The Shuyuan Poems from the Perspective of the Scenery and Society of Singapore and Malaya

Abstract

This article explores the themes in The Collection of Shuyuan’s Poems (菽园诗集) from the perspective of Singapore and Malaya. The Shuyuan Poems are a unique collection of poems about the scenery and society of Singapore and Malaya cover Southeast Asia’s climate, geographical environment, scenery, natural products, human society, and architecture. These themes are infrequent in classical Chinese poetry and mark the nascent stage of Malaysian Chinese literature, leaving behind impressions of the contemporary landscapes of Singapore and Malaya as the collective heritage of future generations.