The Online Library of Liberty

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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 XIII.

THE ODES OF KWAI.*

I. xiii. 1.

A RULER FONDER OF HIS ROBES THAN OF HIS DUTY.

• • In the lambskin loitering at thy leisure!
  • In the foxfur seated in thy Court!†
  • How then should I take no thought about thee?‡
  • Ah, my thoughts are of the saddest sort!
• • In the lambskin wandering off at pleasure!
  • In the foxfur seated in thy Hall!
  • How then should I take no thought about thee?
  • Ah, with pain and grief I note it all.
• • Ay, the lambskin, as with unguent shining,
  • How it glistens in the morning sun!
  • Wherefore should I take no thought about thee?
  • Ah, my heart with sorrow is undone!

I. xiii. 2.

DECAY OF FILIAL PIETY SEEN IN THE DECAY OF MOURNING.*

• • O for a sight of the bonnet white,†
  • And the rigorous wearer, spare and slight!
  • Sore were my heart at the moving sight!
• • O for a sight of the plain white dress!
  • How my heart would feel for the fatherless!
  • Fain would I homeward with him press.
• • O that I saw the white apron worn!‡
  • How my heart would cling to the youth forlorn,
  • Ay, and as one with him would mourn!

I. xiii. 3.

CONTRASTS WITH NATURE.

• • See the goats’-peach grow on the wet land low,
  • With its branches supple and fair,
  • And the glossy sheen of its vernal green:—
  • Happy creature, of nought aware!
• • See the goats’-peach grow on the wet land low,
  • With its dainty delicate bloom,
  • And the glossy sheen of its vernal green:—
  • Happy thing, with no (ties of) home!
• • See the goats’-peach grow on the wet land low,
  • And the dainty fair fruit it bears,
  • And the glossy sheen of its vernal green:—
  • Happy thing, with no household (cares)!

I. xiii. 4.

LAMENT OVER THE DECAY OF CHOW.

• • O it is not the wild wind’s blast,
  • Nor sound of wheels that hurry past;
  • Reviewing but the ways of Chow,*
  • My heart is pained: I stand aghast.
• • O it is not the gale severe,
  • Nor yet the chariots’ wild career;
  • Reviewing but the ways of Chow,
  • My heart is filled with sorrow drear.
• • Who knows the art of cooking fish?
  • Cleansed are his pots that hold the same.†
  • Who seeks his homeland in the West?‡
  • Dear should he hold its honoured name.§

[* ]Kwai, like Ch‘in, was a small but ancient fief in the present province of Ho-nan, but about the eighth century bc it was incorporated with Ch‘ing. It lay between the rivers Tsin and Wai.

[† ]The lambskin was for wear in the ruler’s Court or hall at public receptions, &c.; and the foxfur robe only at the Court of the king.

[‡ ]The writer was evidently some officer of Kwai, justly offended at this irregularity and vain display.

[* ]The old custom had been that mourning for parents should be worn for three years. Now, evidently, the sight of it was rare.

[† ]White was then, as now, the colour of the mourning-dress. The white bonnet or cap was to be worn during the third year.

[‡ ]Knee-covers made of white leather.

[* ]In opposition to the view of Dr. Legge and Herr von Strauss, who follow Chu-Hi in his interpretation of this Ode, I prefer the simpler one of Mao, and translate tao—“ways,” “manners.” I inclined to do so in Odes 6 and 10 of Book VIII.; but there the word and context are equivocal.

[† ]So here I think Chu-Hi has beclouded the simple construction, although the terseness of the language allows of some variation in translating.

[‡ ]Western Chow, the capital which lay west of this State of Kwai.

[§ ]Probably the meaning of the whole verse is that purity and patriotism are synonymous.