = 詩經 |rr = Sigyeong |mr = Sigyŏng }}

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'' (; ''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 edited 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. Provided by Wikipedia