The Nine Songs

The Nine Songs were composed in the third century BC and have long been recognized by the Chinese as having Shamanic origins. They throw light on a form of religion widely spread throughout the Far East, as well as being of striking beauty as poetry. In this small book Arthur Waley has translated the poems with a commentary that tells of the various deities the Shamans served, and in an introduction he provides a general account of Shamanism in early China.