In spite of the raw passion of the poetry in the 3000-year-old Book of Songs, Neo-Confucian scholars of the Song dynasty stiffly read these love lyrics as encomiums on the virtuous qualities of royal consorts.
儘管三千年前詩經裡已有熱血沸騰、情思纏綿的愛情唱頌，然而宋朝理學家卻硬說，那都是歌詠后妃之德。