Shi Jing – The Book of Odes

The oldest collection of Chinese poetry, more than three hundred songs, odes and hymns. Tr. Legge (en) and Granet (fr, incomplete).

I II III IV

Section IV — Odes of the temple and the Altar

1 2 3 4 5

Chapter 2 — Sacrificial odes of Zhou, decade of Chen Gong

nº 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285

Shijing IV. 2. (276)

Ah ! Ah ! ministers and officers,
Reverently attend to your public duties.
The king has given you perfect rules ; –
Consult about them and consider them.
Ah ! Ah ! ye assistants,
It is now the end of spring ;
And what have ye to seek for ?
[Only] how to manage the new fields and those of the third year.
How beautiful are the wheat and the barley,
Whose bright produce we shall receive !
The bright and glorious God.
Will in them give us a good year.
Order all our men,
To be provided with their spuds and hoes : –
Anon we shall see the sickles at work.

Legge 276

Shijing IV. 2. (277)

Oh ! yes, king Cheng,
Brightly brought himself near.
Lead your husbandmen,
To sow their various kinds of grain,
Going vigorously to work on your private fields,
All over the thirty Li.
Attend to your ploughing,
With your ten thousand men all in pairs.

Legge 277

Shijing IV. 2. (278)

A flock of egrets is flying,
About the marsh there in the west.
My visitors came,
With an [elegant] carriage like those birds.
There, [in their States], not disliked ;
Here, [in Zhou], never tired of ; –
They are sure, day and night,
To penetrate their fame.

Legge 278

Shijing IV. 2. (279)

Abundant is the year, with much millet and much rice ;
And we have our high granaries,
With myriads, and hundreds of thousands, and millions [of measures in them] ;
For spirits and sweet spirits,
To present to our ancestors, male and female,
And to supply all out ceremonies.
The blessings sent down on us are of every kind.

Legge 279

Shijing IV. 2. (280)

There are the bird musicians ; there are the blind musicians ;
In the court of [the temple of] Zhou.
There are [the music frames] with their face-boards and posts,
The high toothed-edge [of the former], and the feathers stuck [in the latter] ;
With the drums, large and small, suspended from them ;
And the hand-drums and sounding-stones, the instrument to give the signal for commencing, and the stopper.

Legge 280

Shijing IV. 2. (281)

Oh ! in the Qi and the Ju,
There are many fish in the warrens ; –
Sturgeons, large and snouted,
Zhan, yellow-jaws, mudfish, and carp : –
For offerings, for sacrifice,
That our bright happiness may be increased.

Legge 281

Shijing IV. 2. (282)

They come full of harmony ;
They are here, in all gravity ; –
The princess assisting,
While the Son of Heaven looks profound.
'While I present [this] noble bull,
And they assist me in setting forth the sacrifice,
O great and august Father,
Comfort me, your filial Son !
'With penetrating wisdom thou did'st play the man,
A sovereign with the gifts both of peace and war,
Giving rest even to great Heaven,
And ensuring prosperity to thy descendants.
'Thou comfortest me with the eyebrows of longevity ;
Thou makest me great with manifold blessings.
I offer this sacrifice to my meritorious father,
And to my accomplished mother. '

Legge 282

[Xref] Lunyu III. 2. quotes Shijing IV. 2. (282)

gbog – Lunyu 42 – 2005/12/02

Shijing IV. 2. (283)

They appeared before their sovereign king,
To seek from him the rules [they were to observe].
With their dargon-emblazoned banners, flying bright,
The bells on them and their front-boards tinkling,
And with the rings on the ends of the reins glittering,
Admirable was their majesty, and splendour.
He led them to appear before his father shrined on the left,
Where he discharged hisi filial duty, and presented his offerings ; –
That he might have granted to him long life,
And ever preserve [his dignity].
Great and many are his blessings.
They are the brilliant and accomplished princes.
Who cheer him with his many sources of happiness,
Enabling him to perpetuate them in their brightness as pure blessing.

Legge 283

Shijing IV. 2. (284)

The noble visitor ! The noble visitor !
Drawn like his ancestors by white horses !
The revered and dignified,
Polished members of his suite !
The noble guest will stop [but] a night or two !
The noble guest will stop [but] two nights or four !
Give him ropes,
To blind his horses.
I will convoy him [with a parting feast] ;
I will comfort him in every possible way.
Adorned with such great dignity,
It is very natural that he should be blessed.

Legge 284

Shijing IV. 2. (285)

Oh ! great wast thou, O king Wu,
Displaying the utmost strength in thy work.
Truly accomplished was king Wen,
Opening the path for his successors.
Thou did'st receive the inheritance from him ;
Thou did'st vanquish Yin, and put a stop to its cruelties ; –
Effecting the firm establishment of thy merit.

Legge 285

Shi Jing IV. 2.