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• Introduction to the Shi King. *
• Part I.: Characteristics of the States.
• Book I.: The Odes of Chow and the South. *
• Book II.: The Odes of ShÂu and the South. *
• Book III.: The Odes of P‘ei.
• Book IV.: The Odes of Yung. *
• Book V.: The Odes of Wei.
• Book VI.: The Odes of the Royal Domain. *
• Book VII.: The Odes of Ch‘ing. *
• Book VIII.: The Odes of Ts‘i. *
• Book IX.: The Odes of Wei. *
• Book X.: The Odes of T‘ang. *
• Book XI.: The Odes of Ts‘in. *
• Book XII.: The Odes of Ch‘in. *
• Book XIII.: The Odes of Kwai. *
• Book XIV.: The Odes of Ts‘Âu. *
• Book XV.: The Odes of Pin. *
• Part II.: The Minor Festal Odes.
• Book I.
• Book II.
• Book III.
• Book IV.
• Book V.
• Book VI.
• Book VII.
• Book VIII.
• Part III.: The Greater Festal Odes.
• Book I.: The “wĂn Wong” Decade. *
• Book II.: The “shang Min” Decade.
• Book III.: The “tang” Decade.
• Part IV.: Festal Hymns and Songs.
• Book I.: The Hymns of Chow. * First Section.
• Book II.: The Hymns of Chow. Second Section.
• Book III.: The Hymns of Chow. Third Section.
• Book IV.: The Festal Songs of Lu. *
• Book V.: The Festal Odes of Shang.

BOOK II.

THE ODES OF SHÂU AND THE SOUTH.*

I. ii. 1.

THE WEDDING-JOURNEY OF A PRINCESS.

• • The magpie has a nest;
  • The dove yet takes possession.—
  • Lo! the young bride departs,
  • In many-wheeled procession.
• • The magpie has a nest;
  • The dove yet there will quarter.—
  • Lo! the young bride departs;
  • And countless cars escort her.†
• • The magpie has a nest;
  • The dove will fill it (quickly).—
  • Lo! the young bride departs,
  • With chariots mustered thickly.

ii. 2.

A REVERENT HELPMATE.*

• • There gathers she the fragrant herb†
  • Along the islets, by the pools,
  • To mingle with the votive gifts
  • Of him that o’er the princedom rules.
• • There gathers she the fragrant herb
  • Amid the mountain streams again,
  • To mingle with the votive gifts
  • Her prince will offer in the fane.
• • With head-gear all erect and high
  • Ere dawn the temple she attends;
  • With head-gear all uncared for now
  • Back to her place her way she wends.

I. ii. 3.

A LONG-ABSENT HUSBAND.

• • Now the crickets chirp and grind;‡
  • And the hoppers spring and fly.
  • But my lord not yet I find;
  • Ay, and sore at heart am I.
  • O to see him once again!
  • O to meet him once again!
  • Stilled were then the swelling sigh.
• • Climbed I yonder up South Hill,
  • Plucked sweet brackens as I went.
  • But my lord I saw not still;
  • Loud was yet my heart’s lament.
  • O to see him once again!
  • O to meet him once again!
  • So my heart were well content.
• • Climbed I yonder up South Hill,
  • Now to pluck the royal fern.
  • Yet my lord I saw not still;
  • Still my heart must pine and yearn.
  • O to see him once again!
  • O to meet him once again!
  • So my heart’s-ease might return.

I. ii. 4.

THE YOUNG WIFE’S ZEALOUS CARE IN THE WORSHIP OF HER HUSBAND’S ANCESTORS.

• • She goes to gather water-wort,
  • Beside the streams south of the hills;
  • She goes to gather water-grass
  • Along the swollen roadside rills;
• • Goes now to store her gathered herbs
  • In basket round, in basket square;
  • Goes now to seethe and simmer them
  • In tripod and in cauldron there;
• • Pours out libations of them all
  • Beneath the light within the Hall.—
  • And who is she—so occupied?
  • —Who, but (our lord’s) young pious bride?

I. ii. 5.

IN MEMORY OF A WORTHY CHIEFTAIN.

• • O pear-tree, with thy leafy shade!
  • Ne’er be thou cut, ne’er be thou laid;—
  • Once under thee Shâu’s chieftain stayed.
• • O pear-tree, with thy leafy crest,
  • Ne’er may they cut thee, ne’er molest;—
  • Shâu’s chief beneath thee once found rest.
• • O pear-tree, with thy leafy shroud,
  • Ne’er be those branches cut, nor bowed,
  • That shelter to Shâu’s chief allowed.

I. ii. 6.

THE RESISTED SUITOR.*

• • All soaking was the path with dew.
  • And was it not scarce daybreak, too?
  • I say: the path was drenched with dew.
• • Who says the sparrow has no horn?
  • How bores it then into my dwelling?
  • Who says of thee, thou art forlorn?*
  • Why then this forcing and compelling?
  • But force, compel me, do thy will:
  • Husband and wife we are not still.†
• • Who says of rats, they have no teeth?
  • How do they bore then through my wall?
  • Who says of thee, thou art forlorn?
  • Why force me then into this brawl?
  • But force me, sue me,—even so,
  • With thee I do not mean to go!

I. ii. 7.

DIGNITY AND ECONOMY OF KING WĂN’S COUNCILLORS.

• • Clad in lambskin or in sheepskin,
  • Five white silken seams that show,
  • To their meal from court retiring,
  • With what dignity they go!
• • Bare of wool,‡ the lamb or sheepskin
  • Five white sutures may reveal,
  • Still with dignity retire they
  • From their Master to their meal.
• • Though the skins, now rent in patches,
  • Five white silken seams require,
  • Still with dignity the wearers
  • To their meal from Court retire.

I. ii. 8.

THE LONELY WIFE.*

• • Hearken! there is thunder
  • On South Hill’s lofty crest.
  • Hence why must he wander,
  • Nor dare a moment rest?
  • True-hearted husband, fain, oh fain
  • Were I to see thee home again.
• • Hearken! now the thunder
  • Rolls lower on South Hill.
  • Hence why must he wander,
  • Nor ever dare be still?
  • True-hearted husband, fain, oh fain
  • Were I to have thee home again.
• • Hearken! now the thunder
  • Is down upon the plain.
  • Hence why must he wander,
  • Nor dare awhile remain?
  • True-hearted husband, fain, oh fain
  • Were I to find thee home again.

I. ii. 9.

FEARS OF MATURE MAIDENHOOD.

• • Though shaken be the damson-tree,
  • Left on it yet are seven, O.
  • Ye gentlemen who care for me,
  • Take chance while chance is given, O.
• • Though shaken be the damson-tree,
  • Yet three are still remaining, O.
  • Ye gentlemen who care for me,
  • Now, now; the time is waning, O.
• • Ah, shaken is the damson-tree,
  • And all are in the basket, O.
  • Ye gentlemen who care for me,
  • Your question—would ye ask it, O!

I. ii. 10.

CONTENTED CONCUBINES.

• • Starlets dim are yonder peeping,—
  • In the East are five, and three.
  • Softly, where our lord is (sleeping),
  • Soon or late by night go we.
  • Some have high, some low degree.*
• • Starlets dim are yonder peeping,—
  • Pleiades, Orion’s band.
  • Softly nightly go we creeping,
  • Quilt and coverlet in hand.
  • Some take high, some lower stand.

I. ii. 11.

JEALOUSY OVERCOME.*

• • The Kiang has arms that wayward wind.†
  • Our lady erst as bride
  • Our help declined,
  • Our help declined;—
  • Anon she was of other mind.
• • The Kiang has banks within its bed.†
  • Our lady erst as bride
  • Our presence fled,
  • Our presence fled;—
  • Anon a calmer life she led.
• • The Kiang has creeks that leave it long.†
  • Our lady erst as bride
  • Spurned all our throng,
  • Spurned all our throng;—
  • Her sneering now is turned to song.

I. ii. 12.

THE CUNNING HUNTER.‡

• • In the wild there lies a dead gazelle,
  • With the reed-grass round it wrapt;
  • And a maid who loveth springtide well
  • By a winsome youth is trapped.
• • In the wood thick undergrowth is found,
  • In the wild the dead gazelle,
  • With the reed-grass round its body bound;—
  • And the maid she looketh well.*
• • “Ah! gently, not so fast, good sir;
  • My kerchief, prithee, do not stir;
  • Nor rouse the barking of my cur.”

I. ii. 13.

A ROYAL WEDDING.

• • What radiant bloom is there!
  • Blossoms of cherry wild.
  • What care attends the equipage
  • Of her, the royal child!†
• • What radiance! Like the bloom
  • Of peach and plum in one!
  • Granddaughter of the Just King she,
  • He a true noble’s son.‡
• • How was the bait then laid?
  • ’Twas trimmed with silken twine.
  • He the true noble’s son (thus caught)
  • Her of the Just King’s line!

I. ii. 14.

THE TSOW YU.*

• • Out there where the reeds grow rank and tall,
  • One round he shoots, five wild boars fall.
  • Hail the Tsow Yu!
• • And there where the grass is waving high,
  • One round he shoots, five wild hogs die.
  • Hail the Tsow Yu!

Note.—Although this is one of the shortest and apparently most trivial of the Odes in the Book of Poetry, it is credited by the Chinese editors with as much meaning as the largest. It is regarded, like so many more, as illustrating the extent of the reformation brought about by King Wăn. Not only was the kingdom better ruled, society better regulated, and individuals more self-disciplined and improved in manners, but the reformation affected all things: vegetation flourished, game became most abundant, hunting was attended to at the right seasons, and the benign influence of the King was everywhere felt by the people. The poet thinks it is sufficient to dwell upon these last characteristics. Probably the lines were written after some royal hunt.

[* ]Shâu was a feudal State west of the Chow of last Book, and adjoining it. Both together were originally one district, known as K‘i-Chow. “The South” refers to the lands south of Shâu.

[† ]The cockney rhyme must be pardoned; the words are a literal rendering.

[* ]The Ode is said to illustrate the influence of the reforms of King Wăn. The wife of a feudal prince is here praised for her diligence in preparing for her husband’s offerings in the ancestral temple.

[† ]The white southernwood.

[‡ ]Different seasons of the year are thus poetically referred to in the opening lines of each verse. The ferns were edible ones.

[* ]Further illustrating the reformations made by King Wăn. The women by the new rules are able to protect themselves against forcible seizure and marriage. Dr. Legge thus cites the account given by an ancient writer of the origin of these lines: “A lady of Shin was promised in marriage to a man of Fung. The ceremonial offerings from his family, however, were not so complete as the rules required; and when he wished to meet her and convey her home, she and her friends refused to carry out the engagement. The other party brought the case to trial, and the lady made this Ode, asserting that while a single ceremony was not complied with, she would not allow herself to be forced from her parent’s house.” The language of the piece is, however, very difficult and obscure.

[* ]Wu kiâ, lit., “without home”, but the commentators twist it into meaning “without going through the rites of engagement and betrothal.”

[† ]Kiâ shih puh tsuh;—“kiâ shih” often stands for husband and wife, and “puh tsuh” (lit., not sufficient) may simply mean “not quite.”

[‡ ]These seem to be the meanings of kih and tsung, as variations from the p‘i, the woolly skin of the first stanza. The idea of the writer seems to be that, however faded and worn these garments were, they still retained and exhibited entire their dignity and self-respect.

[* ]The husband being constantly called forth for military expeditions, the wife is led to think of him by the occurrence of storms, to which he must be exposed.

[* ]Lit., “callings in life are various.” The ladies of the bed-chamber, or inferior wives,—quasi servants,—are here represented, like those in Book I. (Odes 1 and 4), as recognizing their position, and as being free from envy of the lady who occupies the rank of “first wife.”

[* ]The words are put into the mouths of some Prince’s concubines. The new wife was at first jealous of these, but afterwards, owing, it is said, to the example of T‘ai-sze in King Wăn’s household, she ceased to be so.

[† ]Helping words are used in the translation, to give more clearly the idea in these lines of separation and reunion.

[‡ ]Native expositors find here an instance of maidenly modesty and virtue (another result of Wăn’s beneficent rule); but who will take the concluding lines in this light?

[* ]Lit., like a jewel.

[† ]The name “Ki,” in the original, was the surname of the House of Chow.

[‡ ]This was doubtless the son of one of the feudal lords or princes. Such marriages tended to strengthen the union of the States and the throne.

[* ]Tsow Yu was the name of a fabulous beast resembling a tiger, supposed to appear only in the time of princes of rare benevolence and uprightness. There is a later explanation of the term, which makes it the name of a celebrated hunter; but the old view is more probably the right one.