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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 VIII.

THE ODES OF TS‘I.*

I. viii. 1.

THE GOOD WIFE EARLY WAKES HER LORD.

• • “The cock has already crowed!
  • And crowds in thy Court are found.”
  • —“Nay, that was no crowing of cocks;
  • ’Twas the blue flies humming round.”
• • “The daylight is in the East!
  • All gay is thy Court, so soon.”
  • —“Nay, that is no daylight there;
  • ’Tis the light of the rising moon.”
• • “Ah, with murmur of insects around,
  • ’Twere sweet to lie dreaming here with thee;
  • But the folks there gathered may go;
  • And let none think scorn of thee and me.”

I. viii. 2.

THE CONCEITED SPORTSMEN.*

• • O the master is sharp as you will!
  • Once he met with me as he crossed the Nau Hill,
  • And as neck by neck our two boars we chased,
  • He bowed, and he praised my skill!
• • O the master, he knoweth the knack!
  • Once he met with me on the Nau Hill track,
  • And as neck by neck our two beasts we chased,
  • He bowed, and called me a “crack”!
• • O the master’s the man to ride!
  • Once he met with me upon Nau’s south side,
  • And as neck by neck our two wolves we chased,
  • He bowed, and “good man!” he cried.

I. viii. 3.

THE COMING OF THE BRIDEGROOM.

• • At the gate awaits me now, screened from sight, hi-ho!
  • One with tassels† o’er his ears all of white, hi-ho!
  • And adorned with coloured gems, gleaming bright, hi-ho!
• • Now he waits me in the court, past the screen, hi-ho!
  • And the tassels o’er his ears are of green,‡ hi-ho!
  • And his jewels have a lustre rarely seen, hi-ho!
• • In the hall he waits me last (now more bold), hi-ho!
  • And the tassels o’er his ears are of gold, hi-ho!
  • And his jewels—they are brilliant to behold, hi-ho!

I. viii. 4.

THE WINSOME VISITOR.*

• • O with the morning sun
  • Is yonder winsome one
  • At my abode,
  • At my abode,
  • And follows at my heels anon!†
• • O with the rising moon
  • Is yonder winsome one
  • Within my door,
  • Within my door,
  • And follows at my heels full soon!†

I. viii. 5.

AN UNTIMELY SUMMONS.‡

• • Or e’er in the East the daylight grows
  • All topsy-turvy I don my clothes;
  • And topsy-turvy they now must be:
  • A summons is here from my lord for me!
• • Or e’er in the East a ray has shone
  • All upside down are my garments on;
  • And upside down they will have to be:
  • An order is here from my lord for me!
• • A garden hedge, though of willows slight,
  • E’en reckless fellows will fear to climb;—
  • But they who cannot tell dark from light*
  • Will, if not before, be behind the time.

I. viii. 6.

CRIMINAL RELATIONSHIPS.†

• • Perched high upon the South Hill’s rocks,
  • There lonely musing sits the fox.
  • Ah, long’s the way to Lu!
  • That way Ts‘i’s daughter went, a bride,
  • And having once gone there a bride,
  • Why crave for her anew?
• • In pairs they make all‡ fibre-shoes,
  • And bonnet-strings are worn by twos!
  • Ah, long’s the way to Lu!
  • Ts‘i’s child that way has journeyed o’er,
  • And since her journey now is o’er,
  • Why still her steps pursue?
• • As when a field of hemp you’d grow,
  • You plough and crossplough ere you sow,
  • So when you take a wife;
  • The parents first must needs be told,
  • But when the parents have been told,
  • Why lead such reckless life?*
• • In cleaving firewood first you need
  • An axe, or vainly you proceed.
  • So when a wife you wed,—
  • Without a go-between ’tis vain;
  • But why, when so the wife you gain,
  • To such extremes be led?*

I. viii. 7.

SEEK NOT TO BE A MAN BEFORE THY TIME.

• • Broad fields plant not,
  • Where thrive most the weeds;
  • Man’s years† want not,
  • To heartaches it leads.
• • Broad fields plant not,
  • Or weeds will prevail;
  • Man’s years want not,
  • For grief ’twill entail.
• • Sweet, ay, and pretty,
  • The twin tufts of hair!
  • Soon, ah the pity,
  • The cap will be there!‡

I. viii. 8.

THE HOUNDS AND THE HUNTSMAN.

• • “Clink-clink” goes hound with hound.
  • A gallant, generous master they have found.
• • There go they, leashed in pairs.*
  • A gallant master, and a manly,† theirs.
• • Now run they three and three.‡
  • A gallant master, and a brave,† is he.

I. viii. 9.

WĂN-KIANG’S BOLD ESCAPADES TO TS‘I.§

• • Rent is the fish-trap at the weir,
  • Where bream and sturgeon crowd.
  • Ts‘i’s daughter seeks her former home,—
  • Her escort like a cloud.
• • No more the fish-trap at the weir
  • Can roach or bream retain.
  • Ts‘i’s child comes back,—and onward sweeps
  • Her escort like the rain.
• • It fails—the fish-trap at the weir:
  • In—out—the fishes gleam.
  • Ts‘i’s child comes back,—and onward flows
  • Her escort like a stream.

I. viii. 10.

HER SHAMELESS MEETINGS WITH DUKE SIANG.

• • On flies her car,—with wicker blinds,
  • And leather mounts vermilion dyed.
  • The way from Lu takes long to go;
  • Ts‘i’s daughter leaves at eventide.
• • Proudly the four black coursers speed,
  • As the long flowing reins are eased.
  • The way from Lu takes long to go;
  • Ts‘i’s daughter is triumphant, pleased.
• • Full flow the waters of the Wan,
  • And travellers in troops appear.
  • The way from Lu takes long to go;
  • Ts’i’s child maintains her proud career.
• • The waters of the Wan roll on;
  • More travellers the highway throng.
  • The way from Lu takes long to go;
  • Ts‘i’s daughter heedless hies along.

I. viii. 11.

LAMENTFUL PRAISE OF DUKE CHANG OF LU.*

• • What pity! and a man so fine!
  • Erect and tall, straight as a line!
  • What graces in his looks combine!
  • What fire is in those glancing eyen!
  • In every movement how divine!
  • And as an archer doth he shine.
• • What pity! praised by every one!
  • Brighter than those fine eyes be none!
  • Perfectly all his acts are done.
  • Before the disc, till sinks the sun,
  • Never a shot but centre won!
  • Ay, none mistakes Our Sister’s Son!
• • What pity! and so winsome he!
  • What countenance more fair to see?
  • Who’ll dance a dance so gracefully?
  • Who’ll shoot a shaft so sure as he?
  • Where enters one, there follow three!
  • Born queller, sure, of anarchy!

[* ]Ts‘i was one of the first and greatest of the feudal States of Chow. It lay between the Yellow River and the Sea, in the modern province of Shan-tung.

[* ]A satire on the hunters of Ts‘i in general. The writer represents one as unable to praise another without praising himself.

[† ]Silken strings depending from the head-dress over the ears, and strung with gems.

[‡ ]The variations of colour seem only introduced to vary the rhymes; or it may be that as the lover approached nearer more of his jowels became visible.

[* ]This piece is said by all to illustrate the licentious intercourse of the men and women of Ts‘i, and their disregard of all rules of propriety; and the visitor is taken to mean the lady. But the original is ambiguous, and I have therefore preserved the ambiguity in the translation. The visitor may be either male or female (ch‘u che): the same expression is used of a male in I. iv. 9.

[† ]I take tseih and fa adverbially.

[‡ ]A satire on the disorder and irregularity of the Court of Ts‘i.

[* ]Or, cannot keep count of the hours of night. As the garden hedge marks off private property, so the dawn of day is the boundary line between working and non-working hours.

[† ]Said to be directed—the first two stanzas—against the Duke Siang of Ts‘i, and the last two against Duke Hwan of Lu. Duke Siang loved a princess of his own family named Wăn-Kiang, though married to Duke Hwan. She reciprocated his love, and persuaded her husband to accompany her on a visit to Ts‘i, during which visit he was murdered by Siang. The piece was evidently composed before this climax was reached. Date about bc 700.

[‡ ]“The five (kinds of).” More freely we might translate,—

• “Pairs we may find for everything,
• From fibre-shoe to bonnet-string.”

[* ]Complaint against Hwan’s carelessness with regard to his wife.

[† ]The usual interpretation is a historical one, and this line is taken quite literally, “Do not think of people far away,” referring, it is thought, to Duke Siang’s ambition; but is it not more in keeping with the last stanza to translate sze yün jên as wanting to be a man—to overleap the distance in time?

[‡ ]There was a ceremony of capping when the youth arrived at maturity.

[* ]Lit., with a second ring.

[† ]Chu-Hi’s explanation of these words, as “full-whiskered,” and “full-bearded,” make the piece ridiculous.

[‡ ]Lit., with two rings attached to a third.

[§ ]After the murder of her husband (see on Ode 6), the lady continues her unlawful visits to Ts‘i, unrestrained by her son, Duke Chwang. His power over her was no better than that of a broken fish-trap over the fish.

[* ]In true Chinese fashion the complaint against him is not openly expressed. The fault bewailed in the opening exclamation in every verse was his weakness in not restraining the lawless conduct of his mother already referred to. See note on Ode 9.