Fetching
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One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Heaven protects and establishes thee, So that in everything thou dost prosper. Like the high hills and the mountain masses, Like the topmost ridges and the greatest bulks, Like the stream ever coming on, Such is thine increase. . With happy auspices and purifications thou bringest the offerings, And dost filially present them, In spring, summer, autumn, and winter, To the dukes and former kings!; And they say, ‘ We give to thee myriads of years, duration unlimited %.’ The spirits come*, And confer on thee many blessings. The people are simple and honest, Daily enjoying their meat and drink. All the black-haired race, in all their surnames, Universally practise thy virtue. Like the moon advancing to the full, Like the sun ascending the heavens, Like the everlasting southern hills, Never waning, never falling, Like 1 These dukes and former kings are all the ancestors of the royal House of K4u, sacrificed to at the four seasons of the year. ® Here we have the response of the dukes and kings communicated to the sacrificing king by the individuals chosen to represent them at the service. 5 The spirits here are, of course, those of the former dukes and kings. ODE 9g. THE MINOR ODES OF THE KINGDOM. 349 the luxuriance of the fir and the cypress ;— May such be thy succeeding line! Ope 9, Stanza 4. Tue Tt 10. THE Tt TO Is AN ODE OF CONGRATULATION, INTENDED FOR THE MEN WHO HAVE RETURNED FROM MILITARY DUTY AND SERVICE ON THE FRONTIERS, The congratulation is given in a description of the anxiety and longing of the soldiers’ wives for their return. We must suppose one of the wives to be the speaker throughout. The fourth stanza shows how she had resorted to divination to allay her fears about her husband. They have not packed up, they do not come. My sorrowing heart is greatly distressed. The time is past, and he is not here, To the multiplication of my sorrows. Both by the tortoise-shell and the reeds have I divined, And they unite in saying he is near. My warrior is at hand. The Fourth Decade, or that of At fa. Ove 5, Stanzas 5 To 9, THE Sze Kan. THE SZE KAN WAS PROBABLY MADE FOR A FESTIVAL ON THE COM- PLETION OF A PALACE; CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF IT, AND PROCEEDING TO GOOD WISHES FOR THE BUILDER AND HIS POSTE- RITY. THE STANZAS HERE GIVEN SHOW HOW DIVINATION WAS RE- SORTED TO FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS. The piece is referred to the time of king Hsiian (s.c. 827 to 782). Level and smooth is the courtyard, And lofty are the pillars around it. Pleasant is the exposure of the chamber to the light, And deep and wide are its recesses. Here will our noble lord repose. On the rush-mat below and that of fine bamboos above it, May he repose in slumber! May he sleep 350 THE SHIH KING, DECADE Iv. and awake, (Saying), ‘ Divine for me my dreams}. What dreams are lucky? They have been of bears and grisly bears; They have been of cobras and (other) snakes.’
2On the rush-mat below and that of fine bamboos above it, May he repose in slumber! May he sleep 350 THE SHIH KING, DECADE Iv. and awake, (Saying), ‘ Divine for me my dreams}. What dreams are lucky? They have been of bears and grisly bears; They have been of cobras and (other) snakes.’ The chief diviner will divine them. ‘The bears and grisly bears Are the auspicious intimations of sons; The cobras and (other) snakes Are the auspicious intimations of daughters *.’ Sons shall be born to him :—They will be put to sleep on couches; They will be clothed in robes ; They will have sceptres to play with; Their cry will be loud. They will be (hereafter) resplendent with red knee-covers, The (future) king, the princes of the land. Daughters shalt be born to him :—They will be put to sleep on the ground; They will be clothed with wrappers; They will have tiles to play with *. It will be theirs neither to do wrong nor to do good‘. Only about the spirits and the food will 1 In the Official Book of Ku, ch. 24, mention is made of the Diviner of Dreams and his daties :—He had to consider the season of the year when a dream occurred, the day of the cycle, and the then predominant influence of the two powers of nature. By the positions of the sun, moon, and planets in the zodiacal spaces he could determine whether any one of the six classes of dreams was lucky or unlucky. Those six classes were ordinary and regular dreams, terrible dreams, dreams of thought, dreams in waking, dreams of joy, and dreams of fear. * The boy would have a sceptre, a symbol of dignity, to play with ; the girl, a tile, the symbol of woman’s work, as, sitting with a tile on her knee, she twists the threads of hemp. ® That is, the red apron of a king and of the prince of a state. ‘ ‘Fhe woman has only to be obedient. That is her whole duty. The line does not mean, as it has been said, that ‘she is incapable of good or evil;’ but it is not her part to take the initiative even m what is good. ODE 7. THE MINOR ODES OF THE KINGDOM. 351 they have to think, And to cause no sorrow to their parents. Ove 6, Stanza 4. THe Wo Yance. THE wt YANG IS SUPPOSED TO OVLEBRATE THE LARGENESS AND EXCELLENT CONDITION OF KING HSUAN’S FLOCKS AND HERDS. THE CONCLUDING STANZA HAS REFERENCE TO THE DIVINATION OF THE DREAMS OF HIS HERDSMEN. Your herdsmen shall dream, Of multitudes and then of fishes, Of the tortoise-and-serpent, and then of the falcon, banners. The chief diviner will divine the dreams ;—How the multitudes, dissolving into fishes, Betoken plentiful years; How the tortoise-and-serpent, dissolving into the falcon, banners, Betoken the increasing population of the kingdom. Ove 7. Tue Aiew Nan Suan. A LAMENTATION OVER THE UNSETTLED STATE OF THE KINGDOM ; DENOUNCING THE INJUSTICE AND NEGLECT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER, BLAMING ALSO THE CONDUCT OF THE KING, WITH APPEALS TO HEAVEN, AND SEEMINGLY CHARGING IT WITH CRUELTY AND INJUS- TICE.
3Ove 7. Tue Aiew Nan Suan. A LAMENTATION OVER THE UNSETTLED STATE OF THE KINGDOM ; DENOUNCING THE INJUSTICE AND NEGLECT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER, BLAMING ALSO THE CONDUCT OF THE KING, WITH APPEALS TO HEAVEN, AND SEEMINGLY CHARGING IT WITH CRUELTY AND INJUS- TICE. This piece is referred to the time of king Yf (B.c. 781 to 771), the unworthy son of king Hsiian. The ‘Grand-Master’ Yin must have been one of the ‘three Kung,’ the highest ministers at the court of X4u, and was, probably, the chief of the three, and administrator of the government under Y. Lofty is that southern hill*, With its masses of rocks! Awe-inspiring are you, O (Grand-)Master 1 The tortoise-and-serpent banner marked the presence in a host of its leader on a military expedition. On its field were the figures of tortoises, with snakes coiled round them. The falcon banners belonged to the commanders of the divisions of the host. They bore the figures of falcons on them. * ¢The southern hill’ was also called the Kung-nan, and rose right to the south of the western capital of Xau. 352 THE SHIH KING. DECADE Iv. Yin, And the people all look to you! A fire burns in their grieving hearts; They do not dare to speak of you even in jest. The kingdom is verging to extinction ;— How is it that you do not consider the state of things ? Lofty is that southern hill, And vigorously grows the vegetation on it! Awe-inspiring are you, O (Grand-)Master Yin, But how is it that you are so unjust? Heaven is continually redoubling its inflictions; Deaths and disorder increase and multiply; No words of satisfaction come from the people; And yet you do not correct nor bemoan yourself. The Grand-Master Yin Is the foundation of our Kau, And the balance of the kingdom is in his hands. He should be keeping its four quarters together; He should be aiding the Son of Heaven, So as to preserve the people from going astray. O unpitying great Heaven, It is not right he should reduce us all to such misery! He does nothing himself personally, And the people have no confidence in him. Making no enquiry about them, and no trial of their services, He should not deal deceitfully with superior men. If he dismissed them on the requirement of justice, Mean men would not be endangering (the commonweal); And his mean relatives Would not be in offices of importance. Great Heaven, unjust, Is sending down these exhausting disorders. Great Heaven, unkind, Is sending down these great miseries. Let superior men come (into office), And that would bring rest to the people’s hearts, Let superior men execute opE7. THE MINOR ODES OF THE KINGDOM. 353 their justice, And the animosities and angers would disappear %. O unpitying great Heaven, There is no end to the disorder! With every month it continues to grow, So that the people have no repose. I am as if intoxicated with the grief of my heart. Who holds the ordering of the kingdom? He attends not himself to the government, And the result is toil and pain to the people.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
1Heaven protects and establishes thee, So that in everything thou dost prosper. Like the high hills and the mountain masses, Like the topmost ridges and the greatest bulks, Like the stream ever coming on, Such is thine increase. . With happy auspices and purifications thou bringest the offerings, And dost filially present them, In spring, summer, autumn, and winter, To the dukes and former kings!; And they say, ‘ We give to thee myriads of years, duration unlimited %.’ The spirits come*, And confer on thee many blessings. The people are simple and honest, Daily enjoying their meat and drink. All the black-haired race, in all their surnames, Universally practise thy virtue. Like the moon advancing to the full, Like the sun ascending the heavens, Like the everlasting southern hills, Never waning, never falling, Like 1 These dukes and former kings are all the ancestors of the royal House of K4u, sacrificed to at the four seasons of the year. ® Here we have the response of the dukes and kings communicated to the sacrificing king by the individuals chosen to represent them at the service. 5 The spirits here are, of course, those of the former dukes and kings. ODE 9g. THE MINOR ODES OF THE KINGDOM. 349 the luxuriance of the fir and the cypress ;— May such be thy succeeding line! Ope 9, Stanza 4. Tue Tt 10. THE Tt TO Is AN ODE OF CONGRATULATION, INTENDED FOR THE MEN WHO HAVE RETURNED FROM MILITARY DUTY AND SERVICE ON THE FRONTIERS, The congratulation is given in a description of the anxiety and longing of the soldiers’ wives for their return. We must suppose one of the wives to be the speaker throughout. The fourth stanza shows how she had resorted to divination to allay her fears about her husband. They have not packed up, they do not come. My sorrowing heart is greatly distressed. The time is past, and he is not here, To the multiplication of my sorrows. Both by the tortoise-shell and the reeds have I divined, And they unite in saying he is near. My warrior is at hand. The Fourth Decade, or that of At fa. Ove 5, Stanzas 5 To 9, THE Sze Kan. THE SZE KAN WAS PROBABLY MADE FOR A FESTIVAL ON THE COM- PLETION OF A PALACE; CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF IT, AND PROCEEDING TO GOOD WISHES FOR THE BUILDER AND HIS POSTE- RITY. THE STANZAS HERE GIVEN SHOW HOW DIVINATION WAS RE- SORTED TO FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF DREAMS. The piece is referred to the time of king Hsiian (s.c. 827 to 782). Level and smooth is the courtyard, And lofty are the pillars around it. Pleasant is the exposure of the chamber to the light, And deep and wide are its recesses. Here will our noble lord repose. On the rush-mat below and that of fine bamboos above it, May he repose in slumber! May he sleep 350 THE SHIH KING, DECADE Iv. and awake, (Saying), ‘ Divine for me my dreams}. What dreams are lucky? They have been of bears and grisly bears; They have been of cobras and (other) snakes.’
2On the rush-mat below and that of fine bamboos above it, May he repose in slumber! May he sleep 350 THE SHIH KING, DECADE Iv. and awake, (Saying), ‘ Divine for me my dreams}. What dreams are lucky? They have been of bears and grisly bears; They have been of cobras and (other) snakes.’ The chief diviner will divine them. ‘The bears and grisly bears Are the auspicious intimations of sons; The cobras and (other) snakes Are the auspicious intimations of daughters *.’ Sons shall be born to him :—They will be put to sleep on couches; They will be clothed in robes ; They will have sceptres to play with; Their cry will be loud. They will be (hereafter) resplendent with red knee-covers, The (future) king, the princes of the land. Daughters shalt be born to him :—They will be put to sleep on the ground; They will be clothed with wrappers; They will have tiles to play with *. It will be theirs neither to do wrong nor to do good‘. Only about the spirits and the food will 1 In the Official Book of Ku, ch. 24, mention is made of the Diviner of Dreams and his daties :—He had to consider the season of the year when a dream occurred, the day of the cycle, and the then predominant influence of the two powers of nature. By the positions of the sun, moon, and planets in the zodiacal spaces he could determine whether any one of the six classes of dreams was lucky or unlucky. Those six classes were ordinary and regular dreams, terrible dreams, dreams of thought, dreams in waking, dreams of joy, and dreams of fear. * The boy would have a sceptre, a symbol of dignity, to play with ; the girl, a tile, the symbol of woman’s work, as, sitting with a tile on her knee, she twists the threads of hemp. ® That is, the red apron of a king and of the prince of a state. ‘ ‘Fhe woman has only to be obedient. That is her whole duty. The line does not mean, as it has been said, that ‘she is incapable of good or evil;’ but it is not her part to take the initiative even m what is good. ODE 7. THE MINOR ODES OF THE KINGDOM. 351 they have to think, And to cause no sorrow to their parents. Ove 6, Stanza 4. THe Wo Yance. THE wt YANG IS SUPPOSED TO OVLEBRATE THE LARGENESS AND EXCELLENT CONDITION OF KING HSUAN’S FLOCKS AND HERDS. THE CONCLUDING STANZA HAS REFERENCE TO THE DIVINATION OF THE DREAMS OF HIS HERDSMEN. Your herdsmen shall dream, Of multitudes and then of fishes, Of the tortoise-and-serpent, and then of the falcon, banners. The chief diviner will divine the dreams ;—How the multitudes, dissolving into fishes, Betoken plentiful years; How the tortoise-and-serpent, dissolving into the falcon, banners, Betoken the increasing population of the kingdom. Ove 7. Tue Aiew Nan Suan. A LAMENTATION OVER THE UNSETTLED STATE OF THE KINGDOM ; DENOUNCING THE INJUSTICE AND NEGLECT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER, BLAMING ALSO THE CONDUCT OF THE KING, WITH APPEALS TO HEAVEN, AND SEEMINGLY CHARGING IT WITH CRUELTY AND INJUS- TICE.
3Ove 7. Tue Aiew Nan Suan. A LAMENTATION OVER THE UNSETTLED STATE OF THE KINGDOM ; DENOUNCING THE INJUSTICE AND NEGLECT OF THE CHIEF MINISTER, BLAMING ALSO THE CONDUCT OF THE KING, WITH APPEALS TO HEAVEN, AND SEEMINGLY CHARGING IT WITH CRUELTY AND INJUS- TICE. This piece is referred to the time of king Yf (B.c. 781 to 771), the unworthy son of king Hsiian. The ‘Grand-Master’ Yin must have been one of the ‘three Kung,’ the highest ministers at the court of X4u, and was, probably, the chief of the three, and administrator of the government under Y. Lofty is that southern hill*, With its masses of rocks! Awe-inspiring are you, O (Grand-)Master 1 The tortoise-and-serpent banner marked the presence in a host of its leader on a military expedition. On its field were the figures of tortoises, with snakes coiled round them. The falcon banners belonged to the commanders of the divisions of the host. They bore the figures of falcons on them. * ¢The southern hill’ was also called the Kung-nan, and rose right to the south of the western capital of Xau. 352 THE SHIH KING. DECADE Iv. Yin, And the people all look to you! A fire burns in their grieving hearts; They do not dare to speak of you even in jest. The kingdom is verging to extinction ;— How is it that you do not consider the state of things ? Lofty is that southern hill, And vigorously grows the vegetation on it! Awe-inspiring are you, O (Grand-)Master Yin, But how is it that you are so unjust? Heaven is continually redoubling its inflictions; Deaths and disorder increase and multiply; No words of satisfaction come from the people; And yet you do not correct nor bemoan yourself. The Grand-Master Yin Is the foundation of our Kau, And the balance of the kingdom is in his hands. He should be keeping its four quarters together; He should be aiding the Son of Heaven, So as to preserve the people from going astray. O unpitying great Heaven, It is not right he should reduce us all to such misery! He does nothing himself personally, And the people have no confidence in him. Making no enquiry about them, and no trial of their services, He should not deal deceitfully with superior men. If he dismissed them on the requirement of justice, Mean men would not be endangering (the commonweal); And his mean relatives Would not be in offices of importance. Great Heaven, unjust, Is sending down these exhausting disorders. Great Heaven, unkind, Is sending down these great miseries. Let superior men come (into office), And that would bring rest to the people’s hearts, Let superior men execute opE7. THE MINOR ODES OF THE KINGDOM. 353 their justice, And the animosities and angers would disappear %. O unpitying great Heaven, There is no end to the disorder! With every month it continues to grow, So that the people have no repose. I am as if intoxicated with the grief of my heart. Who holds the ordering of the kingdom? He attends not himself to the government, And the result is toil and pain to the people.
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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