THE SHE KING; OR, THE BOOK OF ANCIENT POETRY
THE SHE KING; OR, THE BOOK OF ANCIENT POETRY THE SHE KING; OR, THE BOOK OF ANCIENT POETRY
376 THE BOOK OF POETET. III. The Pman shmiy; allusive and narrative. IN PRAISE OP SOME MAK- QTJIS Of LOO, CELEBRATING HIS INTEREST IN THE STATE COLLEGE, WHICH PBOBABLY HE HAD REPAIRED OR REBUILT, TESTIFYING HIS VIRTUES, AND AUSPICING FOR HIM A COMPLETE TRIUMPH OVER THE TRIBES Of IHB HWAB, WHICH WOULD BE CELEBRATED IN THE COLLEGE. It is not unlikely that the marquis in this piece was Shin, or duke He, for we know that he was engaged in operations against the tribes of the Hwae. His part, indeed, was but a secondary one in them, and he was only a follower of duke Hwan of Ts'e, who had the supremacy among the feudal States ; but it was not for a poet of Loo to dwell on the in ferior position to which his State and ruler were reduced. To Loo had in the first place been assigned the regulation of the East; and in this ode and the next the writer, or the writers, would fain auspice a return of its former glories. The immediate occasion of its composition must have been some opening or inauguration service in connexion with the repair of the State college. On HI. i. VIII. we have seen that the royal college of Chow was built in the middle of a circle of water ; each State had its grand college, with a semi-circular pool around it. There the officers of the State in autumn learned ceremonies ; in winter, literary studies ; in spring and summer, the use of arms; and in autumn and winter, dancing. There were cele brated trials of archerj'; there the aged were feasted ; there the princes held council with their ministers. The uses which it served were very diverse, but all important. 1 Fair is the pool, half-circling round The college of our land. The plants of cress that there abound We pluck with eager hand. To it our prince of Loo draws nigh; We see his dragon banner fly, Free waving in the wind. And as he moves, his horses' bells Tinkle harmonious, and fast swells The crowd that comes behind. 2 Fair is the pool, half-circling round The college of our land. The pond-weed plants that there abound We pluck with eager hand. Arrived is now our prince of Loo, With team of steeds that grandly show,— Steeds, each of highest worth. [PAET IV. BK n. m.] THE BOOK Or POETET. 37; His fame is great. With winning smile, And blandest look, no haste the while, His lessons he gives forth. 3 Fair is the pool, half-circling round The college of Our land. The mallow plants that there abound We pluck with eager hand. The college now our prince contains. Joyous, the festive cup he drains,— The cup of spirits good. His be the strength that knows not age ! His be the noble course and sage, By which men are subdued! 4 Our prince of Loo has virtue rare; His reverence we see. His every step he guards with care;. The people's mould is he. In peace and war his powers are proved, His mighty sires are deeply moved;— O'er him with love they bend. Through filial duty ever paid, And without farther effort made, Blessings on him descend. 5 Our prince of Loo has wisdom great; His virtue brighter grows. This college, glory of the State, To him its beauty owes. The tribes of Hwae will own his sway ; His tiger chiefs down here will lay The ears cut from their foes. His questioners, like Kaou Yaou wise, Will here rehearse their enterprise, And captive kerns expose. 6 His numerous officers, all true, And of a virtuous mind, Will haste with martial zeal to do The part to them assigned;— Those tribes from south and east expel, Then back their triumphs come to tell, And here themselves report. f 11
378 THE BOOK OF POETEY. [PAET IV. The duke no judge's help will need, As cairn and truthful here they plead Their claims before his court. 7 They draw their bows, with bone made strong. How whiz the arrows fleet! Their cars of war dash swift along, Eager the foe to meet. Drivers and footmen weary not, Till o'er the tribes of Hwae is got A victory entire. Your plans, O prince, be firm and true ! So shall you all those tribes subdue, And quench rebellion's fire. 8 On wing they come, those owls, and rest The college trees among. Our mulberry fruits they eat with zest, Grown birds of sweetest song. So shall the Hwae tribes change their minds, And bring their tribute in all kinds Of produce rich and rare;— The ivory tusks, the tortoise big, The metals from their mines they dig;— Their fealty to declare. IV. The Peih laing; narrative. IN PEAISE OF DUKE HE, AND AUSPI- CIXG FOB HIM A MAGNIFICENT CAREER OF SUCCESS, WHICH WOULD 31AKE Loo ALL THAT IT HAD EVER BEEN :—WRITTEN PROBABLY ON AN OCCASION WHEN HE HAD KEPAIHED ON A GRAND SCALE THE TEMPLES OF THE STATE, OF WHICH PIOUS ACT HIS SUCCESS WOULD BE THE REWARD. There is no doubt that duke He is the hero of this piece, and the He- sze mentioned in the last stanza as the architect under whose superin tendence the temples had been put into good repair was his brother, whom we meet with elsewhere as " duke's sou, Yu." The descriptions of various sacrifices prove that the lords of Loo, whether permitted to use royal ceremonies and sacrifices or not, did really do so. It was not for the writer, a minister, probably, of Loo, to call into question the legality of celebrations in which he took part aud which he considered to be the glory of the State. He was evidently in a poetic rapture as to what his ruler was and would do. The piece is a geuuine bardic effusion. The poet traces the lords of Loo to Ke'aug Yuen, and her son How-tseih, BK II. iv.] THE BOOK OF POETEY. 370 tbe legend about whom we bave read already, in III. ii. I. He tben, in the 2nd stanza, comes to tbe establishment of the Chow dynasty, and under it of tbe marquisate of Loo. The next stanza brings him to duke He, tbe son of duke Chwang (B.C. 692—661), and be dilates on his sacrificial services, the military power of Loo, and the achievements which He might be expected to accomplish in subjugating all the territory lying to the east, and a long way south, of Loo. Mount T'ae is well known. Kwei and Mung were two other hills in Loo ; as were also Hoc and Yih,—both of them in the present district of Tsow. The Man and the Mih were properly the wild tribes of the south and the north ; but we can only understand by the terms here the wild hordes south of the Hwae. Chang was a city with some adjacent terri tory, in the present district of T'ang, which had been taken from Loo by Ts'e ; and Heu, called in the Ch'un Ts'ew, "the fields or lands of Heu," lay west from Loo, originally a royal gift, but which had been parted with to Ch'ing in B.C. 710. Tsoo-lae and Sin-foo were two hills in the present department of T'ae-gan. 1 Solemn the temples stand, and still, Strong, built throughout with nicest skill. From them our thoughts to Keaiig Yuen go, The mother of our Chow and Loo. She grandly shone with virtue rare That nought could bend. So did she share God's favour^ and How-tseih she bore, Without a pang, or labour sore, Just when her carrying days were o'er. On How-tseih then all blessings came. That millets' times were not the same, This ripening quickly, and that slow, He knew, and first the pulse to sow, And then the wheat, where each should grow. Soon called a State, though small, to rule, It under him became a school, Where husbandry men learned to know, To sow, to reap, to weed, to hoe. Millets,—the early, black, and red, _And rice that loves the watery bed;— All these through all the land were known, And of Yu's toils the worth was shown. 2 Long after How-tseih, in his line, King T'ae arose, quick to divine Heaven's will, who eastward came and dwelt South of mount K'e. There first was felt
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378 <strong>THE</strong> <strong>BOOK</strong> <strong>OF</strong> POETEY. [PAET IV.<br />
The duke no judge's help will need,<br />
As cairn and truthful here they plead<br />
Their claims before his court.<br />
7 They draw their bows, with bone made strong.<br />
How whiz the arrows fleet!<br />
Their cars of war dash swift along,<br />
Eager the foe to meet.<br />
Drivers and footmen weary not,<br />
Till o'er the tribes of Hwae is got<br />
A victory entire.<br />
Your plans, O prince, be firm and true !<br />
So shall you all those tribes subdue,<br />
And quench rebellion's fire.<br />
8 On wing they come, those owls, and rest<br />
The college trees among.<br />
Our mulberry fruits they eat with zest,<br />
Grown birds of sweetest song.<br />
So shall the Hwae tribes change their minds,<br />
And bring their tribute in all kinds<br />
Of produce rich and rare;—<br />
The ivory tusks, the tortoise big,<br />
The metals from their mines they dig;—<br />
Their fealty to declare.<br />
IV.<br />
The Peih laing; narrative. IN PEAISE <strong>OF</strong> DUKE HE, AND AUSPI-<br />
CIXG FOB HIM A MAGNIFICENT CAREER <strong>OF</strong> SUCCESS, WHICH WOULD<br />
31AKE Loo ALL THAT IT HAD EVER BEEN :—WRITTEN PROBABLY ON AN<br />
OCCASION WHEN HE HAD KEPAIHED ON A GRAND SCALE <strong>THE</strong> TEMPLES<br />
<strong>OF</strong> <strong>THE</strong> STATE, <strong>OF</strong> WHICH PIOUS ACT HIS SUCCESS WOULD BE <strong>THE</strong><br />
REWARD.<br />
There is no doubt that duke He is the hero of this piece, and the He-<br />
sze mentioned in the last stanza as the architect under whose superin<br />
tendence the temples had been put into good repair was his brother,<br />
whom we meet with elsewhere as " duke's sou, Yu." The descriptions of<br />
various sacrifices prove that the lords of Loo, whether permitted to use<br />
royal ceremonies and sacrifices or not, did really do so. It was not for the<br />
writer, a minister, probably, of Loo, to call into question the legality of<br />
celebrations in which he took part aud which he considered to be the<br />
glory of the State. He was evidently in a poetic rapture as to what his<br />
ruler was and would do. The piece is a geuuine bardic effusion.<br />
The poet traces the lords of Loo to Ke'aug Yuen, and her son How-tseih,<br />
BK II. iv.] <strong>THE</strong> <strong>BOOK</strong> <strong>OF</strong> POETEY. 370<br />
tbe legend about whom we bave read already, in III. ii. I. He tben, in<br />
the 2nd stanza, comes to tbe establishment of the Chow dynasty, and<br />
under it of tbe marquisate of Loo. The next stanza brings him to duke<br />
He, tbe son of duke Chwang (B.C. 692—661), and be dilates on his<br />
sacrificial services, the military power of Loo, and the achievements<br />
which He might be expected to accomplish in subjugating all the territory<br />
lying to the east, and a long way south, of Loo.<br />
Mount T'ae is well known. Kwei and Mung were two other hills in<br />
Loo ; as were also Hoc and Yih,—both of them in the present district of<br />
Tsow. The Man and the Mih were properly the wild tribes of the south<br />
and the north ; but we can only understand by the terms here the wild<br />
hordes south of the Hwae. Chang was a city with some adjacent terri<br />
tory, in the present district of T'ang, which had been taken from Loo by<br />
Ts'e ; and Heu, called in the Ch'un Ts'ew, "the fields or lands of Heu,"<br />
lay west from Loo, originally a royal gift, but which had been parted<br />
with to Ch'ing in B.C. 710. Tsoo-lae and Sin-foo were two hills in the<br />
present department of T'ae-gan.<br />
1 Solemn the temples stand, and still,<br />
Strong, built throughout with nicest skill.<br />
From them our thoughts to Keaiig Yuen go,<br />
The mother of our Chow and Loo.<br />
She grandly shone with virtue rare<br />
That nought could bend. So did she share<br />
God's favour^ and How-tseih she bore,<br />
Without a pang, or labour sore,<br />
Just when her carrying days were o'er.<br />
On How-tseih then all blessings came.<br />
That millets' times were not the same,<br />
This ripening quickly, and that slow,<br />
He knew, and first the pulse to sow,<br />
And then the wheat, where each should grow.<br />
Soon called a State, though small, to rule,<br />
It under him became a school,<br />
Where husbandry men learned to know,<br />
To sow, to reap, to weed, to hoe.<br />
Millets,—the early, black, and red,<br />
_And rice that loves the watery bed;—<br />
All these through all the land were known,<br />
And of Yu's toils the worth was shown.<br />
2 Long after How-tseih, in his line,<br />
King T'ae arose, quick to divine<br />
Heaven's will, who eastward came and dwelt<br />
South of mount K'e. There first was felt