The Shih King, or, Book of Poetry Part 23

Oh! my son, When you did not know what was good, and what was not good, Not only did I lead you by the hand, But I showed the difference between them by appealing to instances. Not (only) did I charge you face to face, But I held you by the ear [4]. And still perhaps you do not know, Although you have held a son in your arms. If people be not self-sufficient, Who comes to a late maturity after early instruction?

Great Heaven is very intelligent, And I pa.s.s,

[1. That is, every deed, in fact, meets with its recompense.

2. See the conclusion of duke Wu's ode against drunkenness. Horns grow as the young ram grows. Effects must not be expected where there have not been the conditions from which they naturally spring.

3. Such wood is the proper material for a bow.

4. That is, to secure your attention.]

my life without pleasure. When I see you so dark and stupid, My heart is full of pain. I taught you with a.s.siduous repet.i.tion, And you listened to me with contempt. You would not consider me as your teacher, But regarded me as troublesome. Still perhaps you do not know;--But you are very old.

Oh! my son, I have told you the old ways. Hear and follow my counsels:--Then shall you have no cause for great regret. Heaven is now inflicting calamities, And is destroying the state. My ill.u.s.trations are not taken from things remote:--Great Heaven makes no mistakes. If you go on to deteriorate in your virtue, You will bring the people to great distress.

ODE 3, STANZAS 1, 2, 3, 4, AND 7. THE SANG ZaU.

THE WRITER MOURNS OVER THE MISERY AND DISORDER OF THE TIMES, WITH A VIEW TO REPREHEND THE MISGOVERNMENT OF KING Li, APPEALING ALSO TO HEAVEN TO HAVE COMPa.s.sION.

King Li is not mentioned by name in the piece, but the second line of stanza 7 can only be explained of him. He was driven from the throne, in consequence of his misgovernment, in B.C. 842, and only saved his life by flying to Kih, a place in the present Ho Kau, department Phing-yang, Shan-hsi, where he remained till his death in B.C. 828. The government in the meantime was carried on by the dukes of Shao and Kau, whose administration, called the period of 'Mutual Harmony,' forms an important chronological era in Chinese history. On the authority of a reference in the Zo Kwan, the piece is ascribed to an earl of Zui.

Luxuriant is that young mulberry tree, And beneath it wide is the shade; But they will pluck its leaves till it is quite destroyed[1]. The distress

[1. These three lines are metaphorical of the once flouris.h.i.+ng kingdom, which was now brought to the verge of ruin.]

inflicted on these (mult.i.tudes of the) people, Is an unceasing sorrow to my heart; My commiseration fills (my breast). O thou bright and great Heaven, Shouldest thou not have compa.s.sion on us?

The four steeds (gallop about), eager and strong[1]; The tortoise-and-serpent and the falcon banners fly about. Disorder grows, and no peace can be secured. Every state is being ruined; There are no black heads among the people[2]. Everything is reduced to ashes by calamity. Oh! alas! The doom of the kingdom hurries on.

There is nothing to arrest the doom of the kingdom; Heaven does not nourish us. There is no place in which to stop securely; There is no place to which to go. Superior men are the bonds (Of the social state)[3], Allowing no love of strife in their hearts. Who reared the steps of the dissatisfaction [4], Which has reached the present distress?

The grief of my heart is extreme, And I dwell on (the condition of) our land. I was born at an unhappy time, To meet with the severe anger of Heaven. From the west to the east, There is no quiet place of abiding.

Many are the distresses I meet with; Very urgent is the trouble on our borders.

Heaven is sending down death and disorder, And

[1. That is, the war-chariots, each drawn by its team of four horses.

2. The young and able-bodied of the people were slain or absent on distant expeditions, and only old and gray-headed men were to be seen.

3. Intimating that no such men were now to be found in office.

4. Meaning the king by his misgovernment and employment of bad men.]

has put an end to our king. It is (now) sending down those devourers of the grain, So that the husbandry is all in evil case. Alas for our middle states [1]! All is in peril and going to ruin. I have no strength (to do anything), And think of (the Power in) the azure vault.

ODE 4. THE YUN HAN.

KING HSuAN, ON OCCASION OF A GREAT DROUGHT, EXPOSTULATES WITH G.o.d AND ALL THE SPIRITS, WHO MIGHT BE EXPECTED TO HELP HIM AND HIS PEOPLE; ASKS THEM WHEREFORE THEY WERE CONTENDING WITH HIM; AND DETAILS THE MEASURES HE HAD TAKEN, AND WAS STILL TAKING, FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE CALAMITY.

King Hsuan does not occur by name in the ode, though the remarkable prayer which it relates is ascribed to a king in stanza 1. All critics have admitted the statement of the Preface that the piece was made, in admiration of king Hsuan, by Zang Shu, a great officer, we may presume, of the court. The standard chronology places the commencement of the drought in B.C. 822, the sixth year of Hsuan's reign. How long it continued we cannot tell.

Bright was the milky way, s.h.i.+ning and revolving in the sky. The king said, 'Oh! What crime is chargeable on us now, That Heaven (thus) sends down death and disorder? Famine comes again and again. There is no spirit I have not sacrificed to[2]; There is no victim I have grudged; Our

[1. We must translate here in the plural, 'the middle states' meaning all the states subject to the sovereign of Kau.

2. In the Official Book of Kau, among the duties of the Minister of Instruction, or, as Biot translates the t.i.tle, 'the Director of the Mult.i.tudes,' it is stated that one of the things he has-to do, on occurrences of famine, is 'to seek out the spirits,' that is, as explained by the commentators, to see that sacrifices are offered to all the spirits, even such as may have been discontinued. This rule had, no doubt, been acted on during the drought which this ode describes.]

jade symbols, oblong and round, are exhausted[1];--How is it that I am not heard?

'The drought is excessive; Its fervours become more and more tormenting.

I have not ceased offering pure sacrifices; From the border altars I have gone to the ancestral temple [2]. To the (Powers) above and below I have presented my offerings and then' buried them[3];--There is no spirit whom I have not honoured. Hau-ki is not equal to the occasion; G.o.d does not come to us. This wasting and ruin of our country,--Would that it fell (only) on me!

'The drought is excessive, And I may not try to excuse myself. I am full of terror, and feel the peril, Like the clap of thunder or the roll. Of the remnant of Kau, among the black-haired people, There will not be half a man left; Nor will G.o.d from his great heaven exempt (even) me. Shall

[1. We have, in the sixth Book of the fifth Part of the Shu, an instance of the use of the symbols here mentioned in sacrificing to the spirits of departed kings. The Official Book, among the duties of the Minister of Religion, mentions the use of these and other symbols--in all six, of different shapes and colours--at the different sacrifices.

2. By 'the border altars' we are to understand the altars in the suburbs of the capital, where Heaven and Earth were sacrificed to -the great services at the solstices, and any other seasons. The mention of Hau-ki in the seventh line makes us think especially of the service in the spring, to pray for a good year, when Hau-ki was a.s.sociated with G.o.d.

3. 'The (Powers) above and below' are Heaven and Earth. The offerings, during the progress of the service, were placed on the ground, or on the altars, and buried in the earth at the close of it. This explains what the king says in the first stanza about the offerings of jade being exhausted.]

we not mingle our fears together? (The sacrifices to) my ancestors will be extinguished[1].

'The drought is excessive, And it -cannot be stopped. More fierce and fiery, It is leaving me no place. My end is near;--I have none to look up, none to look round, to. The many dukes and their ministers of the past [2] Give me no help. O ye parents and (nearer) ancestors [3], How can ye bear to see me thus?

'The drought is excessive;--Parched are the hills, and the streams are dried. The demon of drought exercises his oppression, As if scattering flames and fire [4] My heart is terrified with the heat;--My sorrowing heart is as if on fire. The

[1. Equivalent to the extinction of the dynasty.

2. The king had sacrificed to all the early lords of Kau. 'The many dukes' may comprehend kings Thai and Ki. He had also sacrificed to their ministers. Compare what Pan-kang says in the Shu, p. 109, about his predecessors and their ministers. Some take 'the many dukes, and the ministers,' of all princes of states who had signalised themselves by services to the people and kingdom.

3. The king could hardly hope that his father, the oppressive Li, would in his spirit-state give him any aid; but we need only find in his words the expression of natural feeling. Probably it was the consideration of the character of Li which has made some critics understand by 'parents'

and 'ancestors' the same individuals, namely, kings Wan and Wu, 'the ancestors' of Hsuan, and who had truly been 'the parents' of the people.

4. Khung Ying-ta, from 'the Book of Spirits and Marvels,' gives the following account of 'the demon of drought:'--'In the southern regions there is a man, two or three cubits in height, with the upper part of his body bare, and his eyes in the top of his head. He runs with the speed of the wind, and is named Po. In whatever state he appears, there ensues a great drought.' The Book of Spirits and Marvels, however, as it now exists, cannot be older, than our fourth or fifth century.]

many dukes and their ministers of the past Do not hear me. O G.o.d, from thy great heaven, Grant me the liberty to withdraw (into retirement[1]).

'The drought is excessive;--I struggle and fear to go away. How is it that I am afflicted with this drought? I cannot ascertain the cause of it. In praying for a good year I was abundantly early [2]. I was not late (in sacrificing) to (the spirits of) the four quarters and of the land [3]. G.o.d in great heaven Does not consider me. Reverent to the intelligent spirits, I ought not to be thus the object of their anger.

'The drought is excessive;--All is dispersion, and the bonds of government are relaxed. Reduced to extremities are the heads of departments; Full of distress are my chief ministers, The Master of the Horse, the Commander of the Guards, The chief Cook[4], and my attendants. There is no one who has not (tried to) help (the people); They have not refrained on the ground of being unable. I look up to the great heaven;--Why am I plunged in this sorrow?

'I look up to the great heaven, But its stars sparkle bright. My great officers and excellent men, Ye have reverently drawn near (to Heaven) with all