九歌

《九歌》是中国古代一部诗集，收录于《楚辞》。其中诗歌原为楚国民间祭神时演唱和表演用，屈原在其基础之上再行创作，形成一组带有“巫风”迎神、颂神、娱神、送神色彩的祭歌。

《九歌》相传是夏代乐歌，屈原根据所祭祀神灵不同，共写有十一篇，除《礼魂》为送神曲外，其余十篇每篇都主祭一神，《东皇太一》、《云中君》、《大司命》、《少司命》、《东君》五篇，是祭祀天神的；《河伯》、《山鬼》、《湘君》、《湘夫人》四篇是祭祀地祇的；《国殇》一篇，则是祭祀人鬼的。

马承骕归纳《九歌》之作有五说，宗教歌舞、屈原自祭之辞、记事之赋、汉甘泉寿宫歌诗。

Jiu Ge, or Nine Songs, (Chinese: 九歌; pinyin: Jiǔ Gē; lit. 'Nine Songs') is an ancient set of poems. Together, these poems constitute one of the 17 sections of the poetry anthology which was published under the title of the Chuci (also known as the Songs of Chu or as the Songs of the South). Despite the "Nine", in the title, the number of these poetic pieces actually consists of eleven separate songs, or elegies. This set of verses seems to be part of some rituals of the Yangzi River valley area (as well as a northern tradition or traditions) involving the invocation of divine beings and seeking their blessings by means of a process of courtship. Though the poetry consists of lyrics written for a performance, the lack of indications of who is supposed to be singing at any one time or whether some of the lines represent lines for a chorus makes an accurate reconstruction impossible. Nonetheless there are internal textual clues, for example indicating the use of costumes for the performers, and an extensive orchestra.

Authorship and dating

In common with other Chuci works, the authorship of these 11 poems has been attributed to the poet Qu Yuan, who lived over two-thousand years ago. Sinologist

David Hawkes finds evidence for this eclectic suite of eleven poems having been written by "a poet (or poets) at the Chu court in Shou-chun (241–223) B.C."

Text

The "Jiu Ge" songs include eleven (despite the "Nine" in the title). Nine of the verses are addressed to deities by a type of shaman, one to the spirits of fallen warriors who died fighting far from home, and the concluding verse. The reason for the discrepancy between the 9 verses referred to in the title and the fact that there are actually 11 is uncertain, although an important question, which has had several possible explanations put forth. Of these explanations, some may be rooted in general Chinese number magic or symbology. More specifically, David Hawkes points out that "nine songs" is referenced in the seminal Chu Ci work, Li Sao, referring to the nine (twice times nine?) dances of Qi of Xia.

Why nine?

Critics and scholars have elaborated various hypotheses as to why the Jiu Ge ("Nine Songs") consists of eleven songs, rather than nine. An obvious, and common, suggestion has been that Number 1 and Number 11 songs are somehow to be classified as an introduction and a luan: examination of Song 1 and Song 11 fails to support this convenient conjecture, however. Sinologists Masaru Aoki and David Hawkes propose that for performance purposes there were nine songs/dances performed at each a spring and at an autumn performance, with the spring performance featuring Songs 3 and 5, but not 4 or 6, and the autumnal performance 4 and 6, but not 3 or 5 (with the songs otherwise being performed in numerical order). Another explanation has to do with ancient ideas about numbers and numbering, where by the use of a numeric term, an order of magnitude, estimation, or other symbolic qualities are meant, rather than a specific quantity. 11 songs could be "about 9" songs.

List of contents

The following table shows the eleven individual poems of the Nine Songs. The English translations are following those of David Hawkes, although he uses Roman numerals for the traditional song order.

1. The Great Unity, God of the Eastern Sky (东皇太一; 東皇太一; Dong Huang Tai Yi)

2. The Lord within the Clouds (云中君; 雲中君; Yun Zhong Jun)

3. The God of the Xiang (湘君; Xiang Jun)

4. The Lady of the Xiang (湘夫人; Xiang Fu Ren)

5. The Greater Master of Fate (大司命; Da Si Ming)

6. The Lesser Master of Fate (少司命; Shao Si Ming)

7. The Lord of the East (东君; 東君; Dong Jun)

8. The River Earl (河伯; He Bo)

9. The Mountain Spirit (山鬼; Shan Gui)

10. Hymn to the Fallen (国殇; 國殤; Guo Shang)

11. Honouring the Dead (礼魂; 禮魂; Li Hun)

Illustrated versions

Illustrated versions of the Chuci exist. Below is a selection from the "Nine Songs":