Major Themes in "The Book of Songs"

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Analyzing “The Book Of Songs”
Introduction
"The Book of Songs" is a classical Chinese literature that has covered many topics about the ancient Chinese customs and the way of life. The book has a collection of poems that address different issues in the various Chinese Dynasties. Compiling the book has been instrumental in educating people interested in Chinese history about the education, marriage rule, and thinking of the Chinese people. Several themes have been addressed in the book ranging from family, sexuality, loyalty, and political control. However, one of the common themes that have been found in most of the writing has been loyalty and the importance of social cohesion. The conservatism of the Chinese people is also common in most of the texts in "The book of Songs."
Loyalty, marriage, gender role, and the rule of the Kings are major themes that have been addressed in "The book of Songs."
Analyzing "The Book Of Songs"
 Several themes are found in "The book of songs." Love, loyalty, and the role of women and men in society. The poem "Ich am of Irlande" has highlighted the theme of desire, love, companionship, and loyalty without using crude language that may cause embarrassment(Waley and Allen 9). The wife wakes up in the morning and finds out that the husband is still asleep. Although he does not want to wake up, she reminds him that it is down and that it is his responsibility to go out and fend for the family. "The morning star is shining. You mus be out and abroad, must shot the wild duck and geese" (Waley and Allen 11). The ancient Chines were made up of hierarchical structures with each person being aware of their duty. The women stayed at home to take care of the children and to cook for the family. The husbands went out to look for food for their families.
Despite the traditional nature of Chines society, the women could still be romantic and express what they wanted to their husbands. When women are outside the home, they are timid. However, the poem "Ich am of Irlande" shows how brave the women are in matters of sexuality when they are alone with their husbands. "And when I have dressed them, we will drink wine, and I will be yours till we are old" (Waley and Allen 11). The pet is careful to use language that is not offensive or has obscenity when addressing romance.
The theme of supernatural power and the nobility has also been extensively discussed in "The Book of Songs" The people in ancient China, like in the time of the Shang Dynasty, believed in the existence of the supernatural being. The kings and the nobles were people that God chose. However, they were reminded of how easy it was for the gods to take away their power. "Heavens can not be trusted, Kingdom is easily lost. Heavens set up a foe to match the Ying" (Waley and Allen 15). According to the Kings, it was the duty of the people to respect the will of the ruler. The people were supposed to respect the King because he was not in power because of his choice. It is the will of the gods that the individuals should rule over the people.
 The Kings in the ancient Chinese Dynasties used these beliefs to keep their people in check. The use of military power was not always enou...