<P> The Chu Ci , variously translated as Verses of Chu or Songs of Chu , is an anthology of Chinese poetry traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period ( ended 221 BC ) , though about half of the poems seem to have been composed several centuries later , during the Han dynasty . The traditional version of the Chu Ci contains 17 major sections , anthologized with its current contents by Wang Yi , a 2nd - century AD librarian who served under Emperor Shun of Han . The early ( pre-Qin dynasty ) Classical Chinese poetry is mainly known through the two anthologies , the Chu Ci and the Shi Jing ( Classic of Poetry or Book of Songs ) . </P>
the collection known as the songs of chu consists of
Chinese poetry traditionally attributed mainly to Qu Yuan and Song Yu from the Warring States period ( ended 221 BC )