Bu Ju (; ) is a short work anthologized in the

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, ...

(楚辭 ''Songs of Chu'', sometimes called ''The Songs of the South''). Although traditionally attributed to

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 '' ...

, there is little likelihood that he is the author. (Hawks 2011

985 Year 985 ( CMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Summer – Henry II (the Wrangler) is restored as duke of Bavaria by Empress Theophanu and her mother-in-law Adelaide at an ...

203) Rather, "Bu ju" is a biographical or pseudobiographical account of an incident in Qu Yuan's life, mostly in prose, but with a short, incidental verse ascribed to be a quote from Qu Yuan. The anecdotal story tells of how Qu Yuan visited a Great Diviner to resolve some of his moral dilemmas, by means of

plastromancy Oracle bones are pieces of ox scapula and turtle plastron which were used in pyromancya form of divinationduring the Late Shang period () in ancient China. ''Scapulimancy'' is the specific term if ox scapulae were used for the divination, ''plast ...

or by casting

yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Growing to tall, it is characterized by small whitish flowers, a tall stem of fernlike leaves, and a pungent odor. The plan ...

stalks. However, in the end the diviner excuses himself on the grounds that in a case such as this one, divination would be of no help.

References

* Hawkes, David, translator and introduction (2011

. Qu Yuan ''et al.'', ''The Songs of the South: An Ancient Chinese Anthology of Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets''. London: Penguin Books. *

Mingyuan Hu Mingyuan Hu is a British historian and publisher. Hu read Classics, Philosophy and Art History at the University of Glasgow and won the Herkless Prize in 2008. From the same university she received her PhD in Literary History. Between 2008 and ...

, translator (2024). ''Lament in Love: The Verses of Qu Yuan''. London: Hermits United. Chinese poems {{poem-stub

See also

References