ABSTRACT
Poetry which treats political and social issues has a longer history in China than practically any other genre, the Classic of Poetry having been read as a commentary upon the political life of the late Shang and early Zhou dynasties ever since the time of the Sage himself. 1 The poems of the second great anthology of ancient verse, the Songs of Chu (Cbuci 楚辭,) were also interpreted as political allegory, and by the Western Han dynasty authors such as Sima Xiangru were writing vast prose-poems that criticized the emperor for extravagance and other faults. 2 During the long period of political disunity following the Eastern Han, Cao Zhi, and Ruan Ji created highly allusive, allegorical sbi that attacked the many abuses of the contemporary political system. 3
