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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) PART IV.: FESTAL HYMNS AND SONGS. - The Shi King, the Old Poetry Classic of the Chinese
PART IV.: FESTAL HYMNS AND SONGS. - 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 IV.
FESTAL HYMNS AND SONGS.
BOOK I.
THE HYMNS OF CHOW.
FIRST SECTION.
IV. i. 1.
AT THE SACRIFICE TO KING WĂN.
- How solemn is the sacred temple now!
- How grave are all the illustrious acolytes!
- While, crowding round, the many ministers
- Who cleave unto the virtuous ways of Wăn,
- In actions echoing his in Heaven, alert
- Yet dignified, move up and down the hall.
- Illustrious is not he, and had in honour?
- O never shall men weary of his praise.
IV. i. 2.
WĂN’S EXAMPLE.
- The orderings of Heaven
- Are how profound, how pauseless!
- And O, shone out not brightly
- King Wăn’s unsullied virtue?
- To deluge us with blessings
- He purposed:—let us take them.
- Great our King Wăn, and gracious!
- May all his line be like him!
IV. i. 3.
HIS STATUTES AND ORDINANCES.
- Bright, and growing ever brighter,
- Are the statutes of King Wăn.
- From the first pure offering made—
- While men keep them whole as now,
- Doth it augur well for Chow.
IV. i. 4.
THE KING TO THE PRINCES ASSISTING HIM AT SACRIFICES.
- Illustrious and accomplished lords and princes!
- Ye have conferred on me this happiness.
- The unbounded loyalty thus shown to me—
- Such may my children’s children long retain!
- While in your realms ye hoard not, neither waste,
- Your conduct shall have honour from your king
- Who, mindful too of these high services,
- Shall still exalt those who succeed to you.
- None is so strong as (he who plays) the man:
- Of him the people everywhere will learn.
- Nought shines so bright as Virtue: this it is
- Whereto all princes for example turn.
- Ah, not forgotten are our former kings!
IV. i. 5.
AT THE SHRINE OF KING T‘AI.
- Heaven made the lofty hill;
- King T‘ai reclaimed and dressed it.
- He laboured first thereat;
- King Wăn in peace possessed it.
- O’er that once rugged K‘i
- Now were there easy thoroughfares.
- So keep it long, ye sons of theirs!
IV. i. 6.
AT THE SHRINE OF KING CH‘ING.
- High Heaven the appointment fully hath confirmed.
- Two potentates received the same;
- Nor dared King Ching to rest, but day and night
- By still deep thought looked to the grounds of it.
- O gloriously, unceasingly,
- He strove with all his heart and mind,
- And so hath won tranquillity.
IV. i. 7.
AT THE SHRINE OF KING WĂN, AS THE ASSESSOR OF GOD.
-
- I bring my votive gifts
- Of sheep and kine;
- It may be that to these
- Heaven will incline.
- The statutes of King Wăn
- My rule and guide,
- Daily grows peacefulness
- On every side.
- And he, King Wăn the Blest,
- Hath to my heart inclined,
- Well gratified.
-
- The majesty of Heaven
- Both night and day
- Will I revere, and hold
- To this good way.
IV. i. 8.
ON KING WU’S PROGRESS THROUGH HIS DO MINIONS, AFTER THE OVERTHROW OF SHANG.
-
- Now that he takes his journey through the land,
- May highest Heaven acknowledge him Its Son!
-
- Yea, Heaven doth honour him who now succeeds
- Unto the throne of Chow. And dread is he;
- And none there is who trembles not before him!
- The host of Spirits he hath won to him,
- Far as the Ho, far as the highest hills.
- Assuredly a Sovereign is our king.
-
- Glorious is he who ruleth over Chow,
- In due succession seated on its throne.
- Away, away (with war)—with shield and spear!
- Away—shut up the arrow and the bow!
- Virtue benign be now our (only) quest;
- Virtue, to spread throughout this ancient land:—
- Assuredly our king will cherish it.
IV. i. 9.
AT SACRIFICES IN HONOUR OF KINGS WU, CH‘ING, AND K‘ANG.
-
- O mighty was the monarch Wu,
- Nor famed for might alone.
- And Ch‘ing and K‘ang—shone they not too?
- God set them on the throne.
-
- From these—from Ch‘ing and K‘ang—
- Strong grew the land all round.
- Their judgment how profound!
- Let bell and drum then clang,
- And stones and pipe resound,
- For good thus showered around!
-
- Yea, blessing hath been freely on us shed;
- Be our deportment grave, decorous, ever.
- Deep have we drunk, and fully have we fed,—
- Our happinesses interrupted never.
IV. i. 10.
AT SACRIFICES IN HONOUR OF HOW-TSIH.
- O Tsih, thou Prince accomplished,
- Worthy to link with Heaven,
- Grain-giver to our nation!
- Thy grace supreme, none other’s,
- Gave us the wheat, the barley,
- God sanctioned for our life-staff.
- No limit here restrained thee.
- So spread’st thou social order
- Throughout this ancient nation.
BOOK II.
THE HYMNS OF CHOW.
SECOND SECTION.
IV. ii. 1.
AN ADMONITION ADDRESSED IN THE SPRING TO THE OFFICERS WHO PRESIDED OVER AGRICULTURE.
-
- Ho there, ye ministers and officers!
- With reverent care attend ye to your tasks.
- Ye have your full directions from the king;
- These ponder well and inwardly digest.
-
- Ho there, ye stays and props (of husbandry)!
- Now are we in the waning days of Spring:
- What want we more, than how to put to use
- The fallows of the second and third year?
- How grand a show have we of wheat and barley:
- Soon shall we have bright (waving fields) of these.
- The bright and glorious God, in giving them,
- Doth give us promise of a prosperous year.
- Call out our husbandmen, bid one and all
- Be ready with the mattock and the hoe.
- Anon we’ll see the sickle in the grain.
IV. ii. 2.
SPRING SONG (IN CONNECTION WITH A SACRIFICE TO KING CH‘ING).
- ’Tis well, ’tis well! King Ch‘ing
- In brightness hath approached you.
- Lead forth these husbandmen
- To sow their various seeds.
- Grandly begin the work
- All o’er your own broad acres;
- And set behind your ploughs
- Your myriad men in pairs.
IV. ii. 3.
GREETING OF GUESTS REPRESENTING AT COURT THE TWO FORMER DYNASTIES.
-
- Like spreading egrets flying
- To yonder western mere,
- Here in such (stately) fashion
- My visitors appear.
-
- There —never in disfavour,
- Here—never wished away,—
- Sure, night and day, their praises
- Shall they retain for aye.
IV. ii. 4.
HARVEST HOME.
- Exuberant is the year!
- Of millet and rice what store!
- And the corn-lofts high are filled
- With million loads and more,
- For brewing sweet drinks and strong,
- For offerings to our sires
- And granddames gone before,
- And for all each rite requires.
- Ay blessings without end
- Of every sort descend.
IV. ii. 5.
THE BLIND MUSICIANS.
-
- Lo, the blind players, the sightless band,
- There in Chow’s palace-precincts stand!
-
- There are the music-stands arrayed:
- Plumes on the high tooth’d beam displayed;
- Drums small and large from the same depend.
- Hand-drums too, and the sounding-stones;
- Instruments signalling start and end.
- Ready! now all strike up the air;
- Pipe and flute in the concert share.
- Loud are the melodies and refrains,
- Solemn, harmonious, tuneful strains.
- These will the shades of our fathers hear!
- So shall our visitors, when they come,
- Long to their perfect (art) give ear.
IV. ii. 6.
AT THE OFFERING OF THE FIRST FISH TAKEN IN THE SPRING.
- O, in the streams of Ts‘iü and Ts‘ih
- Numbers of fish in the pools there be!
- Sturgeon are there, the large, the small,
- Salmon and smelt, and carp, and all;—
- Offerings meet for altar and shrine,
- That for still greater blessings call.
IV. ii. 7.
KING WU’S SACRIFICE TO HIS DECEASED FATHER, ASSISTED BY THE FEUDAL PRINCES.
- Harmoniously the princes
- Draw near with reverent tread,
- Assisting in his worship
- Heaven’s Son the great and dread.
[The king’s address to the dead]:—
-
- “This noble bull I bring thee;
- My sacrifice behold;
- O Sire august, be near me,
- Thy faithful child (of old).
-
- “A man, thou,—in deep wisdom;
- A prince,—in arms, in lore;
- Peace wrought’st thou in great Heaven,
- Here, greatness evermore.
-
- “For comfort, as old age comes,
- For blessings, never few,
- I honour thee, great father,
- Thee, gifted mother, too.”
IV. ii. 8.
THE FEUDAL PRINCES COME TO ASSIST KING CH‘ING IN HIS OFFERINGS TO HIS FATHER WU.
-
- They come unto their lord the king,
- His mandates high soliciting.
- Their dragon-banners gleam; the bells
- On chariot-fronts and banners ring!
- How glitter, too, each trace and rein!
- Yea, striking splendour they maintain.
-
- He leads them where his Sire is shrined,
- And offers with true filial mind.
[The king’s address to the dead]:— - “May it avail when I am old;
- Yea, long thy son in life uphold,
- With blessing great and manifold!
- These princes, talented and true,
- Cheer me with favours not a few:
- May truest blessedness their lasting fame pursue!”
IV. ii. 9.
WELCOME TO THE DUKE OF SUNG AT THE COURT OF CHOW.
-
- Our guest, our guest arrives,
- With steeds of milky hue.
- See how attent, how proud,
- His chosen retinue!
-
- Two nights to be our guest!
- Two more when these are past!
- Aha! take out the ropes
- And bind his horses fast!
-
- Then, following him forth,
- Give him God-speed all round.
- Most meet it is such worth
- With blessing should be crowned.
IV. ii. 10.
IN HONOUR OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF KING WU.
- O, great was Wu the king,
- For mightiest deeds renowned!
- Gifted indeed was Wăn,
- Who paved his followers’ way;
- Thou, Wu, took’st up his work,
- Didst vanquish Yin, and stay
- Its deeds of cruelty;
- Performing to the full
- Thy task of high emprise.
BOOK III.
THE HYMNS OF CHOW.
THIRD SECTION.
IV. iii. 1.
AT KING CH‘ING’S FIRST OFFERING TO HIS FATHER AFTER THE PERIOD OF MOURNING.
-
- Alas, that I in childhood’s years
- Should come to an unsettled throne,
- And in my trouble stand alone!
- Thou, O great father, now no more,
- Wast all thy life a duteous son:
-
- Didst mine august grandsire recall
- (As though still) moving through the hall.
- I am a child, yet night and day
- (Such filial) reverence I will pay.
- O ye great kings! it shall be mine
- Ne’er to forget I am a scion of your line.
IV. iii. 2.
KING CH‘ING’S PRAYER TO HIS DECEASED FATHER.
- Now, on my inauguration
- I seek counsel, fain to follow
- In my glorious father’s footsteps.
- But, ah me! how far ’twill lead me!
- I am yet thereto unfitted.
- Aid my efforts. My succession
- Bodes but severance and failure.
- I am but a child, unequal
- To the many cares of statecraft.
- —Up and down the court still moving,
- Up and down within the household,
- Be mine august sire propitious,—
- So enlighten and sustain me.
IV. iii. 3.
KING CH‘ING AND HIS COUNSELLORS.
- The Counsellors.
- In reverence persevere;
- Heaven’s (purpose) may be clear,
- Yet ah, its Charge upon thee is not slight!
- Say not, “Heaven is so far, so high”;—
- Its Servants it is ever nigh,
- And daily are we here within its sight.
- The Young King.
- I am a child, and hence
- Unskilled in reverence;
- But with the days and months will Learning’s rays
- Grow into fullest light at last.
- Aid me to bear this burden vast;
- And teach me of illustrious Virtue’s ways.
IV. iii. 4.
THE RESOLVE OF KING CH‘ING AFTER HIS FIRST ERROR.
- I have had my warning,
- And will guard ’gainst future evils:
- Will no more with wasps have dealings,
- Courting but their stings and venom.
- What at first was but a “peach-tree insect,”
- Taking wing, became a bird undoubted.
- I, unequal yet to all the cares of statecraft,
- Here am placed moreover on a bed of smartweed.
IV. iii. 5.
HUSBANDRY AND WORSHIP.
-
- Clear the twitch-grass, clear the scrub;
- Ploughs the soddened soil shall grub.
- Thousand couples weed the ground,
- Crossing swampy field and bound:
- There the master, there the son,
- Younger sons, aye every one;
- Strong men here, assistants there.
- Hear them o’er their (mid-day) fare.
- Husbands eye their wives with pride,
- Wives cling to their husbands’ side.
- Now the sharpened shares are in;—
- On South Acres they begin.
-
- Sown is grain, of every kind:
- Living germs in all enshrined.
-
- Bursting now, in faultless rows,
- Succulent and tall it grows.
-
- ’Mid the young and thriving grain
- Weeders wade, a numerous train.
-
- Last, the reapers, band on band,
- Pile the produce on the land,
- Till the stacks unnumbered stand.
- Liquor sweet and strong ’twill brew,
- ’Gainst the time when gifts be due
- To departed dame and sire,
- And for what all rites require.
- Fragrant odour thence doth rise
- That a nation glorifies;
- While the pungent perfume cheers
- Men in their declining years.
-
- Not that here alone ’tis so,
- Nor that now alone ’tis so:—
- Thus it was long long ago.
IV. iii. 6.
THE SAME.
-
- Now the good sharp shares are in:
- On South Acres they begin.
-
- Grain they sow, of every kind;
- Living germs in all enshrined.
-
- Some there come to see them there,
- Bringing baskets, round and square,
- With the millet for their fare.
-
- Now the light splint hats are worn,
- Hoes are hacking through the corn,
- Tare and weed away are torn.
-
- Tare and weed decayed and dead,
- Millets thrive and come to head.
-
- Hark! the sickles now they ply;
- See! the sheaves in masses lie;
- Reared anon like ramparts high,—
- Smooth as had there been a comb!
- Open now be every home!
-
- Every home is well supplied,
- Wife and children satisfied.
-
- So this ox, with crooked horn
- And the tawny hide, we kill:—
- Rites men kept ere we were born
- Thus be kept and copied still.
IV. iii. 7.
AT THE SACRIFICIAL FEAST.
- In robe of silk, all spick and span,
- And festal cap, the reverent man
- From hall to basement now descends,
- From ram to bull his way he wends.—
- Arrayed are tripod pot and pan,
- Curved cup of horn of unicorn.
- And mellow wine of flavour fine.
- No noise, no bluster here—sure gage
- Of life prolonged to green old age.
IV. iii. 8.
IN HONOUR OF KING WU.
- O, splendid gleam the royal troops,
- Well cared for through the days of gloom.
- Now, as the times grow bright and clear,
- They don their grand accoutrements.
- To us is given the grace to take
- What thou, our hero-king, achiev’dst.
- So let us use our heritage,
- Being indeed true followers in thy steps.
IV. iii. 9.
THE SAME.
- The myriad lands are tranquil;
- The years are ever prosperous:—
- Heaven’s bounty never halteth.
- Wu, the great warrior-monarch,
- Retaining still his Servants
- On every hand to aid him,
- His House established firmly.
- Ah, now he shines in Heaven,
- August, its Mediator!
IV. iii. 10.
WU’S PRAISE OF HIS FATHER WĂN.
- King Wăn was zealous toiler;
- Be I his meet successor.
- Proclaim it, ne’er forget it.
- My aim alone shall be (his work) to stablish.
- ’Twas he (won) Chow’s Appointment!—
- O ne’er forget it!
IV. iii. 11.
ROYAL PROGRESS OF WU THROUGH HIS DOMINIONS.
- Ah, now is Chow exalted!—
- He climbs the lofty mountains,
- The alp, the long sierra;
- And true, as Ho’s bound waters,
- Are all beneath the Heavens,
- Assembling now to meet him.
- Here (see we) Chow’s Appointment!
BOOK IV.
THE FESTAL SONGS OF LU.
IV. iv. 1.
A NOBLE HORSE-BREEDER.
-
- Stalwart colts of sturdy breed
- On the outer commons (feed);
- Sturdy sort indeed!
- Here the brindled, there the grey,
- Here the black, and there the bay.
- Harnessed—how they’ll dash away!
- Boundless care and thought
- These to such perfection brought.
-
- Stalwart colts of sturdy breed
- On the outer commons (feed);
- Sturdy sort indeed!
- Piebald here, and chestnut there,
- Brown, and streaked with silver hair.
- Bravely these the yoke will bear!
- Endless heed gave he
- To produce such quality.
-
- Stalwart colts of sturdy breed
- On the outer commons (feed);
- Sturdy sort indeed!
- Flecked, and dark-maned white and bay,
- With the white-maned irongrey:—
- Well will these the reins obey.
- With unwearied mind
- Laboured he such steeds to find.
-
- Stalwart colts of sturdy breed
- On the outer commons (feed);
- Sturdy sort indeed!
- Pale, and dappled, with white thighs,
- Long-haired legs, or fish-like eyes!
- For the yoke what strength and size!
- With unswerving care
- Steeds for travel trains he there.
IV. iv. 2.
FEASTING AND MIRTH AT COURT.
-
- With their lusty, lusty teams,
- Lusty teams—and each a bay—
- Late and early at the Court,
- At the Court, who bright as they!
- Fluttering flock of egrets!
- Egrets when they light.
- Rub-a-dub! the drums arouse
- All to caper and carouse.
- So do all in mirth unite.
-
- With their lusty, lusty teams,
- Lusty teams—and each a male—
- Early, late, they are at Court,
- There to banquet and regale.
- Fluttering flock of egrets!
- Egrets now in flight.
- Rub-a-dub! the drums they bray!
- All drink deeply, then away!
- So do all in mirth unite.
-
- With their lusty, lusty teams,
- Lusty teams—all irongrey—
- Late and early at the Court,
- At the Court to feast are they.
- O that now, henceforward,
- Years were all so bright!
- May our Prince’s goodness be
- His descendants’ legacy!
- So may all in mirth unite!
IV. iv. 3.
IN PRAISE OF THE LORD OF LU.
-
- Delightsome is the college pool;
- Cress-gathering there go we.
- There he arrives, the Lord of Lu—
- His dragon-banner see!
- His banner flutters in the breeze,
- His bells make music gay;
- And come not small, and come not great
- Behind him on his way?
-
- Delightsome is the college pool;
- Come, gather out its weeds.
- There he arrives, the Lord of Lu—
- With proudly prancing steeds.
- With proudly prancing steeds he comes,
- The man of high renown,
- The Teacher with the smiling face,
- That never wears a frown!
-
- Delightsome is the college pool;
- Come, pluck the mallows fine.
- There on its marge the Lord of Lu
- Arrives, and quaffs his wine.
- Choice wine he quaffs; may feeble age
- Thereby be long deferred!
- (Long) may he mind the ancient ways,
- And rule the common herd!
-
- Right noble is our Lord of Lu;
- Strict virtue he displays.
- His people’s precedent is he,
- So guarded in his ways.
- In peace or war he gloriously
- Moves his illustrious sires;
- And to their blessing,—dutiful
- In all things,—he aspires.
-
- Enlightened is our Lord of Lu;
- In virtue he excels.
- He made this college with its pool,
- Whence he the Hwai tribes quells.
- Hither his valiant tiger-chiefs
- Bring many a foeman’s ear;
- And judges, wise as was Kâu-yâu,
- Present their prisoners here.
-
- And all his countless officers
- In breadth of honour grow.
- Brave on the march, in South and East
- They put to flight the foe;
- And here in crowds, all-dignified,
- ’Thout noise or vain conceit,
- Or call of arbiters, they lay
- Their triumphs at his feet.
-
- Their horn-tipped bows bend to the string;
- Swift shafts in showers are shot.
- Mighty the war-cars! Charioteers
- And footmen weary not.
- The Hwai are mastered, fast reform,
- And now no more contend.
- “Be firm in purpose, and the Hwai
- You capture in the end.”
-
- There fluttering come the owls, and light
- Within the college wood;
- And greet us with grand hoots, the while
- Our mulberries are their food.
- So are the Hwai alert, and bring
- Their gifts, rare to behold:
- Great tortoise-shells and ivory tusks,
- And wealth of southern gold.
IV. iv. 4.
IN PRAISE OF PRINCE HI OF LU.
-
- There silent stands the solemn fane,
- Well-built, and nobly garnished.
- Exalted, honoured was Kiang Yün,
- Her virtue all untarnished.
- For she it was, God helping her,
- That, when her months had run,
- At once, without a pang or pain,
- Brought forth How-tsih, her son.
- With him a hundred blessings came—
- The millets, the early and the late,
- And late and early pulse and wheat.
- Anon a Master in the State,
- He set his folk to till the fields,
- So had they grain for sacrifice,
- The millets black and white, and rice.
- Anon the world’s Great Husbandman,
- Where Yü’s work ended, he began.
-
- ’Twas of the lineage of How-tsih
- That T‘âi the kingly sprang,
- Who dwelt on K‘i’s south slope when first
- Began the fall of Shang.
- Still later, T‘âi’s unfinished work
- Was done by Wăn and Wu;
- When Heaven’s full purpose was achieved
- Upon the wilds of Muh.
- “God now is with you!” (then cried Wu),
- “Doubt not, nor be dismayed.”
- So tackled they the troops of Shang,
- And each his part well played.
- Then quoth the king, “Now, uncle mine,
- Will I promote thy first-born son,
- And make him Lord of Lu.
- “And I will add to your domain,
- That Chow may find its help in you.”
-
- He made him Duke of Lu, and gave
- The East into his hand.
- And to himself gave hill and stream,
- Tilled plain, and neighb’ring land.
- A scion of the Duke of Chow,
- Son of Duke Chwang, remains,
- Who with the dragon-flag appears,
- And six long pliant reins,
- In Spring, in Autumn, ne’er remiss,
- And sacrifices faultlessly
- To the Great Sovereign Lord of all;
- And to his own great sire How-tsih
- Offers the red unblemished bulls.
- These they accept, these they approve,
- And blessings rich flow down.
- Chow’s Duke, and all the sires august,—
- These also thee with blessing crown.
-
- Comes Autumn, comes the autumnal rite.
- In Summer bulls are sought,—
- The white, the roan, with shackled horns,—
- The ox-vase finely wrought,
- The roasts, the mincemeats, and the soups,
- Trenchers, and mighty trays,—
- Dancers and posturers, too, in troops.
- Good son, bright be thy days!
- Thou shalt win glory and success,
- Long life and happiness,
- And o’er the East keep watch and ward,
- And long the land of Lu possess,
- Unlessened, unsubvertible,
- Unshaken, and unmoved;
- The Veterans Three befriending thee,
- Firm as the hills and mountains proved.
-
- A thousand cars of war are thine,
- And in them all are seen
- The pairs of spears, the pairs of bows,
- Red-tasselled, bound with green;
- Three myriad footmen too, whose helms
- Red strings with cowries grace.
- How swarm they forth, when the wild hordes
- In South or North they face,
- Or punish those of King or Shu!
- None dares but give us place.
-
- Success and glory shall be thine,
- Long life and wealth in store,
- With veterans for thy ministers,
- The wrinkled and the hoar!
- Thou shalt be great and prosperous,
- Live long, yet still be hale.
- Ten thousand thousand years be thine,
- Nor ought thy whitened hairs assail!
-
- There frowns aloft the hill of T‘ai
- Whence all of Lu may be descried;
- And thine shall be both Mung and Kwai;
- Anon the utmost East beside,
- To countries bordering on the main.
- The Hwai for peace shall sue;
- None but shall follow in thy train:—
- This shall achieve the Lord of Lu!
-
- And Fuh and Yih shalt thou maintain;
- Soon Siu-land thine shall be,
- And countries bordering on the main;
- And barbarous Hwai and Mân and Mi
- And yonder hordes in Southern lands
- Shall follow in thy train;
- And none shall dare to say thee nay:—
- Lu’s lord from all shall homage gain.
-
- Heaven send true blessing on our lord;
- Long life to watch o’er Lu!
- With Chow’s Duke’s wide domains restored,
- He shall hold court in Ch‘ang and Hu.
- Then shall Lu’s lord feast and rejoice,
- With worthy wife, and mother old,
- With noble Chiefs and Servants all.
- May he the State and princedom hold,
- And this be his beatitude—
- Hoar hair, with teeth of youth renewed!
-
- Sin-fu produced the cypress-trees,
- Tsu-lai* produced the pines;
- Hewed down and measured out were these
- With foot and fathom lines.
- The pine-beams were of mighty size,
- Thus noble halls there be,
- And proudly the new temple stands,
- Erected by Hi-sze,—
- A noble building, high and wide,
- Which all men’s hopes hath satisfied.
BOOK V.
THE FESTAL ODES OF SHANG.
[Shang,—also called Yin, and Yin-Shang, as appears elsewhere in this volume,—was the dynasty that preceded Chow. As in the case of the Chow poems, only certain kings are singled out from the many. Of these T‘ang, the founder of the dynasty, naturally has the chief place. There are said to have been seven poems, in addition to the following five, in existence at the beginning of the eighth century bc, but they appear not to have reached the hands of Confucius.]
IV. v. 1.
AT THE SACRIFICES IN HONOUR OF KING T‘ANG.
-
- So-ho! now to the grand display!
- Our drums and tabours to the fore!
- Strike up, let drums make music gay;
- ’Twill please our glorious sire of yore.
-
- T‘ang’s scion thus his ear would win,
- Thus fills our hearts with fullest cheer.
- The drums and tabours wake their din,
- The flutes add music shrill and clear.
-
- Harmonious, regular they sound,
- And with our sounding-stones agree.
- O, T‘ang’s descendant is renowned,
- And wondrous in his minstrelsie!
-
- High rise the sounds of drum and bell;
- Well move the dancers to each measure;
- And we have worthy guests as well,
- To share with us our joy and pleasure.
-
- In days gone by, ere we were born,
- The men of yore would do the same;
- And, meek and humble, night and morn,
- Devoutly to the service came.
-
- May (T‘ang) regard the offerings
- That T‘ang’s descendant for us brings!
IV. v. 2.
THE SAME.
-
- Ah, from thy glorious sire of yore,—
- Source of unfailing blessedness!—
- Do gifts unstinted more and more
- Descend upon thee in this place.
-
- The clear pure spirits are outpoured:
- Our hopes shall have their full reward.
- The savoury soups are also there,
- Mingled with diligence and care.
- With gifts—not words—his presence we invite;
- No discord nor contention mars the rite.
- With green old age, and hair long hoar,
- He’ll cheer and bless us evermore.
- With hide-girt naves, and yokes ornate,
- Their eight bells tinkling, come in state
- (My lords) upon the rite to wait.
- So win we blessing full and free:
- From Heaven is sent prosperity—
- Rich years, aye plenteous as may be.
- His presence, his acceptance of this food
- Will bring us down untold beatitude.
-
- May (T‘ang) regard the offerings
- That T‘ang’s descendant for us brings!
IV. v. 3.
AT A ROYAL SACRIFICE.
-
- At Heaven’s behest the dusky bird flew down,
- And was the parent of the House of Shang,—
- Which dwelt in Yin, and greatly multiplied.
- And long ago God charged the warlike T‘ang
- To fix their boundaries on every side.
-
- Then had the princes their commission given.
- Anon they held the territories nine;
- And he, the first in Shang to be the king,
- The appointment held unthreatened with decline,—
- Now vested in a scion of Wu-ting.
-
- And Wu-ting’s scion is a warrior-king,
- And ne’er a task for him is too severe.
- Ten chariots with his dragon-banners bring
- Large store of sacrificial millet here.
-
- His royal lands extend a thousand li,
- And there his people’s settled dwellings be,—
- And thence his landmarks stretch to every sea.
-
- From every sea men come, all hither bound;
- They come, and here in multitudes are found,
- Where flows the Ho (the hill of) King around.
- Most meet it was that Yin received the Call,
- Now bearing its great honours one and all.
IV. v. 4.
IN HONOUR OF THE FOUNDERS OF SHANG.
[There is no variation of rhymes in the original in any stanza except the last; and this peculiarity is here preserved.]
-
- In Shang was wisdom most profound,
- And long with blessing it was crowned.
- When the Great Flood increased around
- Yü led its waters through the lowland ground.
- To each great border State he placed a bound,
- Till far the frontier-lines extended round.
- Then, when the State of Sung became renowned,
- Did God raise up a son, the House of Shang to found.
-
- The dusky monarch made success his aim:
- Had he a small State, greater it became;
- Had he a great one, still it was the same.
- The course he followed was devoid of blame;
- At his mere glance quick men’s response thus came.
- Siang-t‘u, a Chief of glorious fame,
- Could foes beyond the seas subdue and tame.
-
- Nor then did God’s appointment fall away:
- Till T‘ang arose it kept its even way;
- And T‘ang came to the world without delay.
- More sage grew he, more reverent day by day.
- Long had his influence a marked display.
- God-fearing, he was given by God to sway
- The territories nine that round him lay.
-
- Ensigns of rank were brought him, small and great;
- On him, like banner-pendants, hung each State;
- And (well) he bore his Heaven-sent honours’ weight.
- Not hasty was he, yet not prone to wait,
- Not soft and yielding, yet not obdurate;
- And calmly could he all things regulate.
- So did all honours on him congregate.
-
- To him was tribute, large or little, paid;
- The States’ strong beast of burden he was made!
- And (well) he bore Heaven’s favours on him laid.
- And far abroad his prowess he displayed,—
- Ne’er agitated, nor at aught dismayed,
- Ne’er apprehensive, nor of aught afraid.
- So were all honours heaped upon his head.
-
- The warrior-king would by his banner stand,
- His battle-axe grasped firmly in his hand,
- His ardour glowing like a blazing brand.
- Who then were they that dared our might withstand?
- A root with triple shoot (was in the land),
- That had no growth, no vigour to expand;
- And then the regions nine did sundered stand;
- So were Kun-wu and Wei and Ku outmanned,
- And Kiĕ, Hià’s sovereign, fell beneath his hand.
-
- There was a time once, in his mid career,
- Of agitation and of quaking fear;
- But O, he was a Son indeed of Heaven,
- And unto him a Minister was given;
- And of a truth this same was that A-Hang,
- The true supporter of the King of Shang.
IV. v. 5.
ON THE COMPLETION OF A NEW TEMPLE BUILT IN HONOUR OF KING WU-TING.
-
- Quick was the Yin, in warlike mood:
- King-ts‘u received his onslaught rude;
- Bold in its fastnesses he stood,
- Brought back its (scattered) multitude,
- And every part of it subdued.
- T‘ang’s scion thus his father’s course pursued.
-
- “Men of King-ts‘u,” (quoth then Wu-ting,)
- “Far South though ye be settled in my realm,
- Yet once, when T‘ang the Perfecter was king,
- E’en from Ti-kiang, none dared but bring
- To Court his loyal offering,
- Nor dared absent him from his king;
- And ‘Shang is Shang’: its rule unaltering.”
-
- The many Princes ruled by Heaven’s command,
- With cities placed where Yü the sites had planned,
- Yet yearly came before their King to stand,
- And deprecate reproof or vengeful hand,
- As unremiss in tillage of the land.
-
- Would Heaven its searching eye turn down,
- Or wore the people’s face a frown,
- In him no error nor excess was known;
- Nor idle leisure dared he make his own.
- Charged with the rule of every lesser State,
- So prospered he, and sealed his happy fate.
-
- His city, nobly built on every side,
- Was model to all countries far and wide;
- And glorious, glorious was his praise.
- His genius shone with purest rays;
- Ripe years were his, and still he stays
- And shields ourselves, born in these later days.
-
- Of yonder hill of King we made the ascent,
- Where tall grew pine and cypress, and unbent;
- Hewn down were these, and hither were they sent,
- And tooled to line, with care most diligent.
- The pine beams—long was their extent;
- The frequent pillars grandeur lent:—
- The shrine stood perfect—great (his soul’s) content.
Woodfall & Kinder, Printers, 70 to 76, Long Acre, London, W.C.
|
, chih kiang keueh sze, may mean “promotes and degrades its Servants,” or “is about its Servants going up and down.”
hwang i kan (or kien) chi; but a corresponding line in III. 
ching shang, the autumnal and winter sacrifices in the ancestral temple.
yuch, implying that this was a proverbial saying.