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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) PART III.: THE GREATER FESTAL ODES. - The Shi King, the Old Poetry Classic of the Chinese
PART III.: THE GREATER FESTAL ODES. - Misc (Confucian School), The Shi King, the Old “Poetry Classic” of the Chinese [1891]Edition used:The Shi King, the Old “Poetry Classic” of the Chinese. A Close Metrical Translation, with Annotations by William Jennings (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1891).
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PART III.
THE GREATER FESTAL ODES.
BOOK I.
THE “WĂN WONG” DECADE.
III. i. 1.
KING WĂN, THE FOUNDER AND EXAMPLE OF THE LINE OF CHOW.
-
- King Wăn is now on high. And oh
- What glory his in Heaven!
- Old be the land of Chow, yet thence
- New calls (to rule) are given.
- Chow’s Lords, are they not shining lights?
- God’s calls, are they not timely?
- King Wăn, there at God’s either hand,
- Moveth about sublimely.
-
- King Wăn was vigorous and strong;
- His fame is aye unending.
- Chow’s Heaven-sent gifts are still upon
- King Wăn’s sons’ sons descending,—
- King Wăn’s sons’ sons, in stock and branch,—
- To countless generations.
- Chow’s Servants, too, shall these not all
- For aye adorn their stations?
-
- For aye adorn their stations,—yea,
- In counsel wisdom heeding;
- For king-like is each minister
- The Royal State is breeding!
- The Royal State can breed the men
- Chow’s House to build on surely;
- To such an ample ministry
- King Wăn may trust securely!
-
- Profound, profound was he, King Wăn;
- In reverence aye transcendent!
- Great was Heaven’s call! The House of Shang,
- To each far-off descendant,—
- To each far-off descendant,—yea,
- In force ten myriads,—vaster,—
- When that decree of God went forth,
- Acknowledged Chow its Master.
-
- Acknowledged Chow: ah! Providence
- Hath diverse dispensations:—
- Yin’s Chiefs, the able and expert,
- Aid at our Court’s libations!
- And this, still in the broidered skirt
- And cap they erst affected.
- O ye about the throne, let ne’er
- Your Founder be neglected!
-
- Your Founder be neglected,—no,
- But cultivate his merit;
- Aye make the will of Heaven your own;
- So blessings great inherit!
- Yin, ere it lost its men, had kings
- Meet to be linked with Heaven;
- In Yin ’tis mirorred well, how with
- Great calls great tasks are given.
-
- Great calls, great tasks.—Ah be not thou
- Thyself thine own undoing!
- Shine forth in righteous character,
- Yin’s fall from Heaven oft viewing.
- The operations of High Heaven
- Are odourless, are soundless!
- For rule and pattern take King Wăn:
- Thy credit will be boundless.
III. i. 2.
FURTHER EULOGY OF KING WĂN.
-
- Beams of brightness here beneath:
- Gleams of glory there on high!
- Heaven makes hard demands on faith;
- Kings are kings not easily.
- Yin had heirs to fill the throne:
- They were doomed no realm to own!
-
- Jen, the second Maid of Chi,
- From the Yin-shang country came,
- Came, a bride for Chow to be,—
- Chow’s chief city’s chiefest Dame.
- She, the consort of King Ki,
- To the paths of virtue clave.
- T‘ai-jen—mother (soon) was she;
- Then to us our Wăn she gave.
-
- This was he, that royal Wăn,
- Who, with reverent zeal imbued,
- Gloriously served God, and won
- Manifold beatitude.
- Since his virtue never veered,
- All the land to him adhered.
-
- Heaven looked down upon the earth;
- On King Wăn its summons lit.
- Heaven for him, soon after birth,
- Had prepared a consort fit.
- O’er the Hia’s north watershed,
- On the Wai’s declivity.
- When King Wăn prepared to wed,
- There in that great land was she.
-
- There in that great land was she,
- Like a goddess from on high.—
- Lucky proved the augury;
- And he met her by the Wai.
- Bridge of boats for her he made;
- Was not splendour there displayed?
-
- ’T was an ordinance of Heaven,
- Thus ordained that our King Wăn
- To Chow’s capital be given.—
- Jen’s successor was from San:
- She, San’s eldest, was that bride:
- Blessed, at length, to bear King Wu,
- Your Preserver, Helper, Guide,—
- Who, as such, great Shang o’erthrew.
-
- As a forest, stood combined
- The battalions of Yin-shang,
- On the wilds of Muh aligned.
- As upon that host we sprang,
- “God is with you!” [cried King Wu]
- “No half-heartedness with you!”
-
- Flashed the cars of sandal-wood
- O’er those boundless wilds of Muh!
- How the teams of bays did scud!
- That great officer, Shang-fu,
- Was a very eagle then,
- Soaring, bearing up King Wu.
- Swoop! Great Shang we overthrew!
- Clash! Then bright the daylight grew!
III. i. 3.
ORIGIN OF THE HOUSE OF CHOW.
-
- See the trailing young gourds, how they spread!
- See in these how our people first grew:
- From the land of the Ts‘iü and the Ts‘ih,
- From the time of the old duke Tan-fu,—
- When they dwelt in the kraals and the caves,
- When they nothing of houses yet knew.
-
- Thence away came the old duke Tan-fu:—
- Quick as light with his horses sped he;
- And he followed the Stream of the West,
- Till he came to the foot of Mount K‘i.
- And there he and his lady the Kiáng
- Sought a site where they settled should be.
-
- And Chow’s plain was so fertile and fat,
- That the herbs we count bitter grew sweet;
- He began then to ponder and plan,
- And the tortoise-shell gave to the heat;
- And the answer was “settle,” and “here,”—
- Here establish your family seat.
-
- So tranquillity came, and repose;
- And the “East” and the “West” he defined,
- And the bounds of demesnes, large and small,
- And allotments and “acres” assigned.
- From the West to the East, all around,
- Were the marks of his vigorous mind.
-
- Then he summoned a Master of Works;
- And he summoned him task-masters too;
- And employed them in building their “home.”
- So with plummet and line, straight and true,
- And with frame-boards (the concrete) to hold,
- Lo! a temple imposing up-grew!
-
- Then what crowding with baskets of earth!
- And what clatter in filling each frame!
- And what thuds, beating solid the walls,
- And scrape-scraping, tap-tapping the same!
- With a hundred walls rising at once
- The big drum ne’er the hubbub o’ercame!
-
- Then the Court’s outer gate they set up:
- ’Twas a portal aye lofty and grand;
- Then the inner and principal gate,
- An imposing one, skilfully planned.
- Then the land-spirits’ altar uprose,—
- Source of each great event to the land.
-
- Though he quelled not the ire of his foes,
- Yet he suffered his fame not to fade:—
- By his thinning the oaks and the thorns,
- He the highways more passable made;
- And he caused the wild turbulent tribes
- To make off, open-mouthed and dismayed.
-
- Those two States, —how was settled their strife?
- ’Twas King Wăn roused their conscience to life!
- On my word (’twas their glimpse of wise laws):
- His affinity laws,—laws of grades,—
- And his courier-system,—and, last,
- His defence against insolent raids.
III. i. 4.
IN PRAISE OF KING WĂN.
-
- O dense was the growth of the shrub and thorn:
- For gathering in, for storing.—
- Sublime was the sight of our Prince and King,
- As all pressed round (adoring).
-
- Sublime was the sight when surrounding chiefs
- On their batons bore libations;
- And bravely they bore them—those eminent men;—
- Right worthy they of their stations.
-
- Rode proudly his boats on yon river King,
- With all his oarsmen rowing.—
- Marched (proudly) Chow’s King when he sallied forth,—
- Six legions with him going.
-
- O vast is yon span of the Milky Way,
- That blazonry of Heaven!
- And the long life-span of the King of Chow,—
- To earth what has it not given!
-
- How glitters the substance of gold and gems,
- Wrought bright by varied tooling!
- So wrought our King on the world of men,
- By his energetic ruling.
III. i. 5.
HIS PEOPLE’S ADMIRATION.
-
- See down there, at the Han hill’s base,
- Hazel and buckthorn growing apace.—
- Joyous and free our prince could be:
- High in his aim, yet joyous and free.
-
- Rare are his goblets, rare and fine,
- Brimming with amber-coloured wine.—
- Joyous and free our prince could be:
- Worthy of wealth and dignity!
-
- Kites in flight will heavenwards go;
- Fishes leap in their pools below.
- Joyous and free our prince could be:
- How hath he raised humanity!
-
- Pure are the spirits—the vase is full;
- All prepared is the dark roan bull;—
- Ready to offer, to immolate;
- So to enhance his blessings great.
-
- Dense is the growth of the oak and thorn;
- Fuel rare for the folks to burn.—
- Joyous and free our prince could be:
- Pet of the spirit-world was he!
-
- Creepers, rioting, clambering,
- How to both branch and stem they cling!
- So was our prince, the joyous and free,
- Bent on blessing unswervingly!
III. i. 6.
HIS VIRTUES.
[The first stanza is in praise of his mother and wife.] - How reverential was T‘ai-jen,
- Of whom King Wăn was born.
- How did she love the Kiáng of Chow!
- The royal home adorn!
- Tai-sze inherited the same fair fame,
- And many sons she bore unto the name.
[The remainder is to be understood of King Wăn himself.]
-
- Obsequious to his ancestors,
- Their spirits could not chide,
- Nor be not satisfied.
- Example to his worthy queen,
- Yea, to his brethren, when was seen
- His hospitable hand
- Held out to all the land.
-
- Reigned harmony within his halls,
- Devotion in his fane.
- Unseen,—as watched,—he wearied not
- (His virtue) to maintain.
-
- Though unexempt from trial sore,
- Undimmed his great light shone;
- Untutored, yet he lived by rule;
- Uncounselled, straight went on.
-
- Men of ripe age his virtues learnt,
- And youth made promise fair;
- Unwearying was our ancient chief:
- His fame his servants share.
III. i. 7.
RISE OF THE CHOW DYNASTY.
- The most high God
- Looked down on earth—dread thought!—
- And, gazing round,
- His people’s peace He sought.
- Two royal lines
- Had ruled, but ruled amiss
- O’er the whole land;
- And, pondering over this,
- God now made known His sovereign will,
- To enlarge the bounds of empire still;
- And, as He westward turned His face,
- Said, “Here be now their dwelling-place.”
[The second stanza begins abruptly with a description of the preparation by King T‘aifor this new settlement in the plain of Chow and on Mount K‘i]:—
-
- Dry trunks, dead logs
- Away were borne:
- The clumps and rows
- Were trimmed and shorn;
- Willow and cane
- Were slashed and slain;
- Wild mulberries thinned
- And disciplined.
- A ruler wise God thither led,
- And virtuous. The wild hordes fled.
- Heaven raised him up a consort meet,
- And thus the appointment was complete.
-
- God viewed their hill:
- Its wild growth now was rare,
- Its pine-woods cleft
- By many a thoroughfare.
- God made the State:
- Princes to match made He,
- What time these lived—
- T‘ai-pih and royal Ki,
- ’Twas this King Ki,
- So brotherly at heart,
- Who so well played
- The younger brother’s part,
- That all through life success he found,
- And made (the elder) so renowned.
- Dignity won he never lost:
- Well-nigh of empire he might boast.
-
- Yea, this King Ki
- God gifted with keen mind.
- Pure shines his fame;
- His virtues were refined.
- A critic, judge,
- Leader, controller, he,—
- This great land’s king:
- Loyal, winning loyalty.
- Until King Wăn reigned in his stead,
- Nought ’gainst his virtue could be said.
- Himself God’s benison possessed;
- On his sons’ sons it now doth rest!
-
- Spake God to Wăn:
- “All wild caprices shun,
- And cravings curb.”—
- Thus rare prestige he won.
- When Mihites rude
- Dared our great land oppose,
- Invaded Yün,
- And marched on Kung as foes,
- Then burned like fire
- His kingly ire;
- His troops he put in full array,
- The invading enemy to stay.
- Chow’s welfare he would aye uphold,
- And be the empire’s champion bold.
-
- His capital
- Safe and secure he made;
- Forth o’er the bounds
- Of Yün his troops he led;
- He scaled our heights:
- None occupied our hills,
- Our hills or knolls;
- No (foe) drank at our springs,
- Our springs or pools.
- And pleasant plains he there surveyed,
- And there, south of K‘i’s hill, he stayed,
- Where, near the Wai, converge all States,
- And where our race most congregates.
-
- Spake God to Wăn:
- “I love thy virtue strange:
- No blare, no show,
- No vaunting, and no change.
- In artless wise
- Unconscious hast thou trod
- The path of God.”
- (Also) spake God to Wăn:
- “Now shalt thou plan,
- Thou and thy friends, to overthrow
- The city of your mutual foe.
- Your ladders and your engines all
- Take, and lay low Ts‘ung’s rampart-wall.”
-
- Slowly against that high stout wall
- The war machinery drew near.
- Captives were “questioned,” one by one;
- Noiselessly lopped was many an ear.
- To Heaven, to Heroes, gifts were made,
- With prayers for furtherance and aid,
- And that the land’s rude foes be stayed.
- With vigour then played each machine,
- Against that wall so strong and high.
- They make a breach! they swarm within,
- And all in death and ruin lie!
- No foe should now the land defy!
III. i. 8.
DELIGHT OF THE PEOPLE ON SEEING THE MAGNIFICENCE WITH WHICH KING WĂN SURROUNDED HIMSELF.
-
- The King designed his wondrous tower:
- ’Twas his design, ’twas his device;
- His people undertook the work,
- And all was finished in a trice!
- In planning it he urged no haste,
- Yet all like children round him pressed.
-
- Behold him in his wondrous park,
- Where stags and hinds lie down in herds,
- His stags and hinds all sleek and fat;—
- Around him glinting snow-white birds.
- Behold him on his wondrous lake,
- Where crowding fish their frolic take.
-
- Like row of trees his music-stand!
- Big drums, big bells thereon they pile.—
- O harmony of drum and bell!
- Delightsome that pavilioned isle!
- Delightsome that pavilion’d isle,
- With harmony of drum and bell!
- Drums of iguana-hide resound.
- Those blind ones do their parts (right well).
III. i. 9.
EULOGY OF KING WU.
-
- Last comes Wu, and founded is Chow!
- Yea, this age hath its monarchs wise;
- Three are in Heaven, and one here now
- Well their place on the throne supplies.
-
- Well their place on the throne supplies,
- Making their virtues his great quest.
- Aye his appointment he justifies,
- Now of the land’s full trust possessed.
-
- Now of the land’s full trust possessed,
- Model for all of the ranks below:
- Filial feelings aye in his breast,
- Filial feelings the pattern show.
-
- Him, this Man of men, we admire
- So reflecting the gentle grace;
- He, ever mindful of his sire,
- Grandly adopts his work, his place.
-
- Grandly those who from him descend—
- If to their father’s course they cleave—
- Till the ten-thousandth year shall end,
- Blessings from Heaven will aye receive.
-
- Blessings from Heaven will aye be theirs,
- Gratulation from all below;
- Surely throughout those myriad years
- Lack of support they ne’er shall know.
III. i. 10.
EXPLOITS OF WĂN AND WU.
-
- Renowned is King Wăn,
- Yea, and highly renowned.
- His purpose was peace:
- He beheld it abound!
- Then hurrah for King Wăn!
-
- Heaven’s mandates had Wăn:—
- To his exploits belong
- Ts‘ung’s fall, and the rise
- Of his city in Fung.
- Then hurrah for King Wăn!
-
- Fung made he its match,
- When moated and walled.—
- Self-curb’d,—he his sire’s
- Filial duty recalled.
- Then hurrah for the King!
-
- Fung’s walls were a work
- That displayed him a King:
- Men everywhere flocked
- To be under his wing!
- Then hurrah for the King!
-
- Where flowed the Fung East,—
- By the labours of Yü,—
- Men everywhere sought
- Their great monarch, King (Wu).
- The great monarch, hurrah!
-
- His pavilion’d isle
- When Hâu’s capital held,
- East, West, North, or South
- Ne’er an instant rebelled.
- The great sovereign, hurrah!
-
- For when he divined,
- “Should Hâu-King be his seat?”
- “Yea,” answered the shell,
- Then he made all complete.
- Then hurrah for King Wu!
-
- The Fung had its weeds,
- And had Wu not his cares?—
- How he wrought for his son!
- How he planned for his heirs!
- Then hurrah for King Wu!
BOOK II.
THE “SHANG MIN” DECADE.
II. ii. 1.
HOW-TSIH, THE PROGENITOR OF THE CHOW FAMILY.
[This Ode requires a little introduction, for general readers. It is in honour of How-tsih (or, more properly, of the How-tsih, a title meaning “lord of the millet,” his duties being the supervision of agriculture). The House of Chow traced their pedigree back to him, and when this dynasty was founded, sacrificial honours were paid to him. The Duke of Chow is said thereupon to have written this Ode, and probably it was “said or sung” at the time of the sacrifices. Kiáng Yün, the mother of How-tsih, is said to have been the Princess Consort of the Emperor Kuh, bc 2435-2357; but this can hardly have been so, because How-tsih flourished in the reign of Shun, which bears the date bc 2255-2205. In the legend of her son’s conception and birth, which is given in the first stanza of this Ode, while evidently they were believed to be miraculous, it is somewhat doubtful whether we are to translate  (ti) in the sixth line by “God,” or by “Emperor” (meaning her husband.)
The strange and easy birth, related in the second stanza, was regarded by the mother as an unlucky omen, and this explaint why in the third stanza she is represented as “exposing” him to be trampled on by cattle, then in the forest’s solitude, then on the ice. From all these dangers he had wonderful escapes, and she therefore took him back, and the name K‘i,  “the Castaway,” was given to him in memory of these adventures. His early talent for husbandry grew with his years, he taught the people many improvements in it, and, becoming famous, the Emperor Yau at length made him Minister of Husbandry. The succeeding Emperor, Shun, made him Lord of T‘ai (stanza 5), and it was only after this that he became known as the How-tsih. The “old duke T‘an-fu,” mentioned in the “Wăn Wong” decade as the progenitor of the House of Chow, was his lineal descendant. How-tsih was, we are told here, the first to offer sacrifices as thank-offerings for the harvest, which were continued to the time of the Chow dynasty; but now, in the ritual of the Duke of Chow, he was joined with Heaven ( ), like the deceased Emperors.]
-
- Our folk’s first origin
- Is dated from Kiáng Yun:
- (Now sing we) how this origin occurred:—
- Once worshipping was she,
- Praying, “Pity childless me,”
- Then, treading on God’s toe-print, she was stirred;
- This brought her blessing, brought her rest,
- —Conception,—privacy;
- Then came an infant to her breast;
- That infant was How-tsih.
-
- When all her months had run,
- Came forth her first-born son,—
- Came as a lamb comes, without manglement,
- Or injury or throe,—
- The prodigy to show!
- Thus did not God vouchsafe to her content?
- Thus did not her pure offerings please?
- That she should have her child with ease.
-
- She exposed him in a narrow lane,
- The kine yet showed him care.
- She exposed him in the forest-plain,
- Wood-cutters found him there.
- She exposed him on the ice-bound river, cold;
- A bird with outspread wings did him enfold.
- At length, forsaken by the bird,
- He cried (for it to stay),
- And long and loud his wails were heard
- Along the whole highway.
-
- When he could creep and crawl,
- More wit had he than all;
- When he grew on to feeding without aid,
- He took to sowing beans,
- And finely grew his beans,
- And smiling rows of rice his toil repaid;
- His hemp and wheat abundant grew,
- His little gourds prolific too.
-
- He taught the husbandman,
- “Aid nature where you can:
- First all the rank and grassy herbage clear;
- Then sow your golden grain,
- Well forced and put in train;
- Thus sown ’twill soon above the soil appear,
- And shoot aloft, and fructify,
- Grow strong and fair to see,
- Full awned and eared”—and this was why
- The House of T‘ai won he.
-
- And thus good seed men find,
- Of millets every kind—
- The black, the double-grained, the brown, the white.
- Those first we see all round
- Stacked on the reaping-ground;
- The white and brown,—again a common sight,—
- On back and shoulders home we bear,
- To make our first-fruit offerings there.
-
- These how do we prepare?
- Many the duty share:
- Some thresh, some hull, some winnow well the grain;
- ’Tis washed—with swish and swirl!
- Distilled —and vapours curl!
- We fix the day, keep vigil, and abstain;
- Bring herbs, to offer with the fat,
- The rams for the gods of roads;
- Flesh roast and boiled;—good fortune that
- For future years forebodes.
-
- The sacred bowls, the pair
- Of wood and earthenware,
- We fill; and odours sweet begin to rise;
- Pleased God is with the smell,
- So fragrant, timed so well.—
- How-tsih it was began this sacrifice;
- And none can rightfully regret
- That it continues with us yet.
III. ii. 2.
A FESTAL ODE ON THE KING’S ENTERTAINMENT OF HIS RELATIVES.
-
- Thickly tufted grow the roadside reeds;
- Never there be hoofs of cattle treading.
- Here maturing, there in perfect form,
- How their supple glossy leaves are spreading!
- So united see these brethren all,
- Closely now, though never far divided;
- Here for some are spread the festal mats,
- There for others rests have been provided.
-
- Mats are spread,—one more is laid for each;
- Rests supplied,—now crowd the waiters o’er them;
- Guests are given their cups—they pledge their host;
- His he rinses—their they place before them.
- Offerings now of mincement dripping fine
- And the viands, roast and boiled, are coming,—
- Dainty condiment of tripe and jowl!
- Then the songs commence, and then the drumming!
-
- Now with gaily-coloured bows, and strong,
- And the barbs of steel, four each, all equal,
- All well matched, their arrows they let fly,
- And win place according to the sequel.
- (Yet once more) the painted bows they grasp,
- Each his arrows four again preparing;
- Lo! four trees embedded!—Now each guest
- Ranks according to his modest bearing!
-
- Of a long (proud) lineage is the Host;
- Potent are his spirits new-fermented;
- And he fills with liberal hand the cup
- To the hoary heads with prayer presented,—
- Prayer that “hoary heads and wrinkled forms
- Be our helpers, leading and sustaining,—
- That old age may find felicity,
- Unto blessings great still greater gaining.”
III. ii. 3.
RESPONSE OF THE GUESTS TO THE KING.
-
- Deep have we drunk of thy cups,
- Full have we fed on thy favour;
- Prince, may thy years never end!
- Prosper thou, prosper for ever!
-
- Deep have we drunk of thy cups;
- Round have thy dainties been handed;
- Prince, may thy years never end!
- Be thy bright splendour expanded.
-
- Bright be thy splendour, till full;
- Lighting to ends that are greater.—
- “Great ends begin”: so spake well
- He, thy dead Sire’s personator.
-
- What were the things that he spake?
- “Pure are thy vessels, and stately;
- They that serve with thee are friends;
- Rightly they serve, and sedately;
-
- “Rightly, sedately, full oft.
- And thou hast sons who revere thee;
- While without fail they be such
- Blessing shall ever be near thee.
-
- When shall this blessing then be?—
- From the hid parts of thy dwelling;—
- Years without end shalt thou live,
- Blest, in succession unfailing.
-
- “Why this succession prolonged?—
- Heaven would with honours endue thee;
- And through innumerous years
- Make the high Calling pursue thee!
-
- How shall it rest upon thee?
- Through the brave lady (God) sent thee:
- Through the brave lady; by her
- Long shall thy line represent thee.”
III. ii. 4.
AT A FEAST GIVEN TO THE PERSONATORS OF THE KING’S ANCESTORS AT A SACRIFICE.
-
- Like the waterfowl upon the King,
- To their feast, all care disburdening,
- Come the proxies of your ancestors.
- Pure your drinks, your meats fine fragrance shed.—
- Eat and drink, ye proxies of the dead!
- Be your honours full accomplishèd!
-
- Like the waterfowl upon the sands,
- To your feast, expected at your hands,
- Come the proxies of your ancestors.
- Copious draughts and viands good are laid.
- Eat and drink, ye proxies of the dead!
- Let your honours come unto your aid!
-
- Like the waterfowl upon the isle,
- To their feast, and to their rest awhile,
- Come the proxies of your ancestors.
- Drinks refined, dried meat in slices served,
- Eat and drink, ye proxies of the dead!
- Are not honours yet for you reserved?
-
- Like the waterfowl, where rivers meet,
- To their feast,—each to an honoured seat,—
- Come the proxies of your ancestors.
- In the fane, where honours light, ’tis spread;
- Eat and drink, ye proxies of the dead!
- Lie not honours thick on every head?
-
- Like the waterfowl within the cleft,
- To their rest, to happy freedom, left,
- Come the proxies of your ancestors.
- Choice the drinks, for gladdening the heart!
- And the roasts, what fragrance they impart!
- Eat and drink, ye proxies of the dead!
- Smooth’s the path hereafter you shall tread.
III. ii. 5.
RESPONSE.
[It is uncertain, but probable, that this Ode is again responsive,—the feasters of the last Ode expressing their admiration for their Prince and Host.]
-
- O Prince, our admiration, our delight!
- In noble virtues eminently bright;
- Fit (guide) to high and low!
- That high vocation thou didst win from Heaven;
- Aid and protection with the call were given;
- And Heaven will more bestow.
-
- Quest of that dignity meant all of good:
- From thee shall spring a countless multitude,
- A reverend, lordly throng,
- Meet for the lesser or the greater throne,
- Making the ancient precedents their own,
- In nought remiss or wrong;
-
- Grave and decorous, firm and self-controlled,
- Clinging to virtuous fame with steadfast hold,
- Free from all grudge and hate;
- Producing in their Servants all around
- Like virtues; gaining blessings without bound;
- Controlling every State;—
-
- Controlling their affairs both great and small,
- That so, more free, the chiefs and magnates all
- May move in friendship’s ring.
- And these will watch those Sons of Heaven with pride,
- As for their people nought they leave untried
- That rest to them may bring.
III. ii. 6.
DUKE LIU.
-
- High-souled Duke Liu!
- He could not rest, nor take repose,—
- Perambulating farm and field,
- Storing the grain in mow and stack,
- Tieing up stores, of these the yield,
- Dry stores in bag and haversack.
- —For ends of peace and glory, lo!
- Forth come the arrow and the bow,
- The shield and spear, the axe and bill:—
- “Forward,” he cries, “with me who will.”
-
- High-souled Duke Liu
- Lo, congregated on the plain,
- The multitude, a concourse great!
- Now they disperse at his behest.
- Nor long do they bewail their state.
- This done, he scales the mountain’s crest;
- Then to the plain makes his descent,—
- And what are those upon his waist?
- Jadestones and gems! rare ornament
- Wherewith his sword-sheath shall be graced.
-
- High-souled Duke Liu!
- He visited the Hundred Springs,
- Looked o’er the plains there broad and vast;
- Ascending then the southern heights,
- He found an eminence (at last),
- Round which all followers might have sites;
- And here he settled, here he stayed,
- Here huts for all who came he made,
- Here let his will and word be known,
- Here counsel took, and gave his own.
-
- High-souled Duke Liu!
- Now in his citadel secure,
- His liegemen proudly paid their court:—
- The mats were spread, the rests supplied,
- Those for their seats, these their support.
- Unto his herdsmen (oft) he hied,
- And brought a porker from the pen!
- And drinks from calabashes poured.
- Thus did he feed and feast his men;
- Thus did he act both host and lord.
-
- High-souled Duke Liu!
- Long now and broad were his domains:
- He took their bearings—climbed the hills,
- Surveyed the sunned and shadowed lands,
- The rivers and the fountain-rills;
- Disposed his forces in three bands;
- Then portioned out the watered plain,
- Allotting fields, for tax of grain;
- Then portioned out the westering slopes:—
- Pin’s settlers throve beyond their hopes.
-
- High-souled Duke Liu!
- Ill-lodged in Pin, they made them rafts
- And crossed the Wai, and gathered thence
- Sandstone and iron. Strong then stood
- Each dwelling and each border fence.
- Growing in wealth and multitude,
- They crowd and fill the vale of Hwang,
- And press far up the vale of Kwo;
- At length, so thick becomes the throng,
- Beyond the Juy they overflow.
III. ii. 7.
ADMONITION TO THE KING.
-
- From wayside pool afar
- Foul water you may drain,
- That, settling, straining, jar from jar,
- May serve to steam your rice and grain.
- So a refiner will that ruler be
- In whom the people shall their parent see.
-
- From wayside pool afar
- Foul water you may drain,
- That, settling, straining, jar from jar,
- Will cleanse your cups from every stain.
- And such refinement will that ruler see
- To whom his people confidently flee.
-
- From wayside pool afar
- Foul water you may bring,
- That, settling, straining, jar from jar,
- Will wash and cleanse (each single thing).
- And such refinement will that ruler see
- Who gives his people rest and liberty.
III. ii. 8.
FURTHER ADMONITION, UNDER THE GUISE OF CONGRATULATION.
-
- O’er the windings of the mound,
- With the south wind rustling round,
- There our Prince, in joyous ease,
- Sauntering, singing, came along.
- Thus I worded him a song:—
-
- “Gaily, Sir, thou takest ease,
- Roaming as thy fancies please,
- Joyously dismissing care.
- Fully may thy life unfold,
- Ripening like thy Sires’ of old.
-
- “Great and glorious is thy land,
- Fortune well hath filled thine hand;
- Prince, enjoy thy happy ease!
- Full of years, long may thou feast
- The great spirit-world, its Priest!
-
- “Heaven gave thee a mission large,
- Peace yet marks thy blessed charge;
- Prince, enjoy thy happy ease!
- Fully may thy life unfold,
- That great blessing long to hold.
-
- “Thou hast trusty helps and stays,
- Men of duteous, virtuous ways,
- Men to lead, and men to back!
- Prince, enjoy thy happy ease;
- All the world its pattern sees!
-
- “Gleam thy majesty and grace
- As thy sceptre and thy mace!
- Bright thy past and bright thine aim.
- Prince, enjoy thy happy ease;
- All the world is at thy knees!
- “Like the phœnixes in flight,
- Rustling, rustling, till they light,
- Till a resting-place they’ve won,—
- So thy happy Servants all,
- Crowding round thee, wait thy call;
- Aye, they love their king, Heaven’s Son.
- “Like the phœnixes in flight,
- Rustling, rustling up the height,
- Till they pierce the heaven above,—
- So thy happy Servants all,
- Crowding round thee, wait thy call;
- And thy people own their love.
- “Phœnixes are calling now
- High on yonder mountain’s brow,
- Where dryandra-trees abound.
- Thickly on the Eastern face
- Stand the trees, and grow apace.
- There their tuneful calls resound.
- “Chariots does our Prince possess?
- Well-nigh they are numberless!
- Horses? Yea, well-trained and fleet.
- —But my lay is now complete;
- Short it is, and only meant
- Thine own song to supplement.”
III. ii. 9.
CENSURE OF KING LI’S GOVERNMENT.
-
- Sorely their burdens press upon the people;
- Haply their hardships may be modified.
- Here show them kindness in the mother province,
- So cheer and hope will travel far and wide.
- Countenance not the flatterers and deceivers,
- So every worthless character restrain;
- Down with the tyrants, down with the marauders,
- Men who respect not rule and order plain.
- Courteous to strangers, helpful to our own,
- So shall the king sit firmer on his throne.
-
- Sorely their burdens press upon the people;
- Haply their state admits of some relief:—
- Here show them kindness in the mother province,
- So will the nation rally round its Chief.
- Countenance not the flatterers and deceivers,
- So all uproarious arrogance repress;
- Down with the tyrants, down with the marauders,
- Let not the nation suffer such distress;
- Let not your toilsome task be set aside:
- So shall the king on smoother currents glide.
-
- Sorely their burdens press upon the people;
- These may not we to some extent abate?
- Here show them kindness in the mother city,
- So cheer and hope will visit every State.
- Countenance not the flatterer and deceiver,
- So all unbounded insolence repress;
- Down with the tyrant, down with the marauder,
- Frustrate their deeds of vice and wickedness.
- Strict in deportment, guard your every mood,
- Tread thus the path all worthies have pursued.
-
- Sorely their burden presses on the people;
- May not some respite to the land be given?
- Here show them kindness in the mother province,
- So let their sorrow far away be driven,
- Countenance not the flatterer and deceiver,
- So be repressed the fierce and villain crew;
- Down with the tyrant, down with the marauder,
- Keep undefiled right principles and true.
- Though you be “come not yet to man’s estate,”
- Yet you have noble precedents and great.
-
- Sorely their burden presses on the people;
- Haply they now might partially repose.
- Here show them kindness in the mother province,
- Let not the whole land suffer from its foes.
- Countenance not the flatterer and deceiver,
- So be repressed the leech-like parasite;
- Down with the tyrant, down with the marauder,
- Hold unreversed true principle and right.
- You for his jewels, lo, the King designs!
- So mean these bold admonitory lines!
III. ii. 10.
FURTHER ADMONITIONS.
-
- God hath turned away His face,
- And the land is full of woe.
- All your speech is out of place,
- All your plans no foresight show.
- Guideless, people grope their way,
- Even truth appears untrue!
- On the weakness you display,
- Let me thus admonish you:—
-
- Heaven is bringing bitter things;
- Be not you on pleasures bent.
- Heaven this great arousing brings;
- Be not idly negligent.
- Speak ye all with one accord,
- Then the nation will unite;
- Speak but pleasantly the word,
- Calmer then will be its plight.
-
- Your task is not mine, ’tis true,
- Fellow-servants yet are we;
- Why, when I advise with you,
- Raise such cries on hearing me!
- What I say concerns your task,
- Do not treat it as a joke.
- Once men said, “(Scorn not to) ask
- Counsel from the meanest folk.”
-
- Heaven is now in mood severe,
- Do not mockingly deride.
- I am old; I am sincere;
- You are young, and full of pride.
- Yet not years my speech compel,
- ’Tis your mocking at men’s grief.
- Ah! like flames these woes will swell,
- Till they pass beyond relief.
-
- Heaven doth now its wrath display:—
- Flaunting flattery begone!
- Ah, decorum flees away,
- Good men dead men’s livery don
- All our people moan and sigh,
- And we dare not question why;
- All are ruined, wrecked, in need,
- And no kindness we concede.
-
- How to man comes heavenly light?
- Whistle, and the flute will play !
- Make the mace’s halves unite!
- Touch and take a thing away.
- Take it. Nothing more’s to add.
- Men are taught with greatest ease.
- Many things they know, of bad,
- Show them you are not of these!
-
- Good men are our fence (I ween),
- The great army is our wall,
- Great surrounding States a screen,
- The great Clans the stay of all,
- Love of virtue our repose,
- (Royal) heirs our wall and foss.
- To no harm this wall expose,
- Lest come Terror with its loss!
-
- Fear Heaven’s anger, then, nor dare
- So to idle, so to jest.
- Fear Heaven’s changeful brow, nor dare
- Drive so fast in pleasure’s quest.
- High is Heaven, yet hath it eyes,
- Eyes that all your ways pursue.
- High is Heaven, yet it descries
- All you dissolutely do.
BOOK III.
THE “TANG” DECADE.
III. iii. 1.
ADMONITION OF KING LI.
[See III. ii. 9.—The poet here warns the king of the impending judgment of Heaven upon his misrule, drunkenness, and promotion of bad men to office.
In the first stanza we have the first intimation of the doctrine first instilled into all Chinese children at school at the present time and for centuries back, that man is born good, but deteriorates as life goes on.
The remaining stanzas afford an excellent instance of Chinese obliqueness in the way of putting things. King Li is warned by the warning that Wăn gave formerly to the last sovereign of the Yin-Shang dynasty. There was great boldness, however, in this, for the comparison is with one who is looked upon as China’s worst emperor, and Wăn had been put into prison for his remonstrance.]
-
- Great, great is God
- Who ruleth man below!
- Awful is He in judgment when
- The many vicious grow.
- The host of men, begotten of Heaven,
- Rest not in Heaven’s decrees;
- Not one but hath the primal [good],
- Scarce one its full degrees.
-
- Ah! cried King Wăn;
- Alas, Yin-Shang, for thee!
- Why these high-handed hinderers,
- These harpies, here have we?
- Why are they placed in stations high,
- And charged with cares of State?
- Vehement natures Heaven may send,
- But thou dost such inflate.
-
- Alas! said Wăn;
- Alas, Yin-Shang for thee!
- Thy use of better men incurs
- Their frequent enmity.
- Vague tales they turn to obloquy:
- “Thieves, robbers are at Court!”
- And imprecations without end
- They use of every sort.
-
- Alas! cried Wăn;
- Alas, Yin-Shang, for thee!
- How thou dost rave at the kingdom’s core
- And deem’st nursed enmity
- A virtue! Virtue pales in thee;
- So hast thou none at back,
- Or either side. Thy virtue pales
- So leaders dost thou lack.
-
- Alas! cried Wăn;
- Alas, Yin-Shang, for thee!
- Heaven flushes not thy face; ’tis wine
- And graceless company.
- As climax to your erring ways
- You know not dark from light,
- But by the howls and yells you raise
- Turn daytime into night.
-
- Alas! cried Wăn;
- Alas, Yin-Shang, for thee!
- Like murmur of the insect tribes,
- Like broth ebullient, see
- Men small and great approach their fate!
- Still none his manners mends,
- And frenzy in this Central Land
- To the demon-lands extends!
-
- Alas! cried Wăn;
- Alas, Yin-Shang, for thee!
- Say not, God leaves us, say ’tis Yin
- Heeds not antiquity!
- For though thy veterans may fail,
- Yet thou hast rules and laws;
- Why these ignore, and thus the wreck
- Of high vocation cause!
-
- Alas! said Wăn;
- Alas, Yin-Shang, for thee!
- There is a saying among men,—
- “The o’ertoppling of a tree,
- While leaf and branch are yet intact,
- Shows ’tis a rootless thing.”
- Yin’s danger-signal is not far,—
- The time of Hià’s [last] king!
III. iii. 2.
SELF-ADMONITION.
-
- Hold, O hold to strict decorum;
- This is virtue’s vantage-coign.
- There’s a saying, “None so wise but
- Rudeness to his wit will join.”
- But the rudeness of the many
- Springs from natural defect,
- While the rudeness of the wiser
- Is the product of neglect.
-
- None is mightier than the true man;
- For of him all quarters learn:
- Let one firmly hold to virtue,
- All the States to him will turn.
- Counsels deep, commands unwavering,
- Plans far-reaching, warning due,
- Reverent care for strict decorum,—
- These must be the people’s cue!
-
- Now what have we? Error rampant,
- Chaos in our government,
- Virtue all dethroned, subverted,
- Savages on drinking bent!
- Yet, although so bent on pleasure,
- Wherefore break with all your past,
- And the wisdom of old rulers
- Care so little to hold fast?
-
- Those whom mighty Heaven abandons,
- Think! are like the fount that flows,
- Then is choked, and lost for ever!
- Up then early, late repose;
- Wash and sweep thy Court’s interior:
- —Symbol that the land well knows.
- Order well thy steeds, thy chariots,
- Bows and arrows, spears and swords;
- Be in readiness for action,
- Keep afar the Southern hordes;
-
- Perfect all,—thy chiefs, thy people;
- Guard thy regimen as Prince;
- All emergencies prepare for;
- Care in all thy speech evince;
- Give good heed to strict decorum;
- Nought of rudeness e’er betray.
- Flaws may be in thy white sceptre,
- They may yet be ground away;
- Flaws in things that thou dost utter,—
- All intangible are they!
-
- Let not words go from thee lightly;
- Say not ever, “What care I?
- There is nought my tongue can hinder.”
- —Ah, but words can never die.
- Nought is said but finds its echo,
- Nought well done but finds reward;
- Treat thy subjects as thy children,
- Be with friends in full accord;
- So thine issue shall continue,
- And all subjects own thee lord.
-
- While thou companiest with worthies,
- Gentle calm thy brow assumes,
- All thy care is to be blameless.
- So be in thy private rooms,—
- Unabashed beneath thy skylight!
- Say not, “I am out of view:
- No one now may come upon me;”
- Ah, a Spirit may look through!
- Spirits we are never sure of,
- Less, still less, may we pooh-pooh!
-
- Prince, be thine the ways of virtue;
- Practise what is right and good;
- Hold unblemished thy behaviour,
- Failing not in rectitude,
- Nothing adding, nought detracting.
- Few have failed to serve as models
- (Who have such a course pursued).
- “Pitch to me thy peach, and I will
- Toss thee back again my plum.”
- “Seeking horns upon the hornless;”
- Ah, boy, there the troubles come!
-
- As the wood that bends yet breaks not
- With the silken string is bound,
- So the kindly and the courteous
- Furnish Virtue’s building-ground.
- Here you have the man of wisdom:
- Preach to him a homily,
- He will go where Virtue points him.
- Here the ruder man you see:
- He will tell me I’m presuming.—
- Each his idiosyncrasy!
-
- Ah, my son! the good and evil,
- Are they not to thee yet clear?
- Must I take thee by the hand yet,
- Show thee things as they appear,
- Give thee precepts in thy presence,
- Hold thee ever by the ear?
- Thou a father, too! and tell’st me
- Thou art yet to educate!
- Men have ne’er enough! Whom saw’st thou
- Taught so early, wise so late?
-
- Ah, great Heaven hath wondrous wisdom!
- Joyless yet is life to me,
- Seeing thee so dull and doltish
- Fills my heart with misery.
- Many, many times I taught thee,
- And my words were set at nought;
- Thou wouldst none of me as teacher,
- Tyrant only I was thought.
- Thou in dotage! and dost tell me
- Thou hast never yet been taught?
-
- Ah, my son! I put before thee
- Wisdom taught by men of yore;
- Hear my counsels, and obey them;
- Less there may be to deplore!
- Heaven is sending grievous trouble,
- Threatening ruin to the land.
- Think of cases not far distant,
- And of Heaven’s unerring hand!
- Sorely shalt thou vex thy people
- Virtue if thou so withstand.
III. iii. 3.
LAMENT OF THE EARL OF JUY.
-
- Ah, mulberry sapling, once in pride
- Casting thy shadows far and wide,
- Now stripped and shadowless and bare!
- So languish all our multitudes:
- Unceasing Sorrow o’er them broods,
- And lamentations fill the air.
- Great Heaven, that canst all things descry,
- Why dost thou sympathy deny!
-
- Now teams of war-steeds paw the ground,
- The figured banners wave around,
- And chaos grows, and peace is none.
- No State but feels the pressure sore;
- Where is the dark-lock’d race of yore?
- All sit in ashes, woebegone!
- Alas the sadness of it all!
- The land is doomed, and nears its fall.
-
- ’Tis doomed, ’tis without strength to stand,
- No longer Heaven befriends our land,
- And nowhere have we certain rest.
- Tell us to go! Yet where proceed?
- —A Ruler, were he such indeed,
- No strife would harbour in his breast.
- Who then hath made those perilous stairs
- That lead us to these griefs and cares?
-
- My heart with grief is overcome,
- Thinking of fatherland and home.
- Why was I born such ills to face?
- Heaven’s direst anger doomed to know?
- From East to West, where’er I go,
- I find no certain dwelling-place.
- Many the miseries I have met:
- Full sore our borders are beset.
-
- Although you may have cared and planned,
- Disorder grows, and spoils the land.
- These woes before you once I set,
- Thus counselling, “Rank has its degrees;
- What man a heated thing will seize,
- But first his fingers he must wet?
- And who shall rectify a State
- When all is plunging to its fate?”
-
- As when men go against a gale,
- And hardly can the wind inhale,
- So once were men on office bent,
- But, beaten back, they cried, “’Tis vain:
- Better be farmers—working men—
- Than live on such emolument.”
- And farming now they highly prize;
- ’Tis more than office, in their eyes!
-
- With wreck and ruin, Heaven now brings
- Extinction to our line of Kings;
- These insect-pests it sends besides,
- The very bane of husbandry.
- Alas, O mother land, for thee!
- All, all in turn to ruin slides.
- And strength but little left have we:
- Abyss of blue, we turn to thee!
-
- See this benignant ruler here,
- Whom high and low alike revere:—
- He guards his heart, matures his plans,
- And seeks his helpers out with care.
- His opposite behold you there:—
- His deeds are right, no other man’s!
- Self-willed and arrogant is he:
- Distracted must his country be.
-
- One sees within the wildwood deep
- How roaming deer in herds will keep:
- Friendship with us has learnt deceit,
- ’Tis not for mutual good men meet.
- And so folks have the saying still,—
- “Onwards or backwards, both uphill.”
-
- Here are these sages—men who see
- And speak for far futurity.
- There are those dull and witless wights
- Who find in crazes their delights.
- —I cannot but speak out thus plain;
- And why should fear my tongue restrain?
-
- Here are these worthies, set at nought,
- Never promoted, never sought;
- There are the men with hearts of flint,
- Respected, honoured without stint.
- And does the land crave anarchy?
- Ah, fain would these its “smartweed” be!
-
- Great winds in vacant valleys deep
- Find the direction they will keep;
- So here are worthy men whose deeds
- Would aye take shape as virtue leads.
- And there those others who desert
- Right ways, to wallow in the dirt!
-
- Great winds their own directions find.
- Rapacious men prey on their kind.—
- If heard, I might speak out, but here
- Must sotlike croon, while none is near:
- “Good men he will not have, and thus
- Brings this bewilderment on us.”
-
- Ah, friends, ’tis not unwittingly
- These verses are composed by me.
- Perchance, as in a flock of birds
- A shaft hits one, so with these words.
- —I come to you to do you good;
- Must I be met in angry mood?
-
- The people go beyond all bounds?
- Their faith in clever cheats redounds
- But to their loss and detriment;
- Their rulers seem incompetent.
- And grow they still from bad to worse?
- Blame your high-handed use of force.
-
- And are they ill at ease? ’Tis you
- That cheat and rob them of their due.
- Truly you say, “’Tis wrong,”—the while
- You cheat adroitly, and revile.
- E’en though you disavow the wrong,
- I dedicate to you this song!
III. iii. 4.
KING SWÂN’S LAMENTATION IN A TIME OF DROUGHT AND FAMINE.
-
- Brightly in the firmament
- Shone the circling Milky Way.
- [Gazing on it] quoth the king,
- Ah, what sin sin we to-day?
- Wreck and ruin Heaven sends down;
- Dearth and famine still hold sway.
- Not a god hath lacked his gift,
- Not a victim was too dear,
- Not a valued thing is left,
- Yet I reach no willing ear.
-
- ’Tis a drought inordinate;
- Still intenser glow the fires.
- Ceaseless gifts and prayers are made
- Both to Heaven and to my sires.
- Powers above and powers below
- All are given the gifts they need:
- Not a god unhonoured; yet
- How-tsih fails—God doth not heed.
- Wasted, ruined land! ah me!
- Would ’twere I instead of thee!
-
- ’Tis a drought inordinate:
- Ah, I may not cloke [my sin];
- And appalled I shrink aghast
- As from thunder’s crash and din.
- Dark-locked residue of Chow,
- Decimation threatens you.
- God in Heaven! and be it so,
- Let myself be taken too.
- One and all shall we not dread
- Tombs unwept, unvisited!
-
- ’Tis a drought inordinate:
- Still it holds resistless sway;
- Nowhere from the angry heat
- Have we refuge night or day.
- The great doom comes on amain;
- Everywhere I turn in vain.
- All the lords and chiefs of yore,
- Give no succour, no relief;
- Parents, ancestors, can you
- Look unmoved upon my grief?
-
- ’Tis a drought inordinate:
- Waterless are hills and streams;
- Ruthless is the god of drought,
- Scattering fire and flame, meseems.
- From the heat my soul recoils
- Smarting as with fiery pain.
- All the lords and chiefs of yore
- Deaf to my appeal remain.
- God in Heaven! O that Thou
- Refuge couldst for me allow!
-
- ’Tis a drought inordinate:
- Sore I chafe, yet fear to go.
- Why thus madden me with drought,
- While I fail its cause to know?
- For good years full soon I prayed,
- Nor was late at any shrine
- With my first-fruits. God in Heaven!
- Heed’st thou never prayer of mine?
- Ah, from Spirits so revered
- Rightly were not anger feared.
-
- ’Tis a drought inordinate:
- Order fails, and all control;
- All my chiefs are sorely tried,
- He, my chiefest, vexed in soul;
- Masters of my Horse and Guards,
- Kitchen-squire, and Servants all,—
- Not a man but lends his aid,
- None cries “cannot” [at my call].
- To high Heaven I look, and cry,
- “O the endless agony!”
-
- To high Heaven I look, and there
- Clear the stars gleam out and glint.
- Chiefs and nobles, ye who gave
- Glorious worship without stint,
- Though my doom be hastening on,
- Set not past good quests aside:
- What you sought for me, seek still
- As the peace of all who guide.
- To high Heaven I look, and yearn:
- When will Heaven in pity turn?
III. iii. 5.
EULOGY OF THE LORD OF SHIN.
-
- Where mountains huge and high
- Their peaks rear to the sky,
- A god descended from the height,
- And Fu and Shin first saw the light.
- And Shin and Fu are now
- The buttresses of Chow.
- Of every State are they the shield;
- On every hand great power they wield.
-
- Shin’s chief was so robust,
- The king could re-intrust
- A seat in Sié into his hand,
- Whence he should guide that southern land.
- Shau’s earl by royal decree
- Fixed where this seat should be;
- And thus that southern State had birth
- Where still Shin’s line uphold his worth.
-
- The king gave Shin command:
- “Guide thou that southern land,
- And use its people in such way
- As thine own merit to display.”
- He bade Shau’s earl assign
- Shin’s lands, their bounds define.
- He bade again Shin’s chamberlain
- Take thither his domestic train.
-
- Thus Shau the ground prepared,
- And Shin’s great merit shared;
- He built him first his city wall,
- His dwelling, his ancestral hall,
- Works all of great extent.
- Then did the king present
- To Shin four steeds superb, bedight
- With harness gleaming in the light.
-
- To a car of state attached
- Were these, and Shin despatched.
- Quoth then the king, “Thy home I’ve planned:
- None fitter than that southern land.
- Take thou this sceptre great
- To mark thine high estate.
- Mine uncle—well-nigh king—away!
- Be thou the South’s defence and stay.”
-
- By stages Shin progressed;
- The king a parting feast
- Gave him in Mai. Then south he passed
- To Sié, his proper home at last.
- Shau by the king’s commands
- Had meted out his lands,
- And thence provision had supplied
- To speed him on his rapid ride.
-
- With soldierly display
- He entered into Sié,
- ’Mid crowds of vehicles and men.
- Rejoiced the entire empire then:
- “A good support you win:
- Illustrious is not Shin,
- The king’s grand-uncle? Yea, shall he
- In peace, in war, the pattern be!”
-
- Shin’s character displays
- Mild grace, with sterling ways.
- Those regions all his orders wait;
- His fame extends to every State.
- —Kih-fu composed this song,
- Of vigorous verse and strong,
- Of cadence graceful, as was meet
- To lay as tribute at his feet.
III. iii. 6.
EULOGY OF CHUNG SHAN-FU.
-
- Heaven gave the hosts of men their being,
- And all things their appointed groove;
- And what men hold as varying never,
- ’Tis virtue’s highest art to love.
- Heaven cast its glance on Chow’s great ruler,
- Saw what great worth below could do,
- And to uphold this Son of Heaven
- Called into being Chung Shan-fu.
-
- And Chung Shan-fu evinces virtue—
- Ideal virtue, gentle, good;
- Has noble mien, has noble manners,
- Shows care and wise solicitude.
- The ancient teachings are his models,
- Decorum strict his strenuous care;
- True follower of the Son of Heaven,
- He spreads his wise laws everywhere.
-
- The King gave Chung Shan-fu commandment:
- “Be thou a guide to every Prince;
- Continue thou as thy forefathers,
- The King’s own mainstay and defence.
- Deliver thou the royal mandates,
- Be thou thy Master’s throat and tongue;
- And promulgate abroad his measures,
- So to strike root all lands among.”
-
- Grave was indeed the King’s commandment;
- But [well] he took the task in hand;
- Domain or State, true or disloyal,
- Well did he each one understand.
- Clear intellect he had, and wisdom,
- And thus himself from ill preserved;
- Early and late, no moment idle,—
- Thus, too, the Man of men he served.
-
- “A tender morsel one may swallow,
- A tough one will the stomach rue:”
- So runs indeed the common adage,
- But so ’tis not with Chung Shan-fu.
- He does not swallow up the tender,
- His stomach does not spurn the tough:
- He hectors not the lone and widowed,
- Nor cowers before the strong and rough.
-
- Men have again the common adage:
- “Light though be virtue, as a hair,
- Yet few are strong enough to lift it.”
- Yet, when I measure and compare,
- One Chung Shan-fu aloft can lift it,
- Nor cares that others help should lend.
- When royal robes have rents appearing,
- ’Tis Chung Shan-fu the faults can mend.
-
- His worship of the road-gods ended,
- Now starts he with his strong four steeds;
- His men-at-arms all full of ardour,
- Each anxious to fulfil his needs.
- The team of four dash onward bravely,
- The eight bells making music grand;—
- The King has given to him commandment:
- “Go, fortify that Eastern land.”
-
- The team of four are full of mettle,
- The eight bells tinkling in their train,
- And Chung Shan-fu to Ts‘i now journeys,
- Quick, haste him home to us again!
- —Kih-fu hath made for him this ditty,
- To greet him like a pure fresh breeze;
- For Chung Shan-fu is anxious ever:—
- His mind perchance ’twill soothe and please.
III. iii. 7.
EULOGY OF THE PRINCE OF HAN.
-
- Majestic is Mount Liáng, whose acres
- [Old] Yü gave to the husbandman;
- Fine are its roads, [whereon late travelled],
- To take his charge, the Prince of Han.
- The King in person thus installed him:—
- “Succeed thou to thy Sires’ estate;
- Bear not in vain the charge I give thee;
- Be not remiss, or soon or late;
- Give reverent heed to thy vocation,
- So to this charge no change I bring;
- Reform the lands that hold back homage,
- So be the Servant of thy King.”
-
- Thence, with his team accoutred proudly,
- —Full tall and stately all the four,—
- Han’s Prince to Court came, craving audience,
- And his great sceptre forward bore,
- Advancing to the royal presence.
- The King then gave the Prince of Han
- The dragon-flag, all gaily mounted,
- A checkered screen, an ornate span,
- The sable robe, the yellow slippers,
- Breast-buckles, fillets all inlaid.
- Cross-rest of hide, with skin of tiger,
- Ringed ends of reins, with gold arrayed.
-
- He paid his worship to the road-gods,
- And left, and lodged at T‘u that night.
- HÎn-fu a farewell feast prepared him,
- Where hundred wine-jars sparkled bright.
- What dainty viands graced the table?
- Roast turtle, and fresh fish to boot.
- And what the vegetable dishes?
- Sprouts of bamboo, and sweet-flag root.
- And what again the parting present?
- A car of state and team of four.
- And round the frequent festal trenchers
- His brother chiefs him company bore.
-
- The Prince of Han, a wife he took him,
- Niece of the king who rules beside
- The Fen’s broad current—Kwai-fu’s daughter;—
- And when he went to bring his bride
- From the paternal home, in person,
- A hundred chariots lined the way,
- With bells in octaves making music,
- Ah, was it not a grand display!
- And as her maids came forth behind her,
- Softly, all softly, like a cloud,
- The Prince of Han looked round to see them;
- Such brilliance did the gateway crowd.
-
- Kwai-fu, he was a mighty warrior;
- No State which had not seen the man.
- And for his child a home selecting,
- None so delightsome seemed as Han.
- Han’s country is indeed delightsome,
- A wonderland of stream and fen;
- The bream and carp swarm in its waters,
- Great herds of deer roam through the fen;
- There also bears—the brown, the grisly,—
- Wild-cats and tigers, all abound.
- So fair a home rejoiced the father,
- His child* there peace and pleasure found.
-
- Stout were the ramparts of Han’s city,
- Raised by the multitudes of Yen
- For his forefather, when appointed
- To quell the wild tribes, numerous then.
- Now to Han’s Prince the King delivered
- The tribe of Chui, the tribe of Mih,
- And soon he brought them in, those Northmen,
- That he their overlord might be.
- Thereon,—ditch-delving, rampart-rearing,
- Land-leasing, rent-rolls, flourished there;
- And thence came gifts of skins—of leopard,
- Red panther, tawny grisly bear.
III. iii. 8.
HU OF SHAU’S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE SOUTHERN TRIBES OF HWAI, AND HIS REWARD.
-
- Full flowed the Kiang and Han:—
- Stream-like the warriors onward pressed;
- No aimless wandering, no rest,—
- The Hwai barbarians were their quest.
- Our chariots were abroad;
- Our falcon-banners were displayed;
- No rest,—no idle halt was made;
- Against the Hwai were all arrayed.
-
- Swoln are the Kiang and Han;
- So swell our warriors now with pride,
- For order reigns on every side
- At Court their deeds are notified.
- On every side is peace:
- The Royal State is settling fast,
- The strife and turmoil now is past,
- The royal heart beats calm at last.
-
- There by the Kiang and Han
- Had Hu of Shau the King’s commands:
- “Ope up the country on all hands,
- And make the assignment of my lands;
- This, without harm or haste;
- The Royal State thy standard be
- For large and lesser boundary
- Right onward to the Southern Sea.”
-
- Came the King’s message now:
- “Widely my will hast thou made known.
- When Wăn and Wu came to the throne
- A lord of Shau they rested on:—
- Say not, ‘I am a child;’
- Like him—that lord of Shau—thou art;
- Show’st zeal and merit at the start;
- Now let me gratify thy heart;
-
- Receive this jadestone cup,
- This vaseful of black-millet wine,
- Know the great Founder of our line,
- Hill, plain, and field henceforth are thine.
- Take thou a seat in Chow:
- A seat in thy forefather’s stead.”
- Hu made obeisance low, and said:
- “Prince, be thy years unlimited.”
-
- Hu made obeisance low;
- Then answered in the King’s loud praise,—
- Adopting Shau-kung’s perfect (phrase):
- “Heaven’s Son, unending be thy days!
- Heaven’s Son, illustrious One!
- Ne’er may thy fame for goodness fade!
- Thy civic virtues be displayed
- Till the whole empire they pervade!”
III. iii. 9.
KING SWÂN’S EXPEDITION IN PERSON AGAINST THE NORTHERN HWAI TRIBES.
-
- In majesty, resplendent,
- The royal mandates go
- To the lord Hwang-fu,—Nan Chung’s descendant,—
- His generalissimo:
- Equip me my six legions,
- My weapons of war prepare;
- We go to befriend those southern regions,
- Yet first need utmost care.
-
- Next bade he his Recorder:
- Charge the Earl of Ch‘ing, Hiu-fu,
- Put right and left in marching order;
- My soldiers bid pursue
- The course of Hwai’s broad waters
- Till Siu-land they shall see,
- Then loiter not, nor there seek quarters,
- But back to the duties three.
-
- Majestic, awe-inspiring,
- Heaven’s Son, the great and dread,
- His troops with slow, calm step, untiring,
- In open order led.
- All Siu-land paled with wonder,
- All Siu-land shrank dismayed;
- As with the crash and din of thunder
- It trembled sore afraid.
-
- The King—his brave soul swelling—
- With anger seemed inflamed.
- His tiger-leaders forth-compelling,
- Tigers he truly named.
- Troops o’er Hwai’s banks disposing,
- They crowds of the foe ensnare;
- Roads to the river all were closing,—
- The royal troops were there!
-
- Great was his army’s strength;—
- Like birds on the wing for speed,
- Like the Han and Kiang for breadth and length,
- Like a mountain thickly treed.
- Like a great rolling river
- Continuous, uniform,
- Unfathomed, unimpeded ever;—
- Siu-land it took by storm.
-
- Strict terms the King directed,
- And Siu-land’s chiefs obeyed;
- And Siu-land thus became connected,—
- Heaven’s Son such art displayed.
- On every side was order;
- Siu’s chiefs their homage bring;
- Now, no revolt within each border,
- “Back, homewards,” cried the King.
III. iii. 10.
PAU-SZE IN POWER.
-
- I look upwards to great Heaven;
- Heaven no clemency extends;
- To unrest, long long protracted,
- Now these heavy woes it sends.
- With the country still unsettled,
- High and low are all distressed;
- With those pests devouring, blighting,
- Never have we peace or rest.
- With the penal net undrawn yet,
- Peace and health elude our quest.
-
- Men had properties—broad acres,—
- You have got them back again;
- Men had bodies of retainers,
- You must these perforce obtain.
- Some men, clearly not offenders,
- You will yet receive in charge;
- Others, clearly the offenders,
- You will set again at large.
-
- Clever men build up a city,
- Clever women cause its fall.
- Clever women may have charms, yet
- Owls and vampires are they (all).
- Women with long tongues but lead you
- Step by step to harm and woe.
- Not from Heaven come such disorders,
- ’Tis from women that they grow.
- It is only wives and eunuchs
- Nothing learn and nothing know.
-
- Wearying, worrying, capricious,
- Slandering first, then turning round;
- Say they not, “’Tis nothing serious:
- Pray what harm in it is found?”
- Like the merchant gaining threefold,
- ’Tis the husband has the brains;
- How should wives, inapt at ruling,
- Leave their looms (to take the reins)?
-
- Wherefore now is Heaven rebuking?
- Gods no longer prospering thee?
- Ah,—thy bold barbarians sparing,—
- All thy hatred falls on me.
- Heedless of all evil omens,
- Grave demeanour show’st thou none;
- And thy men are disappearing,
- And thy land is all undone.
-
- O the nets that Heaven is lowering,
- Intricate and manifold!
- O thy men so disappearing,—
- It is grievous to behold.
- O the net that Heaven is lowering;
- Now in close proximity!
- O thy men so disappearing,—
- Pitiful it is to see.
-
- Wells, confined and boiling over,
- Their profundity display,—
- Picture of a soul grief-laden!
- —Why is it so willed to-day?
- Why not in the days before me,
- Or when I have passed away?
- Yet hath high mysterious Heaven
- Fullest power to heal and bind:—
- Shame not thine august forefathers,
- Save, thus, those thou leav’st behind!
III. iii. 11.
THE COUNTRY IN COLLAPSE.
-
- Bounteous Heaven, with awful frown,
- Sends perpetual havoc down,
- Plaguing us with dearth of food.
- Sink and die the multitude;
- Through our land, and all around
- Nought but desert wastes are found.
-
- Heaven lets down the penal net.
- Blighting pests, that inly fret,
- Dullards, tyrants, void of care,
- Working havoc everywhere,
- All-perverse;—behold the band
- Who shall tranquillize our land!
-
- Brazen sland’rers though they be,
- Yet he fails their faults to see.
- Us,—so watchful, so afraid
- (Lest we aught should do of wrong),—
- Us, deprived of peace so long,
- He must evermore degrade.
-
- Like as when in years of drouth
- Plants are stunted in their growth,—
- Or as drift-grass that one sees
- Hanging withered from the trees,—
- So this land appears to me—
- Wasted all with anarchy.
-
- Olden times were not as this,
- In (the mode of winning) wealth;
- Modern times show none like this,
- For decay of (moral) health.
- Tares are those, and wheat are these;—
- Why not take themselves away?
- Why prolong our miseries,
- Adding to them day by day?
-
- Ah, when reservoirs are dried,
- ’Tis from failure at the side;
- And when fountains cease to flow,
- ’Tis from failure down below.
- Wide and deep this injury;
- More and more of it I see;
- May it not alight on me!
-
- Formerly, when kings were crowned,
- Men like dukes of Shau were found,
- Who could to the kingdom lay
- A new dozen leagues each day;
- Now ’tis all the other way!
- O the pity of it all!
- Are there men then now no more
- Gifted like the men of yore?
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), Duke of Chow, and as Si Peh, Chief of the West. He was afterwards canonized as “King Wăn.”
, 
, 
, 
.
châu sze here simply a first or first-fruit offering? Doubtless it means more in the last stanza.
ching denotes the distilling process, or merely steaming.
k‘ai ti translated “joyous and free,” &c., in other Odes, seem to have another signification here, and Dr. Legge draws attention to the fact that Confucius interpreted somewhat as above in the Li-ki, quoting from these verses.
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, 
. Flute and whistle responding to each other, the joining together of the two equal parts of a mace, and the handling of objects, represent respectively the ready response of man’s intellect to the call of truth and rectitude, the accord and perfection which this response brings about, and the ease with which it is done.
sin mai. I take sin as the adverb, expressive of putting up for the nights.
, Home Secretary, or Recorder of the Interior.