Odes of The Temple And The Altar - Shi Jing-03
Sacrificial Odes of Zhou, Decade of Qing Miao
266.QING MIAO
Ah ! solemn is the ancestral temple in its pure stillness .
Reverent and harmonious were the distinguished assistants ;
Great was the number of the officers : --
[All] assiduous followers of the virtue of [king] Wen .
In response to him in heaven ,
Grandly they hurried about in the temple .
Distinguished is he and honoured ,
And will never be wearied of among men .
267.WEI TIAN ZHI MING
The ordinances of Heaven , --
How deep are they and unintermitting !
And oh ! how illustrious ,
Was the singleness of the virtue of king Wen !
How does he [now] show his kindness ?
We will receive [his favour] ,
Striving to be in accord with him , our king Wen ;
And may his remotest descendant be abundantly the same !
268.WEI QING
Clear , and to be preserved bright ,
Are the statutes of king Wen .
From the first sacrifice [to him] ,
Till now when they have issued in our complete State ,
They have been the happy omen of [the fortunes of] Zhou .
269.LIE WEN
Ye , brilliant and accomplished princess ,
Have conferred on me this happiness .
Your favours to me are without limit ,
And my descendants will preserve [the fruits of] them .
Be not mercenary nor extravagant in your States ,
And the king will honour you .
Thinking of this great service ,
He will enlarge the dignity of your successors .
What is most powerful is the being the man ; --
Its influence will be felt throughout your States .
What is most distinguished is being virtuous ; --
It will secure the imitation of all the princes .
Ah ! the former kings are not forgotten !
270.TIAN ZUO
Heaven made the lofty hill ,
And king Da brought [the country about] it under cultivation .
He made the commencement with it ,
And king Wen tranquilly [carried on the work] ,
[Till] that rugged [mount] Qi ,
Had level roads leading to it .
May their descendants ever preserve it !
271.HAO TIAN YOU CHENG MING
Heaven made its determinate appointment ,
Which [our] two sovereigns received .
King Cheng did not dare to rest idly in it .
But night and day enlarged its foundations by his deep and silent virtue .
How did he continue and glorify [his heritage] ,
Exerting all his heart ,
And so securing its tranquillity !
272.WO JIANG
I have brought my offerings ,
A ram and a bull .
May Heaven accept them !
I imitate and follow and observe the statutes of king Wen ,
Seeking daily to secure the tranquillity of hte kingdom .
King Wen , the Blesser ,
Has descended on the right and accepted [the offerings] .
Do not I , night and day ,
Revere the majesty of Heaven .
Thus to preserve [their favour] ?
273.SHI MAI
Now is he making a progress through the States ,
May Heaven accept him as its Son !
Truly are the honour and succession come from it to the House of Zhou .
To his movements ,
All respond with tremulous awe .
He has attracted and given rest to all spiritual Beings ,
Even to [the Spirits of] the He , and the highest hills .
Truly is the king the sovereign Lord .
Brilliant and illustrious is the House of Zhou .
He has regulated the positions of the princes ;
He has called in shields and spears ;
He has returned to their cases bows and arrows .
I will cultivate admirable virtue ,
And display it throughout these great regions : --
Truly will the king preserve the appointment .
274.ZHI JING
The arm of king Wu was full of strength ;
Irresistable was his ardour .
Greatly illustrious were Cheng and Kang ,
Kinged by God .
When we consider how Cheng and Kang ,
Grandly held all within the four quarters [of the kingdom] ,
How penetrating was their intelligence !
The bells and drums sound in harmony ;
The sounding stones and flutes blend their notes ;
Abundant blessing is sent down .
Blessing is sent down in large measure ;
Careful and exact is all our deportment ;
We have drunk , and we have eaten , to the full ;
Our happiness and dignity will be prolonged .
275.SI WEN
O accomplished Hou-ji ,
Thou didst prove thyself the correlate of Heaven ;
Thou didst give grain-food to our multitudes ; --
The immense gift of thy goodness .
Thou didst confer on us the wheat and the barley ,
Which God appointed for the nourishment of all ;
And without distinction of territory or boundary ,
The rules of social duty were diffused throughout these great regions .
Sacrificial Odes of Zhou , Decade of Chen Gong
276. CHEN GONG
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 .
277.YI XI
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 .
278.ZHEN LU
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 .
279.FENG NIAN
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 .
280.YOU GU
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 .
281.QIAN
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 .
282.YONG
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 . '
283.ZAI JIAN
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 .
284.YOU KE
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 .
285.WU
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 .
Sacrificial Odes of Zhou, Decade of Min You Xiao Zi
286. MIN YU XIAO ZI
Alas for me , who am [as] a little child ,
On whom has devolved the unsettled State !
Solitary am I and full of distress .
Oh ! my great Father ,
All thy life long , thou wast filial .
Thou didst think of my great grandfather ,
[Seeing him , as it were ,] ascending and descending in the court .
I , the little child ,
Day and night will be so reverent .
Oh ! ye great kings ,
As your successor , I will strive not to forget you .
287.FANG LUO
I take counsel at the beginning of my [rule] ,
How I can follow [the example] of my shrined father .
Ah ! far-reaching [were his plans] ,
And I am not yet able to carry them out .
However I endeavour to reach to them ,
My continuation of them will still be all-deflected .
I am [but as] a little child ,
Unequal to the many difficulties of the State .
In his room , [I will look for him] to go up and come down in the court ,
To ascend and descend in the house .
Admirable art thou , O great Father ,
[Condescend] to preserve and enlighten me .
288. JING ZHI
Let me be reverent , let me be reverent , [in attending to my duties] ;
[The way of] Heaven is evident ,
And its appointment is not easily [preserved] .
Let me not say that It is high aloft above me .
It ascends and descends about our doings ;
It daily inspects us wherever we are .
I am [but as] a little child ,
Without intelligence to be reverently [attractive to my duties] ;
But by daily progress and monthly advance ,
I will learn to hold fast the gleams [of knowledge] , till I arrive at bright intelligence .
Assist me to bear the burden [of my position] ,
And show me how to display a virtuous conduct .
289. XIAO BI
I condemn myself [for the past] , and will be on my guard against future calamity .
I will have nothing to do with a wasp ,
To seek for myself its painful sting .
At first , indeed , the thing seemed but a wren ,
But it took wing and became a [large] bird .
I am unequal to the many difficulties of the kingdom ;
And I am placed in the midst of bitter experiences .
290.ZAI SHAN
They clear away the grass and the bushes ;
And the ground is laid open by their ploughs .
In thousands of pairs they remove the roots ,
Some in the low wet lands , some along the dykes .
There are the master and his eldest son ;
His younger sons , and all their children ;
Their strong helpers , and their hired servants .
How the noise of their eating the viands brought to them resounds !
[The husbands] think lovingly of their wives ;
[The wives] keep close to their husbands .
[Then] with their sharp plough-shares ,
They set to work on the south-lying acres .
They sow their different kinds of grain ,
Each seed containing in it a germ of life .
In unbroken lines rises the blade ,
And well-nourished the stalks grow long .
Luxuriant looks the young grain ,
And the weeders go among it in multitudes .
Then come the reapers in crowds ,
And the grain is piled up the fields ,
Myriads , and hundreds of thousands , and millions [of stacks] ;
For spirits and for sweet spirits ,
To offer to our ancestors , male and female ,
And to provide for all ceremonies .
Fragrant is their aroma ,
Enhancing the glory of the State .
Like pepper is their smell ,
To give comfort to the aged .
It is not here only that there is this [abundance] ;
It is not now only that there is such a time : --
From of old it has been thus .
291.LIANG SI
Very sharp are the excellent shares ,
With which they set to work on the south-lying acres .
They sow their different kinds of grain ,
Each seed containing a germ of life .
There are those who come to see them ,
With their baskets round and square ,
Containing the provision of millet .
With their light splint hats on their heads ,
They ply their hoes on the ground ,
Clearing away the smart-weed on the dry land and wet .
These weeds being decayed ,
The millets grow luxuriantly .
They fall rustling before the reapers .
And [the sheaves] are set up solidly ,
High as a wall ,
United together like the teeth of a comb ;
And the hundred houses are opened [to receive the grain] .
Those hundred houses being full ,
The wives and children have a feeling of repose .
[Now] we kill this black-muzzled tawny bull ,
With his crooked horns ,
To imitate and hand down ,
To land down [the observances of] our ancestors .
292.SI YI
In his silken robes , clear and bright ,
With his cap on his head , looking so respectful ,
From the hall he goes to the foot of the stairs ,
And from the sheep to the oxen .
[He inspects] the tripods , large and small .
The good spirits are mild ;
There is no noise , no insolence : --
An auspice , [all this] , of great longevity .
293.ZHUO
Oh ! powerful was the king's army ;
But he nursed it in obedience to circumstances while the time was yet dark .
When the time was clearly bright ,
He thereupon donned his grand armour .
We have been favoured to receive ,
What the martial king accomplished .
To deal aright with what we have inherited ,
We have to be sincere imitators of thy course , [O king] .
294.HUAN
There is peace throughout our myriad regions ;
There has been a succession of plentiful years : --
Heaven does not weary in its favour .
The martial king Wu ,
Maintained [the confidence of] his officers ,
And employed them all over the kingdom ,
So securing the establishment of his Family .
Oh ! glorious was he in the sight of Heaven ,
Which kinged him in the room [of Shang] .
295. LAI
King Wen laboured earnestly ; --
Right is it we should have received [the kingdom] .
We will diffuse [his virtue] , ever cherishing the thought of him ;
Henceforth we will seek only the settlement [of the kingdom] .
It was he through whom came the appointment of Zhou ;
Oh ! let us ever cherish the thought of him .
296. BAN
Oh ! great now is Zhou .
We ascend the high hills ,
Both those that are long and narrow , and the lofty mountains ;
Yes , and [we travel] along the regulated He ,
All under the sky ,
Assembling those who now respond to me .
Thus it is that the appointment belongs to Zhou .
praise-Songs of lu
297.JIONG
Fat and large are the stallions ,
On the plains of the far-distant borders .
of those stallions , fat and large ,
Some are black and white-breeched ; some light yellow ;
Some , pure black ; some , bay ;
[All] , splendid carriage horses .
His thoughts are without limit ; --
He thinks of his horses , and they are thus good .
Fat and large are the stallions ,
On the plains of the far-distant borders .
of those stallions , fat and large ,
Some are piebald , green and white ; others , yellow and white ;
Some , yellowish red ; some , dapple grey ;
[All] , strong carriage horses .
His thoughts are without end ; --
He thinks of his horses , and they are thus strong .
Fat and large are the stallions ,
On the plains of the far-distant borders .
of those stallions , fat and large ,
Some are flecked as with scales ; some , white and black-maned ;
Some , red and black-maned ; some , black and white-maned ;
[All] , docile in the carriage ,
His thoughts never weary ; --
He thinks of his horses , and such they become .
Fat and large are the stallions ,
On the plains of the far-distant borders .
of those stallions , fat and large ,
Some are cream-coloured ; some , red and white ;
Some , with white hairy legs ; some , with fishes' eyes ;
[All] , stout carriage horses .
His thoughts are without depravity ; -- ;
He thinks of his horses , and thus serviceable are they .
298.YOU BI
Fat and strong , fat and strong ,
Fat and strong , are the chestnut teams .
Early and late are the [officers] in the court ,
In the court , discriminating and intelligent .
[They are as] a flock of egrets on the wing ,
of egrets anon lighting on the ground .
The drums emit their deep sound ;
They drink to the full and then dance ; --
Thus rejoicing together .
Fat and strong , fat and strong ,
Fat and strong are the teams of stallions .
Early and late are the [officers] with the prince ,
With the prince drinking .
[They are as] a flock of egrets on the wing ,
of egrets flying about .
The drums emit their deep sound ;
They drink to the full and then return home ; --
Thus rejoicing together .
Fat and strong , fat and strong ,
Fat and strong are the teams of iron-greys .
Early and late are the [officers] with the prince ,
With the prince feasting .
'From this time forth ,
May the years be abundant .
May our prince maintain his goodness ,
And transmit it to his descendants ! ' --
Thus they rejoice together .
299.PAN SHUI
Pleasant is the semi-circular water ,
And we will gather the cress about it .
The marquis of Lu is coming to it ,
And we see his dragon-figured banner .
His banner waves in the wind ,
And the bells of his horses tinkle harmoniously .
Small and great ,
All follow the prince in his progress to it .
Pleasant is the semi-circular water ,
And we will gather the pondweed in it .
The marquis of Lu has come to it ,
With his horses looking so grand .
His horses are grand .
His fame is brilliant .
Blandly he looks and smiles ;
Without any impatience he delivers his instructions .
Pleasant is the semi-circular water ,
And we will gather the mallows about it .
The marquis of Lu has come to it ,
And in the college he is drinking .
He is drinking the good spirits ;
And may there be given him the old age that is seldom enjoyed !
May he accord with the grand ways ,
So subduing to himself all the people !
Very admirable is the marquis of Lu ,
Reverently displaying his virtue ,
And reverently watching over his deportment ,
The pattern of the people .
With great qualities truly civil and martial ,
Brilliantly he affects his meritorious ancestors .
In everything entirely filial ,
He seeks the blessing for himself .
Very intelligent is the marquis of Lu ,
Making his virtue illustrious .
He has made this college with its semicircle of water ,
And the tribes of the Huai will submit in consequence .
His martial-looking , tiger leaders ,
Will here present the left ears [of their foes] .
His examiners , wise as Gao-tao ,
Will here present their prisoners .
His numerous officers ,
Men who have enlarged their virtuous minds ,
With martial energy conducting their expedition ,
Will drive far away those tribes of the east and south .
Vigorous and grand ,
Without noise or display ,
Without having appealed to the judges ,
They will here present [the proofs of] their merit .
How they draw their bows adorned with bone !
How their arrows whizz forth !
Their war chariots are very large !
Their footmen and charioteers never weary !
They have subdued the tribes of the Huai ,
And brought them to an unrebellious submission !
Only lay your plans securely ,
And all the tribes of the Huai will be got !
They come flying on the wing , those owls ,
And settle on the trees about the college ;
They eat the fruit of our mulberry trees ,
And salute us with fine notes .
So awakened shall be those tribes of the Huai ;
They will come presenting their precious things ,
Their large tortoises and their elephants' teeth ,
And great contributions of the southern metals .
300.BI GONG
How pure and still are the solemn temples ,
In their strong solidity and minute completeness !
Highly distinguished was Jiang Yuan ,
of virtue undeflected .
God regarded her with favour ;
And without injury or hurt ,
Immediately , when her months were fulfilled ,
She gave birth to Hou-ji .
On him were conferred all blessings , --
[To know] how the millet ripened early , and the sacrificial millet late ,
How first to sow pulse , and then wheat .
Anon he was invested with an inferior State ,
And taught the people how to sow and to reap ,
The millet and the sacrificial millet ,
Rice and the black millet ;
Ere long all over the whole country ; --
[Thus] continuing the work of Yu .
Among the descendants of Hou-ji ,
There was king Da ,
Dwelling on the south of [mount] Qi ,
Where the clipping of Shang began .
In process of time Wen and Wu ,
Continued the work of king Da ,
And [the purpose of] Heaven was carried out in its time ,
In the plain of Mu .
'Have no doubts , no anxieties , ' [it was said] ;
'God is with you . '
[Wu] disposed of the troops of Shang ;
He and his men shared equally in the achievement .
[Then] king [Qing] said , ' My uncle ,
I will set up your eldest son ,
And make him marquis of Lu .
I will greatly enlarge your territory there ,
To be a help and support to the House of Zhou . '
Accordingly he appointed [our first] duke of Lu ,
And make him marquis in the east ,
Giving him the hills and rivers ,
The lands and fields , and the attached States .
The [present] descendant of the duke of Zhou ,
The son of duke Zhuang ,
With dragon-emblazoned banner attends the sacrifices ,
His six reins soft and pliant .
In spring and autumn he does not neglect [the sacrifices] ;
His offerings are all without error .
To the great and sovereign God ,
And to his great ancestor Hou-ji ,
He offers the victims , red and pure .
Then enjoy , they approve ,
And bestow blessings in large number .
The duke of Zhou , and [your other] great ancestors ,
Also bless you .
In autumn comes the sacrifices of the season ,
But in summer the bulls for it have had their horns capped .
They are the white bull and the red one ;
[There are] the bull-figured goblet in its dignity ;
Roast pig , minced meat , and soups ;
The dishes of bamboo and wood , and the large stand ;
And the dancers all-complete .
The filial descendant will be blessed .
[Your ancestors]will make you gloriously prosperous !
They will make you long-lived and good , --
To preserve this eastern region ,
Long possessing the State of Lu ,
Unwaning , unfallen ,
Unshaken , undisturbed !
They will make your friendship with your three aged [ministers] ,
Like the hills , like the mountains !
Our prince's chariots are a thousand ,
[And in each] are the vermilion tassels and the green bands of the two spears and two bows .
His footmen are thirty thousand ,
With shells no vermillion-strings adorning their helmets .
So numerous are his ardent followers ,
To deal with the tribes of the west and north ,
And to punish [those of] King and Shu ,
So that none of them will dare to withstand us .
May [the Spirits] make you grandly prosperous !
May they make you long-lived and wealthy !
May the hoary hair and wrinkled back ,
Marking the aged men , be always in your employment !
May they make you prosperous and great !
May they grant you old age , ever vigorous ,
For myriads and thousands of years ,
With the eyebrows of longevity , and ever unharmed !
The mountain of Da is lofty ,
Looked up to by the State of Lu .
We grandly possess also Gui and Mong ;
And we shall extend to the limits of the east ,
Even the States along the sea .
The tribes of the Huai will seek our alliance ; --
All will proffer their allegiance : --
Such shall be the achievements of the marquis of Lu .
He shall maintain the possession of Hu and Yi ,
And extend his sway to the regions of Xu ,
Even to the States along the sea .
The tribes of the Huai , the Man , and the Mi ,
And those tribes [still more] to the south ,
All will proffer their allegiance : --
Not one will dare not to answer to his call ,
Thus showing their obedience to the marquis of Lu .
Heaven will give great blessing to our prince ,
So that with the eyebrows of longevity he shall maintain Lu .
He shall possess Chang and Xu ,
And recover all the territory of the duke of Zhou .
Then shall the marquis of Lu feast and be glad ,
With his admirable wife and aged mother ;
With his excellent ministers and all his [other] officers .
Our region and State shall be hold ,
Thus receiving many blessings ,
To hoary hair , with a child's teeth .
The pines of Cu-lei ,
And the cypresses of Xin-fu ,
Were cut down and measured ,
With the cubit line and the eight cubits line .
The projecting beams of pine were large ;
The large inner apartments rose vast .
Splendid look the new temples ,
The work of Xi-si ,
Very wide and large ,
Answering to the expectations of all the people .
Sacrificial Odes of Shang
301. NA
How admirable ! how complete !
Here are set our hand-drums and drums .
The drums resound harmonious and loud ,
To delight our meritorious ancestor .
The descendant of Tang invites him with this music ,
That he may soothe us with the realization of our thoughts .
Deep is the sound of the hand-drums and drums ;
Shrilly sound the flutes ;
All harmonious and blending together ,
According to the notes of the sonorous gem .
Oh ! majestic is the descendant of Tang ;
Very admirable is his music .
The large bells and drums fill the ear ;
The various dances are grandly performed .
We have admirable visitors ,
Who are pleased and delighted .
From the old , before our time ,
The former men set us the example ; --
How to be mild and humble from morning to night ,
And to be reverent in discharging the service .
May he regard our sacrifices in summer and autumn ,
[Thus] offered by the descendant of Tang !
302. LIE ZU
Ah ! ah ! our meritorious ancestor !
Permanent are the blessings coming from him ,
Repeatedly conferred without end : --
They have come to you in this place .
The clear spirits are in our vessels ,
And there is granted to us the realization of our thoughts .
There are also the well-tempered soups ,
Prepared beforehand , the ingredients rightly proportioned .
By these offerings we invite his presence , without a word ,
Nor is there now any contention [in any part of the service] .
He will bless us with the eyebrows of longevity ,
With the grey hair and wrinkled face , in unlimited degree .
With the naves of their wheels bound with leather , and their ornamented yokes ,
With the eight bells at their horses' bits all tinkling ,
[The princess] come and assist at the offerings .
We have received the appointment in all its greatness ,
And from Heaven is our prosperity sent down ,
Fruitful years of great abundance .
[Our ancestor] will come and enjoy [our offerings] ,
And confer [on us] happiness without limit .
May he regard our sacrifices in summer and winter ,
[Thus] offered by the descendant of Tang !
303. XUAN NIAO
Heaven commissioned the swallow ,
To descend and give birth to [the father of our] Shang .
[His descendants] dwelt in the land of Yin , and became great .
[Then] long ago God appointed the martial Tang ,
To regulate the boundaries throughout the four quarters .
[In those] quarters he appointed the princes ,
And grandly possessed the nine regions [of the kingdom] .
The first sovereign of Shang ,
Received the appointment without any element of instability in it ,
And it is [now] held by the descendant of Wu-ding .
The descendant of Wu-ding ,
Is a martial king , equal to every emergency .
Ten princes , [who came] with their dragon-emblazoned banners ,
Bear the large dishes of millet .
The royal domain of a thousand Li ,
Is where the people rest ;
But there commence the boundaries that reach to the four seas .
From the four seas they come [to out sacrifices] ;
They come in multitudes ; --
King has the He for its outer border .
That Yin should have received the apppointment [of Heaven] was entirely right ; --
[Its sovereign] sustains all its dignities .
304. CHANG FA
Profoundly wise were [the lords of] Shang ,
And long had there appeared the omens [of their dignity ].
When the waters of the deluge spread vast abroad ,
Yu arranged and divided the regions of the land ,
And assigned to the exterior great States their boundaries ,
With their borders extending all over [the kingdom] .
Then the State of Song began to be great ,
And God raised up the son [of its daughter] , and founded [the Family of] Shang .
The dark king exercised an effective sway .
Charged with a small State , he commanded success ;
Charged with a large State , he commanded success .
He followed his rules of conduct without error ;
Wherever he inspected [the people] , they responded [to his instructions] .
[Then came] Xiang-tu , all-ardent ,
And all [within] the seas , beyond [the middle region] , acknowledged his restraints .
The favour of God did not leave [Shang] ,
And in Tang was found the subject for its display .
Tang was not born too late ,
And his wisdom and virtue daily advanced .
Brilliant was the influence of his character [on Heaven] for long ,
And God appointed him to be model to the nine regions .
He received the rank-tokens [of the States] , small and large ,
Which depended on him , like the pendants of a banner ; --
So did he receive the blessing of Heaven .
He was neither violent nor remiss ,
Neither hard nor soft .
Gently he spread his instructions abroad ,
And all dignities and riches were concentrated iin him .
He received the tribute [of the States] , large and small ,
And he supported them as a strong steed [does its burden] ; --
So did he receive the favour of Heaven .
He displayed everywhere his valour ,
Unshaken , unmoved ,
Unterrified , unscared : --
All dignities were united in him .
The martial king displayed his banner ,
And with reverence grasped his axe .
It was like [the case of] a blazing fire ,
Which no one can repress .
The root , with its three shoots ,
Could make no progress , no growth .
The nine regions were effectually secured by him .
Having smitten [the princes of] Wei and Gu ,
He dealt with [the prince of] Kun-wu , and with Jie of Xia .
Formerly in the middle of the period [before Tang] ,
There was a time of shaking and peril ,
But truly did Heaven [then] deal with him as its son ,
And sent him down a minister ,
Namely A-heng ,
Who gave his assistance to the king of Shang .
305.YIN WU
Rapid was the warlike energy of [our king of] Yin ,
And vigorously did he attack Jing-Chu .
Boldly he entered its dangerous passes ,
And brought the multitudes of King together ,
Till the country was reduced under complete restraint : --
Such was the fitting achievement of the descendant of Tang .
'Ye people , ' [he said] , ' of Jing-chu ,
Dwell in the southern part of my kingdom .
Formerly , in the time of Tang the Successful ,
Even from the Jiang of Di ,
They dared not but come with their offerings ;
[Their chiefs] dared not but come to seek acknowledgment : --
Such is the regular rule of Shang . '
Heaven has given their appointments [to the princes] ,
But where their capitals had been assigned within the sphere of the labours of Yu ,
For the business of every year , they appeared before our king ,
[Saying] , ' Do not punish nor reprove us ;
We have not been remiss in our husbandry . '
When Heaven by its will is inspecting [the kingdom] ,
The lower people are to be feared .
[Our king] showed no partiality [in rewarding] , no excess [in punishing] ;
He dared not to allow himself in indolence : --
So was his appointment [established] over the States ,
And he made his happiness grandly secure .
The capital of Shang was full of order ,
The model for all parts of the kingdom ,
Glorious was his fame ;
Brilliant , his energy .
Long lived he and enjoyed tranquillity ,
And so he preserves us , his descendants .
We ascended the hill of King ,
Where the pines and cypresses grew symmetrical .
We cut them down , and conveyed them here ;
We reverently hewed them square .
Long are the projecting beams of pine ;
Large are the many pillars .
The temple was completed , -- the tranquil abode [of his tablet] .
