- Category
- Scripture Selections
- Claimed author
- Various Zhou dynasty authors; edited by Confucius
- Likely origin
- Multiple anonymous poets, Western Zhou dynasty (c. 11th–7th century BCE)
- Date
- c. 11th–6th century BCE (original composition); Legge translation 1871
- Language
- Classical Chinese
- Manuscripts
- Well-preserved; continuous textual tradition as one of the core Confucian classics; stone-engraved editions survive
- Accepted by
- One of the Five Confucian Classics (Wu Jing); attributed to compilation by Confucius
The Shih King (Book of Poetry) is one of the Five Confucian Classics, containing 305 odes including ritual hymns, dynastic praise songs, and folk poetry. This selection covers the Sacrificial Odes of Shang and Kau — liturgical hymns used in royal ancestral temple worship, representing the oldest stratum of preserved Chinese sacred ritual poetry.