Diplomatic Protocol in the Spring & Autumn Period:The Principle of Citing Poems in Correspondence to their Original Meaning

From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the end of the Spring Autumn period,Fushi(expression through citation of poems) was carried out on major diplomatic occasions among feudal states,i.e.,circumferential expression by means of citing poetic lines,whereas the other party responded in similar manner.While one or a group of poems were used in earlier times,only a few lines were cited out of the context later.These poems were compiled by the court of the time for ritual use,thus there existed some variation in poems from different periods.However,a consistent basic rule was to cite poems in correspondence to their original meaning.Poems used in earlier times were those used by the Song of Heaven on royal events.By the end of the Spring and Autumn period,with the exception of Lu,all feudal states compiled their own poems,such as the Poems of Zheng and the Poems of Wei.When Confucius collated and edited these poems,they took shape in the Book of Songs as we have it today.