One explanation for the kingly way (圣王之迹) contained here is that it refers to the meritorious deeds performed by the monarchs of the Western Zhou Dynasty, when they sent their men among ordinary people to collect folk poetry and learn about local customs. Here, shi (诗) refers to The Book of Songs, or simply the verses created by the common people, as described in Mencius. The term sheds light on how literature relates to society as a whole. Mencius (372?- 289 BC) was an ardent proponent of the kingly way, by which he expressed his longing for a saintly society with its corresponding system of rites and music. As such an ideal waned, the era of thriving rites and music drew to a close. With a fundamental change in social institutions and political climate, The Book of Songs lost the appeal it had once enjoyed, and the chanting of poetry also went out of fashion. Works of poetry similar to The Book of Songs could emerge no more. In its place, The Spring and Autumn Annals, a historical work known for its use of subtle and guarded language in criticism, appeared. This suited the needs of the new social conditions characterized by chaos and disorder, and explains the marked difference between The Book of Songs and The Spring and Autumn Annals in both style and content. This view, held by Mencius, became the source of poetry-related-to-history criticism.

The Book of Songs lost its popularity as the kingly way declined. In its place emerged the chronological history book The Spring and Autumn Annals, full of subtleties and implications. Mencius

Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the kingly way and institutions of the Zhou Dynasty had fallen into decline. Kingdoms no longer exchanged visits or practiced poetry-swapping rituals. Those who formerly studied The Book of Songs dispersed among the common folk, and wise men fell out of favor; hence the emergence of narratives, in a writing style known as fu, which show their authors’ frustration and disappointment. The History of the Han Dynasty