Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Lessons from the States, Odes Of Zheng

[x_los]

Back after the Christmas/New Year break! I'd really like to get through the Book of Odes in the next months, so we can enter into our next Tang or Song offering. I'll try to be more regulated in the poem posts accordingly. 

Some notes:

* 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.

* I believe the reminder emails have stopped, so I'll seek a new service to run that. 

When the second batch of these is up and running, if you would like not to be on the list and there isn't an unsubscribe option in the email itself, please just respond 'unsubscribe' or something and I'll take you off the reminder roster.

* IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS WHO MIGHT LIKE TO JOIN or have other ideas, please let me know on this post.

* 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.

**NEXT BATCH FEB 1.**

Comments

77. 叔于田 - Shu Yu Tian

[x_los]

叔于田、巷無居人。
豈無居人、不如叔也、洵美且仁。

Shu has gone hunting;
And in the streets there are no inhabitants.
Are there indeed no inhabitants?
[But] they are not like Shu,
Who is truly admirable and kind.

叔于狩、巷無飲酒。
豈無飲酒、不如叔也、洵美且好。

Shu has gone to the grand chase;
And in the streets there are none feasting.
Are there indeed none feasting?
[But] they are not like Shu,
Who is truly admirable and good.

叔適野、巷無服馬。
豈無服馬、不如叔也、洵美且武。

Shu has gone into the country;
And in the streets there are none driving about.
Are there indeed none driving about?
[But] they are not like Shu,
Who is truly admirable and martial.

Re: 77. 叔于田 - Shu Yu Tian

[x_los]

So I guess other people are staying home and shit and not getting out there, experiencing country lyfe like Shu, who has a Joules gilet and everything.

Re: 77. 叔于田 - Shu Yu Tian

[x_los]

Apparently another translation exists, but I can't find it online:

Shu yu tian. 叔于田. Classic of Poetry LXXVII “Shu Is On a Field Hunt”. Poem by Book of Songs Shijing 詩經. Translation by Stephen Owen, in An Anthology of Chinese Literature: Beginnings to 1911, p. 56.

Re: 77. 叔于田 - Shu Yu Tian

[superborb]

Baidu says ancient scholars believed the "Shu" was Gong Suduan (https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%85%B1%E5%8F%94%E6%AE%B5/1430923), while modern scholars believe it's a general reference to a young hunter.

The question and answer structure is v interesting here -- I don't think we've seen it before?