The article presents a survey of the so-called noun-verb transitions – which are traditionally labeled as huóyòng or “live usage” – in the Shījīng, and touches upon the more general issue of word-class flexibility in old varieties of Chinese. It is based on a theoretical platform elaborated in my previous study, which itself drew on the corpus of Classical Chinese prose. An application of the theory on the Shījīng thus constitutes an extension of this material by reference to data from Pre-Classical poetry, which enables us to observe both similarities and possible differences between the two periods and styles of the language. Instances of well-established patterns are summarized in a list and supplemented by a brief commentary; much space is, on the other hand, dedicated to less predictable derivations, which deserve closer attention and call for a more detailed investigation. Special attention is paid also to the role of metaphor and metonymy in the respective processes. The analysis reveals the complexity and fine-grained stratification of the phenomenon at issue, tests and proves the usefulness of the system of interpretative instruments proposed earlier, and invites further exploration in relation to the role and distribution of noun-verb huóyòng in this canonical book.