Chinese legends (chuán shuō 传说) reflect the dreams, history, and values of the Chinese people, and they link today with the past. Many of these tales are more than a thousand years old, but they are still popular today. In China, depictions of legendary characters are printed on greeting cards and calendars, carved on door and window frames, and painted on vases. Children learn these stories in school, and through comic books and cartoons. Legends are often the basis for plays and operas. The Moon Maiden (cháng é 嫦娥), Monkey King (měi hóu wáng 美猴王), and other characters advertise products on television.

History:
As the first collection of poems in china, The Book of Songs (shī jīng 诗经) recorded a total of 305 poems created over a period of 500 years or so, from the early Western Zhou Dynasty (xī zhōu 西周) (11th century BC-771BC) to the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period (chūn qiū shí qī  春秋时期). It was said that specific officials were appointed with a sole role of collecting poems among the mass. There was also a rule requiring officials to compose poems and present them to the emperor at that time. The anthology came into being after further compilation. According to the story, all the poems in The Book of Songs were lyrics of the ancient days.
At the very beginning, The Book of Songs was known as Poems (shī 诗) or Three Hundred Poems (shī sān bǎi 诗三百). The great thinker Confucius (kǒng zǐ 孔子) used it as a textbook to teach his disciples. It was named as The Book of Songs after the Han Dynasty (hàn cháo 汉朝).

History
Known as Poetry of the State of Chu, Chu Ci (chǔ cí 楚辞) was a new style of poetry emerged after The Book of Songs (shī jīng 诗经). It sprouted and blossomed in the State of Chu (chǔ guó 楚国) in south china in the 4th century BC.