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; - Jing 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.
商頌 - Sacrificial Odes Of Shang: 303. 玄鳥 - Xuan Niao
Date: 2021-06-28 06:26 pm (UTC)古帝命武湯、正域彼四方。
方命厥后、奄有九有。
商之先后、受命不殆、在武丁孫子。
武丁孫子、武王靡不勝。
龍旂十乘、大糦是承。
邦畿千里、維民所止、肇域彼四海。
四海來假、來假祁祁、景員維河。
殷受命咸宜、百祿是何。
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; -
Jing 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.