| Introduction | p. 1 |
| Prehistory | p. 7 |
| The Spring and Autumn Period (770-475 B.C.) | p. 8 |
| In the Seventh Month (Shijing) | p. 11 |
| Rouse not the Dog (Shijing) | p. 17 |
| War-drum (Shijing) | p. 19 |
| Fluff-ball (Shijing) | p. 21 |
| Tuck up your Clothes (Shijing) | p. 23 |
| Tightly Bound (Shijing) | p. 25 |
| Winning Smiles (Shijing) | p. 27 |
| The Warring States (475-221 B.C.) | p. 30 |
| In the Beginning there was… (Qu Yuan) | p. 33 |
| The God of the Yellow River (Qu Yuan) | p. 35 |
| Lament for the Fall of Ying (Qu Yuan) | p. 39 |
| The Qin Dynasty (221 - 206 B.C.) | p. 42 |
| Encircled | p. 45 |
| The Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.) | p. 46 |
| Cartwheels (Anonymous) | p. 49 |
| Parting at Dawn (Anonymous) | p. 51 |
| Vultures (Anonymous) | p. 53 |
| Home-coming (Anonymous) | p. 55 |
| Even Hungry, I'll not Feed with Tigers (Anonymous) | p. 57 |
| Promise (Anonymous) | p. 59 |
| A Length of Silk (Anonymous) | p. 61 |
| The Building of the Great Wall | p. 63 |
| Eighteen Pieces for the Hujia | p. 67 |
| Wine! Let's Sing with it a Song | p. 71 |
| Wei, Jin and the Northern and Southern Dynasties (220-624 A.D.) | p. 74 |
| Beans and the Beanstalk | p. 77 |
| Overnight Stop at Longtou (Anonymous) | p. 79 |
| Dancing by the River (Anonymous) | p. 81 |
| Jujube (Anonymous) | p. 83 |
| The Well on Top of Mount Huayin (Anonymous) | p. 85 |
| Ballad of the Three Gorges (Anonymous) | p. 87 |
| Wordless | p. 89 |
| Resignation | p. 91 |
| A String my Zither Broke | p. 93 |
| The Tang Dynasty (624-907 A.D.) | p. 94 |
| The Distant View on Top … | p. 97 |
| Worship at Shrine of Master Kong | p. 101 |
| Taishan Peak | p. 103 |
| Down the River to Jiangling | p. 105 |
| Pastorale | p. 107 |
| Chance Encounter Afloat | p. 109 |
| A Parting Cup | p. 111 |
| Tonight We Feast | p. 113 |
| A Flask of Wine Alone among Flowers | p. 117 |
| Chariots Rumble | p. 119 |
| Hu is Emptied | p. 123 |
| Autumn Night in Frontier Land | p. 125 |
| Brief Encounter with a Cousin | p. 127 |
| Poor Old Liu Wenshu | p. 129 |
| Pick Your Flowers When in Bloom | p. 131 |
| O Shoo away that Nightingale | p. 133 |
| Wolves of the Manor | p. 135 |
| The First Emperor | p. 137 |
| The Bronze Man's Farewell | p. 139 |
| A Lost Paradise | p. 141 |
| Like Flower, but not a Flower | p. 145 |
| Mother | p. 147 |
| Invitation | p. 149 |
| Bashan's Rain | p. 151 |
| Water | p. 153 |
| Sunset | p. 155 |
| Green Hills | p. 157 |
| Untitled | p. 159 |
| A Parting Gift | p. 161 |
| Chrysanthemums | p. 163 |
| Song and its preceding Five Dynasties (907-1273 A.D.) | p. 164 |
| A Moonlike Vision | p. 167 |
| A Very Special Taste | p. 169 |
| Rouge-Tinted Wine | p. 171 |
| East Wind | p. 173 |
| She's Learned to Make the Pipa Cry | p. 175 |
| Where is Spring? | p. 177 |
| Wildgoose on a Snow-bound Field | p. 179 |
| Plum Blossoms in the Shade | p. 181 |
| White Ash | p. 183 |
| Where Brows and Eyes Entwine | p. 185 |
| Watch on a Lone Fortress | p. 189 |
| Cricket | p. 191 |
| Visions of Home | p. 193 |
| One Autumn Morning | p. 195 |
| Found on a Wall of Xiongzhou Station (Jiang Xingju's daughter) | p. 197 |
| The Festival of Lights | p. 199 |
| On Brown Heron Tower | p. 201 |
| O Sorrow, Why Dost Borrow | p. 203 |
| Roundoff | p. 204 |
| The March of the Volunteers (National Anthem) | p. 210 |
| This Festering Wound of History (unknown) | p. 212 |
| Dark Tears | p. 213 |
| Ambition of the Common Man | p. 214 |
| Timeline and Maps | p. 217 |
| Historical Sources, Original Poems | p. 227 |
| A Recital of the Poems | p. 243 |
| Captions of Illustrations | p. 245 |
| Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms | p. 249 |
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