《孟子·离娄章句下·第二十一节》
孟子说： 先王们的事迹都失传了，《诗经》也没有了，《诗经》没有了以后，才有《春秋》一书的出现。
孟子曰： 王者之迹熄，而诗亡，诗亡然后春秋作。
Mencius said: The events of the previous kings are all lost to time, and the Book of Songs is now unavailable. When the Book of Songs was lost, the Book of Spring and Autumn came into being.