Chu Ci

Chu Ci (traditional Chinese: 楚辭; simplified Chinese: 楚辞; pinyin: chǔ cí; Wade-Giles: Ch'u Tz'u), also known as Verses of Chu, Songs of Chu or Songs of the South, is an anthology of Chinese poetry traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States Period (ended 221 BC), though about half of the poems seem to have been composed several centuries later, during the Han Dynasty. The traditional version of the Chu Ci contains 17 major sections, anthologized with its current contents by Wang Yi (Chinese: 王逸), a 2nd century AD librarian who served under Emperor Shun of Han. The Chu Ci and the more well-known Shi Jing together constitute the classics of pre-Qin dynasty Chinese verse.