On Xiao Xu's Misinterpretation of the Two Poems being Called Nanandits Reasons

Xiao Xu is a very important part of Shi Jing interpreting system,which was thought highly of by generations of researchers.However,Xiao Xu's interpretation of Shi Jing,in particular of Guo Feng,is a misinterpretation of Shi Jing's original meaning.It is mostly due to its misinterpretation that Song scholars launched an attack on Xiao Xu.Through a comparison between the preface to Nan and the poetry original meaning,this article holds that Xiao Xu misinterpreted the two poems being called Nan.Nan was originally nothing more than some men and women love song poetry,wedding hymn,woman's missing her husband songs,worship songs and poems describing scenes of labor.However,Xiao Xu interpreted them as poetry praising King Wen,consorts and other people,and poetry praising consorts accounted for two-thirds of Nan.After a detailed analysis,this article holds that Nan has the color of maintaining Zhou patriarchal system and marked with a distinctive brand of the times.The misinterpretation of poetry original meaning made by the preface to Nan opened the prelude to Shi Jing's statecraft.