THE SHE KING; OR, THE BOOK OF ANCIENT POETRY

884 THE BOOK OF POETET. [PAET IV.
BOOK III.
THE SACEIPICIAL ODES OF SHANG. •
HERE the term Sung has again the same meaning as in Book i. Shang
was the name of the second of the three ancient dynasties, which ruled
over feudal China, and remains still in the small department of Shang
Chow in Shen-se. The ancestor of this dynasty was Se'eh, who appears
in the Book of History as minister of Instruction to Shun. Whether he
received his investiture from Yaou or from Shun is a disputed point. In
tile 14th generation from Seeh was a T'een-yih, the celebrated T'ang, who
overthrew the dynasty of Hea, and made himself master of the kingdom in
B.C. 1765, according to the common chronology. His descendants ruled
in China, down to B.C. 1120, when Chow or Show, the last sovereign, was
put to death by king Woo of the dynasty of Chow. Among them there
were three, more particularly distinguished :—T'ang's grandson and suc
cessor, T'ae-keah, who received the title of T'ae-tsung; T'ae-mow (B.C.
1636—1560), known as Chung-tsung ; and Woo-ting (B.C. 1323—1263),
known as Kaou-tsung. The temples or shrines of these four sovereigns
maintained their place in the ancestral temple of the dynasty after
their first establishment; and if all ite sacrificial odes had been pre
served, they would nearly all have been in praise of one or other of them.
But at least all those of which T'ae-tsung was the subject were lost. Of
the others we have only a small portion,— five pieces in all.
Of how it is that we have these we have the following account. The
viscount of Wei, as has been stated on i. [ii.] IX., was made viscount of
Sung, there to continue the sacrifices of the House of Shang ; but the
government of that State fell subsequently into disorder, and the memorials
of the Shang dynasty seem to have been lost. In the time of duke Tae
(B.C. 798—765), one of his ministers, a scion of the ducal House, and an
ancestor of Confucius, styled Ching-k'aou-foo, received from the Grand
Music-master at the court of Chow twelve of the sacrificial odes of Shang,
with which he returned to Sung ; and they were used in sacrificing to
tlie old kings of the dynasty. As we have only five pieces in this Book,
it is supposed that seven of those twelve were lost during the rather more
than two centuries that elapsed between Ching-k'aou-foo and his great
descendant.
The Na; narrative. APPROPRIATE TO A SACRIHCE TO T'ANG THE
SUCCESSFUL, THE REAL POUNDER or THE SHANG DYNASTY,—DWELLING
ESPECIALLY ON THE MUSIC, AND ON THE REVERENCE WITH WHICH THE
SERVICE WAS PERFORMED.
III. II.] THE BOOK OF POETEY. 385
By which of the sovereigns of Shang the sacrifice that the piece
describes was performed we cannot tell. The music is more prominent than
in most of the sacrificial odes of Chow, because during the Chow dynasty,
^sacrifices commenced with libations of fragrant spirits, and under Shang
with music. " The departed Spirits," it is said, " hover between heaven
and earth, and sound goes forth filling all the region of the air. Hence
in sacrificing, the people of Yin (i.e., of Shang) commenced with a per
formance of music, wishing thereby to call the attention of the Spirits,
who, hearing it, would perhaps come to be present at the service, and to
enjoy it."
0 grand! the drums, both large and for the hand,
Complete in number, here in order stand.
Their tones, though loud, harmoniously are blent,
And rise to greet our ancestor's descent.
Him, the great T'ang, of merit vast, our king
Asks by this music to descend, and bring
To us, the worshippers, the soothing sense
That he, the object of desire intense,
Is here. Deep are the sounds the drums emit,
And now we hear the flutes, which shrilly fit
Into the diapason :—concord great,
Which the sonorous gem doth regulate !
Majestic is our king of T'ang's great line,
Whose instruments such qualities combine.
Large bells we hear, which with the drums have place,
While in the court the dancers move with grace.
Scions of ancient kings the service view,
Pleased and delighted, guests of goodness true.
Such service we received from former days,
. Down from our sires, who showed us virtue's ways,—
How to be meek and mild, from morn to night,
And reverently discharge our parts aright.
May T'ang accept the rites his son thus pays,
As round the summer comes, and autumn days!
II.
The LeeTi tsoo ; narrative. APPROPRIATE, PROBABLY, LIKE THE LAST
PIECE, TO A SACRIFICE TO T'AXCr,—DWELLING OX THE SPIRITS, THE
SOUPS, AND THE GRAVITY OF THE SERVICE, AND ON THE ASSISTING
PRINCES.
VOL. III. 25