《鲁颂》作为 《诗经》的重要组成部分，有着重要的研究价值。《鲁颂》四篇均是颂鲁僖公之诗，产生于僖公在位期间。《泮水》当产生于僖十七年僖公从淮之盟回国之时，《閟宫》当产生于僖公十七年后，其余两篇尚无法落实具体的创作时间。

      对于 《鲁颂》的主旨，四篇均是僖公祭祀燕享时的乐诗，符合 “以其成功告于神明”的颂诗要求。《駉》是僖公祭祀马祖时的颂祷之辞，而所行祭马祖之礼很有可能是 “执驹”礼。《有駜》是僖公为祈丰年而燕饮群臣之诗，有可能是在行大饮烝这一飨礼后，君臣所行的燕礼，饮酒跳舞，祈求年年丰收。《泮水》是僖公征伐淮夷取胜后，在泮宫举行饮至礼的颂诗。《閟宫》是僖公为营建宫室而举行祭祀仪式的颂诗，包括郊祭以告天，社祭以告地，庙祭以告祖先。

    对于鲁国能够作 《颂》的原因，其一是周王室对鲁僖公复兴周礼的肯定。《鲁颂》四篇祭祀燕享的乐歌，并且所行的祭祀都是西周时期的重要祭礼，如饮至礼、营建宫室而行的告天地和祖先的祭祀礼于周初就已存在；西周时期重要的 “执驹”礼和辟雍制度于春秋时期衰微。而这些都在僖公时期得以复兴，并且僖公在祭祀燕饮仪式过程中，严格遵照礼制要求。在春秋王室衰微、礼乐崩坏的大势下，周王室已难以独立扛起维护周礼的大旗，在秩序上需要齐桓公以“尊王”的名义维持，而在礼制上需要周公之后鲁国维持，此时的鲁君僖公利用鲁国特殊的礼乐地位，抓住时机，扛起复兴周礼的大旗。这也正为周王室所需要。故文公命季孙行父请命于周时，僖公行周朝祭祀之礼的颂诗为周室所认同。

      其二是僖公能够抓住时机争霸权。《泮水》和 《閟宫》两篇为颂武功之诗，但明确颂僖公之功绩的其实只有淮夷之功。僖公十六年十二月淮之盟，主导盟会的齐桓公很快离开，而鲁国却并没有离开盟会。齐国霸权在此时已由盛转衰，僖公抓住时机，将淮之盟的主导权从齐国手中转移到鲁国手中，并取得了征伐之功。正是在这样的背景下，《泮水》《閟宫》应运而生。

     《鲁颂》之所以颂时王，从历史原因看得益于西周以来祭祀 “颂”诗性质的演变。西周初期的“颂”虽用于告天祭祖祭祀，但与之相配合的还有颂功、垂诫之歌。前者为《颂》，后者多为 《雅》。因此尚能在周初的 《雅》以及个别 《颂》诗中看到在天命佑周下颂先王、时王之功绩。而到了西周中期，随着人们对天命观认识以及唱颂者身份的变化，《颂》诗中出现更多对时王功绩的称颂和祈愿祝寿。祭祀乐歌之外又出现了燕享乐歌。而到了诸侯争霸的春秋时期，对时王文治武功的称颂尤为突出，而 “颂”之因的告天祭祖往往成为颂诗的背景。由此，也就能理解 《鲁颂》虽是为祭祀而作的 《颂》，何以出现大量颂时王之辞。

    《鲁颂》虽作于鲁僖公在位时，但只是作为鲁人颂鲁僖公的庙堂乐诗，流播于鲁国内部。直到孔子整理 《诗》时将 《鲁颂》入 《诗》。其原因一在于春秋时期礼乐崩坏的大势下，对鲁国复兴周礼的肯定和需要。其二在于将其纳入收徒教材的 《诗》，让弟子认识乡土诗作及鲁国历史传统。鲁国之所以没有鲁风的原因是对鲁国作为周公之后特殊地位的优待，不仅表现在可以使用天子礼乐，还被免去了向周王室献诗之责。但也造成了鲁诗无法在各诸侯国广泛流传，以及今天鲁诗不存的遗憾，仅四篇 《鲁颂》因孔子整理入 《诗》得以保存下来。

  As one of eulogies,Lu hymn serves as an important part of theBook of Songs.It istrue and clear that all four chapters ofLu hymn are the poems to eulogies and praise Duke Xi of Lu,and these chapters should come out during Duke Xi’s term.The Chapter of Pan shui was written at the 17th year ofDukeXi ofLu’sterm.The Chapter ofBigong waswritten at the 17th yearslater of Duke Xi of Lu’s term.There is little irrefutable and authentic evidence to tell concrete compositiontimeoftheother twochapters.

     As for the theme ofLu hymn ,the four chaptersrecorded thereligious sacrifice and banquet offerd by Duke Xi of Lu. They were all created to serve the sacrificial rites and meet the requirements of the Zhou Dynasty of “informing the gods and ancestors with his success”.Chapter Jiong isaprayer for the“Zhiju”.Chapter Youbirecorded abanquetbetween Duke Xi of Lu and his ministers and officials after the harvest. .Chapter You bi recorded a triumphal ceremony celebrating the defeat of the Yi tribe in the Pan Palace. Chapter Bi gong recorded sacrifices were made to the god,to the earth, and to the ancestors for celebrating the completion oftheJongmyo.

     Next, we explored the reasons why Lu State was able to write hymn that could only be written by emperors. The first reason is that Duke Xi of Lu followed the ancient Ritual and music system of Zhou Dynasty,which was affirmed by the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty. The four chapters recorded the sacrifices,which were all important ancient Ritual and music system of The Western Zhou Dynasty.For example, the ritual of venerating ancestors for winning a battle,and the sacrifices were made to the god,to the earth, and to the ancestors for celebrating the completion of the palace and Jongmyo had already existed in the reign of King Wu in the early Zhou Dynasty. The sacrifices for the “Zhi ju” was popular in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, disappeared after the late Western Zhou Dynasty. The important ritual building harmony “Be yong” disappeared in the Spring and Autumn Period.However, Duke Xi of Lu revived these rituals in Lu State, and he strictly followed the rules of etiquette in the process.Duringthe Spring andAutumn Period,when the imperialpower oftheking ofZhou was declining andthe system ofrites andmusicwere breaking down,it was difficult for king ofZhou to independently carry the banner of maintaining the rites of Zhou. In order, Duke Huan of Qi had tomaintain therites in thename ofrespecting theking,while the descendants oftheking of Zhou hadmaintainedtheritual system.At that time,DukeXi ofLu took advantage ofthe special status of rites and music of the State of Lu to seize the opportunity,which was exactly what the king of Zhou needed.Therefore, when Duke Wen of Lu ordered Ji Sun to ask the Zhou emperor forpermission,theZhou emperor agreedtotheLuhymn fromtheDukeXiofLu era.

  The second reason is that Duke Xi of Lu was able to seize the moment to contend for hegemony.Among the four chapters of Lu Hymn, Chapter Pan shui and Chapter Bi gong recorded and praised the martial achievements of the monarch,while only the exploits of Duke Xi ofLu against theHuaiYiwere included in the content.In December ofthe 16th year ofDuke Xi of Lu, Duke Huan of Qi called on vassals to participate in an alliance meeting in Huai.However,DukeHuan ofQi,whowasin chargeofthealliance, soon left,but DukeXiofLu did not.At that time, the hegemony of the State of Qi had shifted from prosperity to decline. Duke Xi of Lu seized the opportunity to transfer the dominant power of the alliance from Qi to Lu and achieved the merit of war. It was against this background that the chapter Pan shui and chapterBigong wasemerged.

     Thereason why Lu hymn eulogized thereigning monarch wasthe result ofthe evolution of sacrificial hymns since the Western Zhou Dynasty. Although the hymns of the early Western Zhou Dynasty werewritten only to offer sacrificesto God and ancestors,they were accompanied by hymnsofpraise for achievementsand commandments.Therefore,we can still see some ofthe praises of the previous king under the theme of God bless the Zhou Dynasty in the hymns of early Zhou Dynasty.However, in the middle of the Western Zhou Dynasty, with the change of people's understanding of the concept of destiny and the identity of the writers of hymns, there appeared more powerful praises and good wishes to the ruling monarch in the eulogy. At the same time, in addition to the hymns written for sacrifice, there appeared hymns written for banquets. In the Spring and Autumn Period, in the context of the vanguals’ struggle for supremacy,thepraise oftherulingmonarch,especially theconqueringmartial arts,becamemore prominent, and the original theme of offering sacrifices to the ancestors often became the background of the hymns. Therefore, we can understand why there are a large number of sentenceseulogizingtherulingmonarch althoughLuhymnwaswritten for sacrifice.

     four chapters of Lu Hymn are the poems to eulogies and praise Duke Xi of Lu,and these chapters should come out during Duke Xi’s term.But they were hymns used by praising Duke Xi,and they were only circulated within Lu until Confucius composed the Book of Songs to include  Lu Hymn in it. The first reason was that with the collapse of rites and music in the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius thought it was necessary to praise the revival of rites in the State of Lu.The second reason was to include them in the the Book of Songs for studentsto learn about localpoems andthehistorical traditions ofthe State of Lu.Thereason why therewas no Feng Poem in the State of Lu was the preferential treatment to the special status of the State of Lu as King of Zhou,which not only allowed the State of Lu to use the rites and music of the King Zhou, but also exempted the State of Lu from the obligation of writing poems to Zhou. However, it also resulted in the fact that Lu poems could not be widely circulated in various vassal states andthat most ofLu poemsdidnot exist today.Only four chaptersofLuHymn were

preserved.