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Work #1144 · Early

The Book of Songs (Shijing)

Anonymous (traditionally attributed to Confucius as editor)
c. 1000-600 BCE (poems); c. 6th-5th c. BCE (compiled) · Classical Chinese
Poetry collection / Canonical anthology · Confucianism / Chinese classical canon

Confucian classic c. 1000-600 BCE — 305 odes traditionally compiled by Confucius

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute The Book of Songs (Shijing) (Early)
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Finite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Impersonal
Observer · Moral Authority Tradition
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

The Book of Songs (Shijing)

The c. 1000-600 BCE Western Zhou and Spring-and-Autumn historical periods.

Space

The Book of Songs (Shijing)

The various states of early-Zhou China.

Matter

The Book of Songs (Shijing)

The embodied communities — peasant, courtly, sacrificial — whose life the songs preserve.

Observer

The Book of Songs (Shijing)

The Confucian reader-singer as proper subject.

Energy

The Book of Songs (Shijing)

The emotional-communal-ceremonial energies of early-Zhou life.

Information

The Book of Songs (Shijing)

The 305 odes as poetic-historical content.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

The Book of Songs (Shijing)

The traditional attribution to Confucius as editor has been contested by modern critical scholarship; the Songs' compositional history remains a topic of scholarly debate. Foundational role for the Confucian canon is uncontested.