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Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Odes of the Temple and the Altar, Sacrificial Odes of Zhou, Chen Gong
* I found the best option for the weekly reminder emails, via Gmail. The external service options are more involved than our purposes require. Does anyone know anything about how to arrange an Apps Script? Basically all it has to do is tell ten people, on Saturdays, to come and get their juice/poems.
Until someone knows what to do there, I'll send out manual messages weekly. If you'd like to receive these and are not getting them, please let me know.
* If you haven't read it yet, chapter one, on tetrasyllabic shi poetry, in How to Read Chinese Poetry is hugely useful for the Book of Odes, imo.
* Remember you can also look at How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context.
* IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS WHO MIGHT LIKE TO JOIN or have other ideas, please let me know on this post.
* Every week I search the poems' English results to see if I can find any scholarship or neat bits and pop the results in Resources. Here is this week's collection.
**NEXT BATCH JUNE 21.**
ONLY 3 SHI JING WEEKS LEFT, THIS INCLUDED!
Until someone knows what to do there, I'll send out manual messages weekly. If you'd like to receive these and are not getting them, please let me know.
* If you haven't read it yet, chapter one, on tetrasyllabic shi poetry, in How to Read Chinese Poetry is hugely useful for the Book of Odes, imo.
* Remember you can also look at How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context.
* IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS WHO MIGHT LIKE TO JOIN or have other ideas, please let me know on this post.
* Every week I search the poems' English results to see if I can find any scholarship or neat bits and pop the results in Resources. Here is this week's collection.
**NEXT BATCH JUNE 21.**
ONLY 3 SHI JING WEEKS LEFT, THIS INCLUDED!
276. 臣工 - Chen Gong
王釐爾成、來咨來茹。
嗟嗟保介、維莫之春、亦又何求、如何新畬。
於皇來牟、將受厥明。
明昭上帝、迄用康年。
命我眾人、庤乃錢鎛、奄觀銍艾。
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.
Re: 276. 臣工 - Chen Gong
"And what have ye to seek for?" slightly confusing
"To be provided with their spuds and hoes" what spuds? bitch this is pre-Colombian--
Re: 276. 臣工 - Chen Gong
Evergreen topic: how to deal with the Colombian exchange in historical fiction.
Re: 276. 臣工 - Chen Gong
The new fields and those of the third year: fields that have been cultivated two years are called xin (lit. new), those cultivated three years are called yu (lit. cultivated field).
As
277. 噫嘻 - Yi Xi
噫嘻成王、既昭假爾。
率時農夫、播厥百穀。
駿發爾私、終三十里。
亦服爾耕、十千維耦。
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.
Re: 277. 噫嘻 - Yi Xi
Who is this injunction to?
Re: 277. 噫嘻 - Yi Xi
Also something interesting is that the final four lines are written in a really stylized syntax, such that the adjacent characters form pairs.
Re: 277. 噫嘻 - Yi Xi
Maybe the characters in pairs suggest the labourers in their pairs.
Re: 277. 噫嘻 - Yi Xi
278. 振鷺 - Zhen Lu
我客戾止、亦有斯容。
在彼無惡、在此無斁。
庶幾夙夜、以永終譽。
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 perpetuate their fame.
Re: 278. 振鷺 - Zhen Lu
"With an [elegant] carriage like those birds." carriage as in bird-like demeanour, or carriage as in 'horse and'?
What's the end doing?
Re: 278. 振鷺 - Zhen Lu
Re: 278. 振鷺 - Zhen Lu
"visitors": indicates the royal family of the Xia and Shang (previous dynasties) who the Zhou called 'visitors' because they didn't dare consider them subjects.
"day and night": early to rise and late to bed, indicates they are busy working
So it's about the previous dynasty coming to the Zhou for rites, praising that they can get along in harmony.
279. 豐年 - Feng Nian
亦有高廩、萬億及秭。
為酒為醴、烝畀祖妣、以洽百禮。
降福孔皆。
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.
Re: 279. 豐年 - Feng Nian
Re: 279. 豐年 - Feng Nian
280. 有瞽 - You Gu
設業設虡、崇牙樹羽、應田縣鼓、鞉磬柷圉。
既備乃奏。
簫管備舉。
喤喤厥聲、肅雝和鳴、先祖是聽。
我客戾止、永觀厥成。
There are the blind 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.
These being all complete, the music is struck up.
The pan-pipe and the double-flute begin at the same time.
Harmoniously blend their sounds;
In solemn unison they give forth their notes.
Our ancestors will give ear;
Our visitors will be there; -
Long to witness the complete performance.
Re: 280. 有瞽 - You Gu
"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." so we're talking multiple frames of instruments like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrLjz7D8jwQ and the stones from last time?
Long as in, they are longing to, or as in they have waited a long time?
Re: 280. 有瞽 - You Gu
We did discuss before; during the Zhou dynasty, music officials were selected from the congenitally blind.
I think that kind of instrument, yes?
I think "longing to" -- the Baike vernacular is more like "after the music finished, everyone praised it simultaneously"
281. 潛 - Qian
猗與漆沮、潛有多魚、有鱣有鮪、鰷鱨鰋鯉。
以享以祀、以介景福。
Oh! in the Qi and the Ju,
There are many fish in the warrens; -
Sturgeons, large and snouted,
Tiao, yellow-jaws, mudfish, and carp:
For offerings, for sacrifice,
That our bright happiness may be increased.
Re: 281. 潛 - Qian
282. 雝 - Yong
相維辟公、天子穆穆。
於薦廣牡、相予肆祀。
假哉皇考、綏予孝子。
宣哲維人、文武維后。
燕及皇天、克昌厥後。
綏我眉壽、介以繁祉。
既右烈考、亦右文母。
They come full of harmony;
They are here, in all gravity; -
The princes 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. '
Re: 282. 雝 - Yong
"eyebrows of longevity;" ?
"my accomplished mother. '" nice
Re: 282. 雝 - Yong
So the phrase is 眉寿 (eyebrow (at least, in contemporary ordinary meaning) + life) which means long life. But there's heated debate over whether the 眉 element literally means eyebrow or whether it means 'old', 'complete', 'long', 'full', etc: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%9C%89%E5%AF%BF
Re: 282. 雝 - Yong
Believed to be created during the reign of Zhou Wu wang for sacrificing to Zhou Wen wang. This would be a time period where the Zhou do not have as centralized power, but the princes still had to come help in ceremonial affairs like this. Even after Zhou Wu wang, as the Zhou lost power and control over the princes, this would still be used to display the authority of the Zhou royal family.
283. 載見 - Zai Jian
龍旂陽陽、和鈴央央。
鞗革有鶬、休有烈光。
率見昭考、以孝以享、以介眉壽。
永言保之、思皇多祜。
烈文辟公、綏以多福、俾緝熙于純嘏。
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.
Re: 283. 載見 - Zai Jian
"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." are these details meaningful?
"Enabling him to perpetuate them in their brightness as pure blessing." ?
Re: 283. 載見 - Zai Jian
Baike's vernacular tl of the last two lines are: The former kings bestow upon you many blessings of good fortune, so that your undertakings may always be splendid.
That section of the details are commented by Baike as an example of 'fu'
Re: 283. 載見 - Zai Jian
284. 有客 - You Ke
有客有客、亦白其馬。
有萋有且、敦琢其旅。
有客宿宿、有客信信。
言授之縶、以縶其馬。
薄言追之、左右綏之。
既有淫威、降福孔夷。
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 bind 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.
Re: 284. 有客 - You Ke
It is very natural that he should be blessed." so because he's got such high status and does things well, it's likely that things will go well for him?
Re: 284. 有客 - You Ke
Re: 284. 有客 - You Ke
The visitor here refers to Song Weizi (half brother of the last Shang king) -- like mentioned before, after the Zhou conquered Shang, he submitted to Zhou. He was later enfeoffed as Duke of Song.
White horse is because white is the color of purity and was valued by the Shang dynasty, with white horses considered beautiful. Therefore when people came as guests, they rode white horses. Some say the horse is brought as a gift.
Interesting that Legge choses to translated to polished-- the original is carved, or some say chosen. Gets across the same meaning of virtuous and beautiful.
Written at the time of Zhou Cheng wang.
285. 武 - Wu
允文文王、克開厥後。
嗣武受之、勝殷遏劉、耆定爾功。
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.
Re: 285. 武 - Wu
Re: 285. 武 - Wu
Re: 285. 武 - Wu
Also, Baike says about Confucius had regrets about the choice to include this piece due to violence of war, when he was someone who esteemed benevolence and righteousness. It does give a citation for this?