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Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Minor Odes of the Kingdom, Decade of Baihua
I know this is a short week and that doing it on its own will not speed us through the Minor Odes, but given that the poems are longer in this section, Baihua's five felt too bulky to tack on to either side (to make one of those batches a kind of awkward 14-15 medium sized poems).
* 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 APRIL 5.**
* 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 APRIL 5.**
172. 南山有臺 - Nan Shan You Tai
樂只君子、邦家之基。
樂只君子、萬壽無期。
On the hills of the south is the tai plant,
On those of the north is the lai.
To be rejoiced in are ye, noble men,
The foundations of the State.
To be rejoiced in are ye, noble men; -
May your years be myriads and without end!
南山有桑、北山有楊。
樂只君子、邦家之光。
樂只君子、萬壽無疆。
On the hills of the south are the mulberry trees,
On those of the north are willows.
To be rejoiced in are ye, noble men,
The light of the State.
To be rejoiced in are ye, noble men; -
May your years be myriads, unlimited!
南山有杞、北山有李。
樂只君子、民之父母。
樂只君子、德音不已。
On the hills of the south are medlars;
On those of the north are plum trees.
To be rejoiced in are ye, noble men,
Parents of the people.
To be rejoiced in are ye, noble men; -
May your virtuous fame have no end!
南山有栲、北山有杻。
樂只君子、遐不眉壽。
樂只君子、德音是茂。
On the hills of the south is the Kao;
On those of the north is the Niu.
To be rejoiced in are ye, noble men,
Have ye not the eyebrows of longevity?
To be rejoiced in are ye, noble men; -
May your virtuous fame be abundant!
南山有枸、北山有楰。
樂只君子、遐不黃耇。
樂只君子、保艾爾後。
On the hills of the south is the gou;
On those of the north is the xu.
To be rejoiced in are ye, gentlemen; -
Will ye not have the grey hair and wrinkled face?
To be rejoiced in are ye, gentlemen; -
May ye preserve and maintain your posterity!
Re: 172. 南山有臺 - Nan Shan You Tai
Eyebrows of longevity?
So are they just like these trees and the river because they're abundant natural blessings?
Re: 172. 南山有臺 - Nan Shan You Tai
Re: 172. 南山有臺 - Nan Shan You Tai
Re: 172. 南山有臺 - Nan Shan You Tai
Re: 172. 南山有臺 - Nan Shan You Tai
The last four phrases of each stanza is singing the praises of and offering birthday congratulations. [The phrase used for 'singing the praises of' is usually derogatory, but I don't think that connotation is meant here??] The first two stanzas offer wishes to the nation, the third and fourth to the parents of the people [I think this metaphorically means the ruler -- i.e. a virtuous ruler will treat the common masses as their children, so the parent of the people therefore is a virtuous ruler?], and the last to the offspring/posterity.
So this is a banquet song for nobles, wishing guests longevity and good future generations.
The xing adds symbolic meaning (bi), color and subtlety. Otherwise it would be too abrupt and straightforward.