.Anthropological Studies of The Book of Songs: The Everyday Meanings and Social Values of Actions[J].Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Social Science Edition),2026,66(03):126-138.
.Anthropological Studies of The Book of Songs: The Everyday Meanings and Social Values of Actions[J].Journal of Sun Yat-sen University(Social Science Edition),2026,66(03):126-138. DOI: 10.11714/jsysu.sse.202603014.
The collective body language formed by individual bodily expressions serves as a prism reflecting the state of social relations. From an anthropological perspective, the originality of
The Book of Songs
lies in its
rich vocabulary of actions, which vividly depicts daily life scenes in ancient China, reflects the behavioral characteristics of different social strata in ancient Chinese society, and bears authenticity. Among the five categories of actions—dancing, fishing, gathering, feasting, and warfare—dancing is the most vivid, while gathering is the most abundant. The daily nature and social stratification evident in
The Book of Songs
are the most striking among pre-Qin documents, and this uniqueness makes it one of the most valuable literary classics for research.