"Nine Laments" () is one of the 17 major sections of the ancient Chinese poetry collection ''
Chu ci
The ''Chu ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu,'' ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period ...
'', also known as ''The Songs of the South'' or ''The Songs of Chu''. The "Nine Laments" consists of nine verses, each with an individual name, and each with a main part, paired with a concluding "lament". The "Nine Laments" is one of the several collections of poems grouped under the title of "Nine" something-or-others, which do not necessarily consist of 9 pieces of poetry. One of the older of them, ''
Jiu Ge
''Jiu Ge'', or ''Nine Songs'', () is an ancient set of poems. Together, these poems constitute one of the 17 sections of the poetry anthology which was published under the title of the ''Chuci'' (also known as the ''Songs of Chu'' or as the ''S ...
'' ("Nine Songs") consists of 11 individual pieces: "nine" in antiquity was often used as a synonym for "many", and in the context of the ''Chu ci'' generally refers to a musical arrangement with "nine" modal changes (Hawkes 2011
985 36-37). The "Nine Laments" poems are attributed to
Liu Xiang (Hawkes 2011
985 280-282).
Contents
''Nine Laments'' consists of nine individual pieces. Each of these pieces consists of a main section followed by a "Lament" section:
*1. 'Encountering Troubles'
*2. 'Leaving the World'
*3. 'Embittered Thoughts'
*4. 'Going Far Away'
*5. 'Lament for the Worthy'
*6. 'Saddened by Sufferings'
*7. 'Grieved by this Fate'
*8. 'Sighing for Olden Times'
*9. 'The Far-off Journey'
See also
*
List of Chuci contents
This is a list of the sections and individual pieces contained within the ancient poetry anthology ''Chu Ci'' (), also known as ''Songs of the South'' or ''Songs of Chu'', which is an anthology of Classical Chinese poetry verse traditionally attri ...
Sources
"Nine Laments" (九歎), text source, in Chinese
References
*
Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011
985. Qu Yuan ''et al.'', ''The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets''. London: Penguin Books.
{{Chinese poetry
Chinese poems