Abstract: The "orality" of The Book of Songs is manifested to varying degrees in the stages of composition, communication and dissemination. The fact that poems contain colloquial elements, descriptions of spoken activities, and formulaic expressions does not mean that the poems originated from oral composition. In the Banquet Poems, the combined use of "analogy and evocative image" (比兴) with "stanzaic repetition" (重章) allowed poets or singers to compose impromptu poems based on the on-site situation, which best reflects the "orality" in the composition stage. During the "wu suan yue"(无算乐)in ancient rituals, there was no fixed form for singing. Singers could improvise and select verses to sing according to the ritual specifications, the duration of the performance, and the mood of the hosts and guests. The practice of "quoting poems out of context for specific purposes"(赋诗断章取义)originated from this custom. Both phenomena embody the "orality" of The Book of Songs in its communication stage: the text was relatively open and fluid, and those who sang or quoted the poems enjoyed a high degree of autonomy and flexibility. As the practice of quoting from The Book of Songs-originally embedded in ritual and musical performance-evolved into a purely discursive activity, quoters invariably invoked the text′s canonical nature for authority. They intentionally interpreted and shaped the stability and authority of the text and its meanings, resulting in a significant reduction in the manifestation of "orality". When The Book of Songs was transmitted, taught, transcribed, and copied across different times, spaces, mediums, and groups, it gradually became a relatively closed and finalized work. Although oral forms were still involved and there were many variant characters caused by homophones, the "orality"-with its situational dependence and derivative functions-gradually faded away. Fundamentally, the "orality" of The Book of Songs is a question of whether the acting agent or the text itself possesses greater agency. Its decline was a process of detachment from music and contextualization, as well as a process in which the text and its meaning became increasingly stabilized and authoritative. This marked a crucial step in the early canonization of The Book of Songs.

Key words: The Book of Songs, orality, ritual, performance, canonization