A Study of Views on Songs of Chu Held by Compilers of A Complete Library of Four Branches of Books

A Complete Library of Four Branches of Books has collected 25 entries of Songs of Chu. In their abstracts, the compilers affirm the great achievements of such songs and QU Yuan’s high status. Meanwhile, they oppose the proposition of treating them equally to Confucian books. They stress the interpretation of these songs with metaphorical and analogical ways and they hold the opinion of keeping the book’s original form and style and oppose any random deletion.