关雎

It opens 关关雎鸠，在河之洲。 'Guan guan cry the ospreys on the islet in the river', and the title is made of the first and third characters. The next couplet, 窈窕淑女，君子好逑, 'the fair and gentle maiden, a good match for a gentleman', is among the most quoted lines in Chinese. It belongs to the 周南 section of the Airs of the States.

孔子 praised it in the 论语 as 乐而不淫，哀而不伤, 'joyful but not wanton, sorrowful but not hurtful', and for centuries it was read as a lesson in moderate feeling as well as a love song.