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"Nine Regrets" () is the 11th of the 17 major sections of the ancient Chinese poetry collection ''
Chu ci The ''Chu Ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu'', ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period, ...
'', also known as ''The Songs of the South'' or ''The Songs of Chu''. The "Nine Regrets" consists of nine verses plus an
envoi Envoi or envoy in poetry is used to describe: * A short stanza at the end of a poem such as a ballad, used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem. * A dedicatory poem about sending the book o ...
(''luan''), each individually titled, written according to the
Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
literary revival style based upon the earlier (pre-Han) pieces in the ''Chu ci'' anthology. The "Nine Regrets" is one of the several collections of poems grouped under the title of "Nine" something-or-others, which do not necessarily consist of 9 pieces of poetry. ''Nine Regrets'' consists of nine main pieces plus a ''luan'', or
envoi Envoi or envoy in poetry is used to describe: * A short stanza at the end of a poem such as a ballad, used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem. * A dedicatory poem about sending the book o ...
(Hawkes, 2011 985 36-37 and 269–280). The "Nine Regrets" poems are attributed to the Shu poet Wang Bao () who flourished during the reign of Emperor Xuan (r. 74 BCE – BCE 49). (Hawkes, 2011 985 269–270)


Title

The Han era literary revival of the ''Chu ci'' style of poetry included the use of many historical allusions to the past events related to events which occurred during the existence of the Kingdom of Chu, which had been annexed by the
state of Qin Qin (, , or ''Ch'in'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. It is traditionally dated to 897 BC. The state of Qin originated from a reconquest of western lands that had previously been lost to the Xirong. Its location at ...
in BCE 223. These are events which are alluded to in the older ''Chu ci'' pieces, especially the '' Li Sao'', which included the relationship between the "loyal minister"
Qu Yuan Qu Yuan ( – 278 BC) was a Chinese poet and aristocrat in the State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the '' ...
who was "slandered at court", and thus, "lost the favor of his lord",
King Huai of Chu King Huai of Chu (), personal name Xiong Huai, was from 328 BC to 299 BC the king of the Chu state. King Huai succeeded his father, King Wei, who died in 329 BC. In 299 BC, King Huai was trapped and held hostage by King Zhao of Qin when he w ...
. The Chinese characters in the title of the "Nine Regrets", in their traditional form are 九懷. In modern Chinese the character 九 means the ''quantity'' of 9, whereas anciently 九 was used more symbolically, representing some ''quality'' of 9: in this case a reference to the older sections of the ''Chu ci'', such as the " Jiu Ge" (or, "Nine Songs"), which itself consists of 11 verses. The character 懷 may refer to ''huái'', meaning "regret"; but, it is also the
posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary Personal name, name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian cultural sphere, East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand. ...
used for King Huai of Chu (his given name, also Huai, was represented by the character 槐).


Verse form

The "Nine Regrets" poems are written in the ''Shijing'' song style; that is, quadruple meter, generally in rhyming quatrains.


Contents

The contents of ''Nine Regrets'' consist of nine main pieces plus a ''luan'' (
envoi Envoi or envoy in poetry is used to describe: * A short stanza at the end of a poem such as a ballad, used either to address an imagined or actual person or to comment on the preceding body of the poem. * A dedicatory poem about sending the book o ...
): *I Release from Worldly Contrivings (Kuang ji) *II A Road to Beyond (Tong lu) *III Dangerous Heights (Wei jun) *IV A Light on the World (Zhao shi) *V Honouring the Good (Zun jia) *VI Stored Blossoms (Xu ying) *VII Thoughts on Loyalty Bent (Si zhong) *VIII Raising Barriers (Tao yong) *IX Quenching the Light (Zhu zhao) *X Luan (envoi)


See also

*
Chuci The ''Chu Ci'', variously translated as ''Verses of Chu'', ''Songs of Chu'', or ''Elegies of Chu'', is an ancient anthology of Chinese poetry including works traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period, ...
*
List of Chuci contents This is a list of the sections and individual pieces contained within the ancient poetry anthology ''Chu Ci'' (), also known as ''Songs of the South'' or ''Songs of Chu'', which is an anthology of Classical Chinese poetry verse (poetry), verse tr ...
*
Qu Yuan Qu Yuan ( – 278 BC) was a Chinese poet and aristocrat in the State of Chu during the Warring States period. He is known for his patriotism and contributions to classical poetry and verses, especially through the poems of the '' ...


References

* Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011 985. Qu Yuan ''et al.'', ''The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets''. London: Penguin Books. {{Chinese poetry Chinese poems