See the preliminary note on p. 433.
ODE 1. THE PAI KÂU.
PROTEST OF A WIDOW AGAINST BEING URGED TO MARRY AGAIN, AND HER
APPEAL TO HER MOTHER AND TO HEAVEN.
THIS piece, it is said, was made by Kung Kiang, the widow of Kung-po,
son of the marquis Hsî Of Wei (B.C. 855-814). Kung-po having died an
early death, her parents (who must have been the marquis of Khî and his
wife or one of the ladies of his harem) wanted to force her to a second
marriage, against which she protests. The ode was preserved, no doubt,
as an example of
[1. The 'Complete Digest of Comments on the Shih' warns its readers not
to take 'Heaven' here as synonymous with Ming, 'what is decreed or
Commanded.' The writer does not go on to define the precise idea which
he understood the character to convey. This appears to be what we often
mean by 'Providence,' when we speak of anything permitted, rather than
appointed, by the supreme ruling Power.]
what the Chinese have always considered a great virtue,--the refusal of
a, widow to marry again.
It floats about, that boat of cypress wood, There in the middle of the
Ho [1]. With his two tufts of hair falling over his forehead [2], He was
my mate; And I swear that till death I will have no other. O mother, O
Heavens[3], Why will you not understand me?
It floats about, that boat of cypress wood, There by the side of the Ho.
With his two tufts of hair falling over his forehead, He was my only
one; And I swear that till death I will not do the evil thing. O mother,
O Heaven, Why will you not understand me?
ODE 3, STANZA 2. THE KÜN-DZE KIEH LÂO.
CONTRAST BETWEEN THE BEAUTY AND SPLENDOUR OF HSÜAN KIANG AND HER
VICIOUSNESS.
Hsüan Kiang was a princess of Khî, Who, towards the close of the seventh
century B.C., became wife to the marquis of Wei, known as duke Hsüan.
She was beautiful and unfortunate, but various things are related of her
indicative of the grossest immoralities prevailing in the court of Wei.
How rich and splendid Is her pheasant-figured
[1. These allusive lines, probably, indicate the speaker's widowhood,
Which left her like 'a boat floating about on the water.'
2. Such was the mode in which the hair was kept, while a boy or young
man's parents were alive, parted into two tufts from the pia mater, and
brought down as low as the eyebrows on either side of the forehead.
3. Mâo, thought that the lady intended her father by 'Heaven;' while Kû
held that her father may have been dead, and that the mother is called
Heaven, with reference to the kindness and protection that she ought to
show. There seems rather to be in the term a wild, and not very
intelligent, appeal to the supreme Power in heaven.]
robe[1]! Her black hair in masses like clouds, No false locks does she
descend to. There are her earplugs of jade, Her comb-pin of ivory, And
her high forehead, so white. She appears like a visitant from heaven!
She appears like a goddess[2].
ODE 6, STANZAS 1 AND 2. THE TING KIH FANG KÛNG.
CELEBRATING THE PRAISE OF DUKE WIN;--HIS DILIGENCE, FORESIGHT,
USE OF DIVINATION, AND OTHER QUALITIES.
The state of Wei was reduced to extremity by an irruption of some
northern hordes in B.C. 660, and had nearly disappeared from among the
states of Kau. Under the marquis Wei, known in history as duke Wan, its
fortunes revived, and he became a sort of second founder of the state.
When Ting culminated (at night-fall)[3] He began to build the palace at
Khû [4], Determining
[1. The lady is introduced arrayed in the gorgeous robes worn by the
princess of a state in the ancestral temple.
2 P. Lacharme translated these two concluding lines by 'Tu primo aspectu
coelos (pulchritudine), et imperatorem (majestate) adaequas,' without
any sanction of the Chinese critics; and moreover there was no Tî (###)
in the sense of imperator then in China. The sovereigns of Kau were Wang
or kings. Kû Hsî expands the lines thus:--'Such is the beauty of her
robes and appearance, that beholders are struck with awe, as if she were
a spiritual being.' Hsü Khien (Yüan dynasty) deals with them thus:--With
such splendour of beauty and dress, how is it that she is here? She has
come down from heaven I She is a spiritual being!'
3 Ting is the name of a small space in the heavens, embracing /alpha/
Markab and another star of Pegasus. Its culminating at night-fall was
the signal that the labours of husbandry were over for the year, and
that building operations should be taken in hand. Great as was the
urgency for the building of his new capital, duke Win would not take it
in hand till the proper time for such a labour was arrived.
4 Khû, or Khû-khiû, was the new capital of Wei, in the present district
of Khang-wû, department Zhâo-kâu, Shan-tung.]
its aspects by means of the sun. He built the palace at Khû. He planted
about it hazel and chesnut trees, The Î, the Thung, the Dze, and the
varnish tree. Which, when cut down, might afford materials for lutes.
He ascended those old walls, And thence surveyed (the site of) Khû. He
surveyed Khû and Thang[1], With the lofty hills and high elevations
about. He descended and examined the mulberry trees. He then divined by
the tortoise-shell, and got a favourable response [2]; And thus the
issue has been truly good.