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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 XIV.

THE ODES OF TS‘ÂU.*

I. xiv. 1.

AGAINST FOPPERY.

• • O the butterflies’ wings!†
  • O the dresses so gay!
  • ’Tis a trouble to me;
  • To my home I’ll away.‡
• • O the butterflies’ wings!
  • O the ways they are dressed!
  • ’Tis but trouble to me;
  • I will homeward and rest.
• • See the chrysalids burst!
  • See the linen§ like snow!
  • ’Tis but trouble to me;
  • To my home let me go.

I. xiv. 2.

WORTHLESS DISPLAY AT THE COURT.*

• • Lo the convoy officers†
  • Lance and pike that bear!
  • Lo the striplings—hundreds three—
  • Scarlet greaves that wear!‡
• • —Pelicans upon a dam!
  • Wetting ne’er a wing.
  • Ah the striplings, ne’er is one
  • Worth his garnishing.
• • —Pelicans upon a dam,
  • Wetting ne’er a bill;
  • Ah the striplings, never one
  • Worth his lord’s goodwill!
• • O rank growth! O mists that climb§
  • The south hill at morn!
  • O the tender fair young wives∥
  • That are famine-worn!

I. xiv. 3.

PRAISE OF AN EXCELLENT RULER.

• • There in the mulberry-tree the dove*
  • Sits on,—seven young ones at her side.—
  • A virtuous man our Chief doth prove,
  • In action dignified,
  • So wholly dignified
  • As were he† bound thereto and tied.
• • Still in the mulberry-tree the dove
  • Sits on,—her brood to plum-trees flown.—
  • A virtuous man our Chief doth prove;
  • And by his silken zone,
  • Ay, by his silken zone,
  • And checkered bonnet, may be known.
• • In the mulberry-tree still bides the dove,
  • And now on thorn-trees are her brood.—
  • A virtuous man our Chief doth prove,—
  • Of faultless rectitude;
  • And by such rectitude
  • Is all his land reformed, renewed.
• • In the mulberry-tree still bides the dove;
  • Her brood in hazel copses stray.—
  • A virtuous man our Chief doth prove,
  • And points his folk the way,
  • The good, the better way;—
  • Why not for ever and for aye?‡

I. xiv. 4.

HARD TIMES IN TS‘ÂU—NO HELP FORTHCOMING AS FORMERLY FROM THE ROYAL CAPITAL OF CHOW.

• • O cold and chill yon fountain’s rill,*
  • That swamps the weed-beds on its brink.
  • Heigh-ho! I lie awake and sigh,
  • When of Chow’s capital I think.
• • O cold and chill the fountain’s rill,
  • That swamps the wormwood on each side.
  • Heigh-ho! I lie awake and sigh,
  • As on Chow-king† my thoughts abide.
• • Yea, cold and chill the fountain’s rill,
  • The milfoil it is swamping now.
  • Heigh-ho! I lie awake and sigh:
  • My thoughts are of the Court of Chow.
• • Once sprouting grain, like grassy plain,
  • Grew rich with fertilizing rain.
  • Each State around its Sovereign owned,
  • And in Siün’s Chief a refuge found‡

[* ]Ts‘âu was a small Earldom lying in the present province of Shan-tung. It was annexed to Sung in the fifth century bc

[† ]The insect (fau-yiu) in the original is a dung-fly, an ephemera,—otherwise called the dung-beetle, or tumble-dung. Fau-yiu literally means “floating—wandering.” Our “butterfly” suits the spirit and meaning of the piece. The fops were probably some persons of high standing at Court.

[‡ ]The last lines are generally held to be very puzzling. The above is a verbatim rendering, the “I’ll” only being added.

[§ ]Lit., “hempen clothes.”

[* ]Satire by some man of worth, who, along with a few others like himself, had been dismissed from office, and saw a number of useless and inexperienced men about the Court in their stead.

[† ]Officers employed to meet and to escort guests.

[‡ ]Servants about the Court. Only persons of high rank were entitled to wear the scarlet aprons.

[§ ]Our “mushroom-growth,” and “morning cloud that vanisheth.”

[∥ ]There is nothing to show whose wives are intended. They may be the neglected wives of those “striplings” in office, or the wives of men such as the writer who had no employment. The Chinese commentators say,—some, that they represent the worthy men themselves! some, that the people of the State are meant!

[* ]The turtle-dove. The number of her brood—seven—in the original is unnatural, but “seven” there makes a rhyme with the fourth line!

[† ]Lit., his heart bound, &c.

[‡ ]Lit., for 10,000 years.

[* ]The fountain points to the king, now not fostering, but chilling, his people.

[† ]Chow-king. King=capital, as in Pe-king, Nan-king.

[‡ ]The reference to the Chief of Siun is obscure. Probably, as is supposed by some, he was a sort of vice-roy, exercising anthority over a number of the States, and was tuined to in times of trouble.