The oldest collection of Chinese poetry, more than three hundred songs, odes and hymns. Tr. Legge (en) and Granet (fr, incomplete).
Of [our] admirable, amiable, sovereign,
Most illustrious is the excellent virtue.
He orders rightly the people, orders rightly the officers,
And receives his dignity from heaven,
Which protects and helps him, and [confirms] his appointment,
By repeated acts of renewal from heaven.
[So] does he seek for the emoluments of dignity, [and obtain] all blessings, –
Thousands and hundreds of thousands of descendants,
Of reverent virtue and admirable character,
Fit to be rulers [of States], fit to be king,
Erring in nothing, forgetful of nothing,
Observing and following the old statutes.
[May they] manifest all self-restraint in deportment,
And their virtuous fame be without fail !
Without resentments, without dislikes,
[May they] give free course to [the good among] the officers,
Receiving blessing without limit,
And regulating all within the four quarters [of the kingdom] !
Regulating all, and determining each point,
Giving repose to his friends,
All the princes and ministers,
Will love the son of Heaven.
Not idly occupying his office,
The people will find rest in him.
Legge 249
The Book of Odes – Shi Jing III. 2. (249) – Chinese off/on – Français/English
Alias Shijing, Shi Jing, Book of Odes, Book of Songs, Classic of Odes, Classic of
Poetry, Livre des Odes, Canon des Poèmes.
The Book of Odes, The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Three-characters book, The Book of Changes, The Way and its Power, 300 Tang Poems, The Art of War, Thirty-Six Strategies
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