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

[x_los]

* 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.

* 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 MARCH 8.**

Comments

144. 株林 - Zhu Lin

[x_los]

胡為乎株林、從夏南。
匪適株林、從夏南。

What does he in Zhulin?
He is going after Xianan.
He is not going to Zhulin;
He is going after Xianan.

駕我乘馬、說于株野。
乘我乘駒、朝食于株。

'Yoke for me my team of horses;
I will rest in the country about Zhu.
I will drive my team of colts,
And breakfast at Zhu.'

Re: 144. 株林 - Zhu Lin

[x_los]

This is inevitably about some famous ancient personal drama, and on Sunday Helena will tell me what it is.

Re: 144. 株林 - Zhu Lin

[douqi]

Also waiting for Helena, but looked this up and it seems 'breakfast' was a Spring-Autumn euphemism for sex.

Re: 144. 株林 - Zhu Lin

[x_los]

wild bc that is the least sexy meal

Re: 144. 株林 - Zhu Lin

[superborb]

This judgment x.x

But also, yes it is.

Baike: This poem exposes and satirizes Chen Ling gong and Xia Ji's promiscuous behavior.

"Zhulin": Zhu is the name of a city in Chen country, in current day Zhecheng county in Henan. Lin means the open area outside a city / the countryside.

"Xianan": Xia Zhengshu, the son of Xia Ji

So the "horses" are horses over 6 chi (chinese feet) high, used by monarchs, the "colts" are horses between 5 and 6 chi, used by ministers. So Chen Ling gong is riding the horse and the people riding the colt are his ministers Kong Ning and Yi Hangfu (or Yi Xingfu? -- the character can be read either way)

"breakfast": food is a euphemism for sex

So, the Xia Nan here is Xia Zhengshu, the son of Chen country's minister Xia Yushu. His courtesy name is Xia Nan. His mother, Xia Ji, was Zheng Mu gong's daughter, and a famously beautiful woman. After she married into Chen country, Chen Ling gong and his ministers Kong Ning and Yi Hangfu coveted her. According to Zuo Zhuan (a commentary on the Spring-Autumn history), they all had an affair with her, even wearing her underwear and bantered in court. The second year they went to Zhu city, Chen Ling gong teased Yi Hangfu in front of Xia Ji's son by saying, "he looks like you". Yi Hangfu retorted "he looks more like your majesty!" Xia Zhengshu was very angry, and finally ambushed him in the stable and shot Chen Ling gong dead. This led to a notorious period of civil unrest.

The poem's first stanza is the people on the road pretending to ask "what are they doing in Zhu"? And the response is satirical. The second stanza is Chen Ling gong and his ministers joking among themselves

Re: 144. 株林 - Zhu Lin

[x_los]

'"breakfast": food is a euphemism for sex' this makes Binghe's constant breakfast preparations potentially historically funnier tbh

'According to Zuo Zhuan (a commentary on the Spring-Autumn history), they all had an affair with her, even wearing her underwear and bantered in court.' wtf

this is the best drama yet tho

Re: 144. 株林 - Zhu Lin

[superborb]

Possibly it's just that my translation prowess has increased, though it's true that no other baike article yet has specifically called out that the ministers were wearing women's underwear...