Millennia of voiced poetry The earliest "collection" of poetry, the Book of Songs, was simply a record of popular songs that had been circulating orally among the people for the 500 years between the early Chou dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period.
詩聲流傳幾千年中國最早的詩歌總集《詩經》，就是收錄周朝初年到春秋中期的五百年間，流傳在民間的歌謠，再以文字記錄下來而成書。