"Sorrow for Troth Betrayed" () is one of the poems anthologized in the ancient Chinese poetry collection, the ''

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 ...

'', which together with the ''

Shijing 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, co ...

'' comprise the two major textual sources for

Classical Chinese poetry Classical Chinese poetry is traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese and typified by certain traditional forms, or modes; traditional genres; and connections with particular historical periods, such as the poetry of the Tang dyn ...

. The "Sorrow for Troth Betrayed" describes a shamanistic or

Daoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

type of flight over an area including the

axis mundi In astronomy, axis mundi is the Latin term for the axis of Earth between the celestial poles. In a geocentric coordinate system, this is the axis of rotation of the celestial sphere. Consequently, in ancient Greco-Roman astronomy, the '' ...

Bactria Bactria (; Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient region in Central Asia in Amu Darya's middle stream, stretching north of the Hindu Kush, west of the Pamirs and south of the Gissar range, covering the northern part of Afghanistan, southwe ...

, and the Middle Kingdom, during which the wise and virtuous narrator observes the evils rampant in the world with grief, concluding that in such a case that withdrawal from the world is the only valid option. The poem appears to have been preserved in a somewhat fragmentary form, with several lacunae. The authorship of the "Sorrow for Troth Betrayed" poem has been attributed to both

Qu Yuan Qu Yuan ( – 278 BCE) was a Chinese poet and politician in the Chu (state), State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to Classical Chinese poetry, classical poetry and verses, ...

(d. about BCE 278) and

Jia Yi Jia Yi (; c. 200169 BCE) was a Chinese essayist, poet and politician of the Western Han dynasty, best known as one of the earliest known writers of ''fu'' rhapsody and for his essay "Disquisition Finding Fault with Qin" (''Guò Qín Lùn'' ), wh ...

(d. BCE 168 or 169); but, based on internal evidence, ''Sorrow for Troth Betrayed'' appears to have been written by an anonymous author after the lifetimes of both Qu Yuan and Jia Yi. (Hawkes, 2011

985 Year 985 (Roman numerals, CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, Henry II (the Wrangler) is rest ...

239)

References

* Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011

. 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

See also

References