The Songs of Chu associated with Qu Yuan draw on mythology, ritual traditions, and personal feeling, creating rhythms and imaginative worlds distinct from the Book of Songs.

Accounts of his life mainly come from later writings, and the authorship of some works remains debated. Traditions commemorating him at the Dragon Boat Festival also developed over many centuries.

Authorship and editing

Although Chu ci is an anthology of poems by many poets, Qu Yuan was its central figure, both as author of the Li Sao section and in the persona of protagonist. There are various other authors which are also thought to have written various sections of the Chu Ci, as well as some sections which may derive from some traditional source. Various scholarly sources propose solutions for who wrote what, in the Chu Ci, with more doubt or questions about some sections than others. Besides the actual authorship of the diverse material of the Chu Ci, another scholarly concern is in regard to the history of who and when these pieces were collected and anthologized into one work, and also what other editorial work was done.

Besides the authorship of the actual content, much commentary has been written in regard to the Chu Ci, some of which is traditionally incorporated into the printed editions.

Authorship

The traditional view of the Chu Ci, which went largely unchallenged until the 20th century, was that Qu Yuan wrote about half of the pieces in the Chu Ci, with the other half being ascribed to other poets associated with him or writing in his style. Modern scholars have devoted long studies to the question of the Chu Ci pieces' authorship, but there is no consensus on which may actually be by Qu Yuan himself.

Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian mentions five of Qu Yuan's works: Li Sao (or "Encountering Sorrow", "The Lament"), Tian Wen, Zhao Hun ("Summoning of the Soul"), Ai Ying ("Lament for Ying"), Huai Sha.

According to Wang Yi of the Eastern Han dynasty, a total of 25 works can be attributed to Qu Yuan: Li Sao, Jiu Ge (consisting of 11 pieces), Heavenly Questions (Tian Wen), Jiu Zhang (all 9 pieces), Yuan You, Pu Ju, and Yu Fu.

Wang Yi chose to attribute Zhao Hun to another contemporary of Qu Yuan, Song Yu; most modern scholars, however, consider Zhao Hun to be Qu Yuan's original work, whereas Yuan You, Pu Ju, and Yu Fu are believed to have been composed by others. Similarly, Wang's attribution of the Qijian to Dongfang Shuo is suspect.

Contents

The Chu Ci consists of seventeen main sections, in standard versions, with some accompanying commentary standard. Chu Ci begins with "Li Sao", a poem which assumes biographical material about Qu Yuan with his relationship with the person of King Huai, ruler of Chu. Critics historically often interpret the "Li Sao" as political allegory, yet religious and mythological aspects arise, which derive from the culture of Chu. The second section, in standard modern order, the "Jiu Ge", despite its title translating to "Nine songs", actually includes eleven discrete parts. These seem to represent some shamanistic dramatic practices of the Yangzi River valley area involving the invocation of divine beings and seeking their blessings by means of a process of courtship. "Heavenly Questions" ("Tian Wen"), also known as Questions to Heaven, addressed to Tian (or "Heaven"), consists of series of questions, 172 in all, in verse format.

The series of questions asked involves Chinese mythology and ancient Chinese religious beliefs. In general, the text of the Heavenly Questions asks questions; but, the text does not include answers, except, in some cases, in hints.

"Nine Pieces" ("Jiu Zhang") consists of nine pieces of poetry, one of which is the "Lament for Ying" ("Ai Ying"). Ying was the name of one of the traditional capital cities of Qu Yuan's homeland of Chu (eventually, Ying and Chu even became synonymous). However, both the city of Ying and the entire state of Chu itself experienced doom due to the expansion of the state of Qin, which ended up consolidating China at the expense of the other former independent states: including Qu Yuan's home state. "Jiu Zhang" includes a total of nine pieces.