Relationship between poetry, etiquette to be explored

The culture of poetry and etiquette has tremendous space for study and further interpretation, said Han Jingtai, a professor of Chinese literature from Beijing Language and Culture University, at a recent forum on poetry and etiquette. The Zhou people combined poetry and etiquette in the early Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BCE), and later, ordinary people began to receive education on poetry, etiquette and music when private schools emerged in the late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BCE), said Shao Bingjun, director of the Center on the Culture of Poetry and Etiquette. As access to education expanded from the aristocracy to the general public, the tradition of poetry and etiquette also became integrated into the daily lives of ordinary people, he said. The passing down of the principles of poetry and etiquette as a family tradition thus became a significant means of preserving cultural legacies, he added.