Abstract: The goal of The Book of Odes,as a classic,is to convey Confucian thought. How to interpret the doctrine of Confucianism from poetic texts?In many cases,it is necessary to introduce historical facts as an intermediary link,thus forming the interpretive tradition of “invoking history to interpret classics” and the interpretive path of “from words to events,from events to doctrines” in the study of The Book of Odes. The relationship between classics and history provides the ideological basis for the interpretation of classics by invoking history which can be realized in the following ways:annotating the words of The Book of Odes as a historical element,making up the historical elements through the context of The Book of Odes,etc. The interpretation of classics by invoking history provides a characteristic interpretive paradigm for the interpretation of The Book of Odes,but the interaction and adaptation of poetry,history and classics make this paradigm to possess a preconceived and compulsory nature of interpretation.

Key words: exegesis, hermeneutics, The Book of Odes, Confucian classics, historiography