The hypothesis that this is somehow related to a shift to modernity was utterly undermined for me as soon as I learned about poems like the Li Sao[1], written 2

The hypothesis that this is somehow related to a shift to modernity was utterly undermined for me as soon as I learned about poems like the Li Sao[1], written 2000 years before the author claims that literature developed to allow people to decipher complex societies. The character clearly feels—it’s not the case that what we interpret as their feelings are actually just actions taken by gods: Nine fields of orchids at one time I grew, For melilot a hundred acres too, And fifty acres for the azalea bright, The rumex fragrant and the lichen white. I longed to see them yielding blossoms rare, And thought in season due the spoil to share. I did not grieve to see them die away, But grieved because midst weeds they did decay. No doubt a cursory search of ancient literature from other cultures will find similar examples. In the end this enduring myth seems to be flawed in the same way as the hypothesis that somehow a cabal of medieval rulers invented a couple centuries of time out of nowhere.[2] [1] http://www.lingshidao.cn/hanshi/quyuan.htm http://www.lingshidao.cn/hanshi/quyuan.htm [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_time_hypothesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_time_hypothesis