At over 2,400 characters it is the longest poem of early China.
屈原, driven from the Chu court, tells of searching heaven and earth for a ruler who will listen, with fragrant plants standing for virtue. The title, often left untranslated as Li Sao, is usually read as 'encountering sorrow'. The poem gave
骚 its old sense of 'poetry': a poet is a
骚人, and
风骚, from the
国风 of the Book of Songs plus
离骚, meant literary excellence.
