This essay analyzes the poem The Origin of Our People that describes the birth of the Zhou dynasty and ancient China’s gender roles. The text addresses the issues of the men’s and women’s functions in ancient China, as well as the topic of childbirth. In the ode, the woman “presented a pure offering and sacrificed” to bear a child, and no one has regretted making such sacrifices ever since. In contrast, her grown son worked the fields of nature that had cared for him when his mother abandoned him. Readers can infer that the woman’s role in ancient China centered on childbirth, men were providers, and kids were precious.
Most importantly, however, is the fact that the poem tells the story of the Zhou dynasty’s origins. The conception of Hou-Ji is pure and divine, as well as miraculously painless. The scholars agree that the Zhou dynasty saw the ruler as the link between Heaven and Earth.4 The poet enforces this idea by describing the God-given miraculous childbirth. The poet also seems to be praising God, nature, and birth, and he is undoubtedly in awe of the great Hou-Ji. One can conclude that theology played an essential role in early ancient China.
It is vital for the poet and the reader that Hou-Ji works in agriculture when he grows up. Reportedly, Hou-Ji was the one to develop the agricultural sector of ancient China. Arguably, agriculture allowed Zhou aristocracy and nobility to maintain wealth and power. It seems that the poet realized the importance of agriculture and the role Hou-Ji played in shaping China’s economic and political systems at the time. Moreover, the ode is one of many verses to the ruler and the mythical origins of the ruling dynasty. Thus praising the God-appointed ruler was essential for ancient Chinese society.
Bibliography
Bentley, Jerry, Herbert Ziegler, and Heather Streets-Salter “Early Society in Mainland East Asia.” Chap. 5 in Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past, 90-107. New York, McGraw-Hill Education, 2006.
“The Origin of Our People” (n.d.). Web.
Tung Corrie. “God through the Book of Poetry: The Ancient Chinese and Their Loss of Theistic Faith.” PhD diss., Baylor University, 2018.