A Study Referring To The Sacrificial Plants Imagery In The Book Of Songs

The studies referring to the imagery in The Book of Songs is large in number,of which the imagery of “sacrificial plants” is mentioned.However,with a history of less than one hundred years,the studies about the imagery in The Book of Songs are numerous and jumbled,mostly unsystematically scattered across these ancient books and records such as The Exegesis and the Name of Material Systems as well as The Poem Theory.Based on the current situation,this paper is trying to start from the sacrificial plants themselves,clarify its categories,determine its sacrificial roles find out its literary significance,and thus presenting the whole imagery of sacrificial plants in The Book of Songs.The first chapter defines the research categories and determines the plant species of the imagery of sacrificial plants in The Book of Songs.The research categories includes sacrificial poems,poems containing sacrificial elements in The Book of Songs,and various sacrificial activities involving plans,represented in The Rites of Zhou,YiLi,The Book of Rites.This part collects statistics on plants in The Book of Songs,points out each plant that is related to sacrificial activity and analyzes the different types,ratios and corresponding articles.The second chapter analyzes the sacrificial functions of sacrificial plants and explains the concept of Zhou Dynasty people reflected in these plants.Based on the categories defined in chapter one,this chapter analyze the scope of application and function of these sacrificial plants.Both the selection criteria of sacrificial plants and concept of Zhou Dynasty people are based on the analysis of the sacrificial plants' functions.The third chapter gives a systematical explanation of the literary imagery of the different sacrificial plants in the poem,and the classification standard remains consistent with the last two chapters.Starting with the sacrificial plants' functions,this part summarizes the roles of sacrificial plants as: representing characters,characters metaphor,symbolizing various regions,expressing thoughts,as the token of love and marriage,as the stimulants of banquet poetry,and so on.Through the statistics and analysis of the sacrificial plant imagery in The Book of Songs,this paper attempts to integrate the previous research findings and explore the literary rules of its occurrence.