dankodes | Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Minor Odes of the Kingdom, Decade of Du Ren Shi

From:

彼都人士、狐裘黃黃。
其容不改、出言有章。
行歸于周、萬民所望。

Those officers of the [old] capital,
With their fox-furs so yellow,
Their deportment unvaryingly [correct],
And their speech full of elegance! -
If we could go back to [the old] Zhou,
They would be admiringly looked up to by all the people.

彼都人士、臺笠緇撮。
彼君子女、綢直如髮。
我不見兮、我心不說。

Those officers of the [old] capital,
With their hats of Tai leaves and small black caps! -
Those ladies of noble Houses.
With their hair so thick and straight! -
I do not see them [now],
And my heart is dissatisfied.

彼都人士、充耳琇實。
彼君子女、謂之尹吉。
我不見兮、我心苑結。

Those officers of the [old] capital,
With their ear-plugs of xiu-stones! -
Those ladies of noble Houses,
Each fit to be called a Yin or a Ji! -
I do not see them [now],
And my heart grieves with indissoluble sorrow.

彼都人士、垂帶而厲。
彼君子女、卷髮如蠆。
我不見兮、言從之邁。

Those officers of the [old] capital,
With their girdles hanging elegantly down! -
Those ladies of great Houses,
With their [side] hair curving up like a scorpion's tail! -
I do not see them [now],
[If I could], I would walk along after them.

匪伊垂之、帶則有餘。
匪伊卷之、髮則有旟。
我不見兮、云何盱矣。

Not that they purposely let their girdles hang down; -
The girdles were naturally long.
Not that they gave their hair that curve; -
The hair had a natural curl.
I do not see them [now],
And how do I long for them!

From:

x_los

With their fox-furs so yellow, what fucking foxes--

With their hats of Tai leaves and small black caps! so what are these?

Each fit to be called a Yin or a Ji! ?

The girdles were naturally long.
Not that they gave their hair that curve; -
The hair had a natural curl. so we're talking about the irreplaceability of things that are natural rather than constructed, sure, but do these qualities/the faking of them have more weight than that?

From:

superborb

Baike:

Hats of Tai leaves are rain hats made of the coco-grass or nut sedge. The small black caps are small caps (to bind the hair?).

Some say that Yin and Ji were the two noble surnames at that time. [I previously translated the "some say" as "one source" but I think "some say" is more accurate since it's not like they're citing anything...]

I think it's more just nostalgia for the past and using the aesthetics as a metaphor for the culture of that time?

From:

ann712

Ah the good old days. Cant beat them

From:

x_los

終朝采綠、不盈一匊。
予髮曲局、薄言歸沐。

All the morning I gather the king-grass,
And do not collect enough to fill my hands.
My hair is in a wisp; -
I will go home and wash it.

終朝采藍、不盈一襜。
五日為期，六日不詹。

All the morning I gather the indigo plant,
And do not collect enough to fill my apron.
Five days was the time agreed on; -
It is the sixth, and I do not see him.

之子于狩，言韔其弓。
之子于釣，言綸之繩。

When he went a hunting,
I put the bow in its case for him.
When he went to fish,
I arranged his line for him.

其釣維何，維魴及鱮。
維魴及鱮，薄言觀者。

What did he take in angling?
Bream and tench; -
Bream and tench,
While people [looked on] to see.

From:

x_los

Feels loaded but elusive.

"All the morning I gather the king-grass, And do not collect enough to fill my hands./All the morning I gather the indigo plant, And do not collect enough to fill my apron."

Any significance to these plants? Too distracted to do this task, or lean times?

"My hair is in a wisp; -" so it's disorderly bc the person is full of cares, so inattentive to it?

"What did he take in angling?
Bream and tench; -
Bream and tench,
While people [looked on] to see." ???

Has the speaker been abandoned by a partner they were always a good helpmeet to?

From:

x_los

I forgot only abandoned women gather plants:

Citations of the Shi Jing in Early Chinese Texts: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/29434/1/10731590.pdf

"There are similar expressions delivering the gather’s worrying mind in the Shijing. The poem"Cailu" (226) reads: ^ or the whole morning gathering lu plant, it doesnot fill my handful amount, and ^ or the whole morning gathering the indigoplant, it does not fill my skirt."

Oracle Poems:Ritual Awareness, Symbolism and Creativity in Shi Jing Poetics
https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/1527/02whole.pdf?sequence=2

This poem thencorroborates the Yi Jing evidence of ritual in which gathering plants and placing them in the squarebasket is related plays some role in readying a woman for marriage. Arthur Waley explains thesignificance of another pre-marriage harvesting poem (albeit one not featuring baskets) thus: “In [CaiLü 采綠, “Gathering green” (Mao 226)76 ] a girl, about to be married, goes to gather plants withwhich to make green and blue dyes for her trousseau-dresses. She fails to fill her basket, which is a bad omen. Sure enough, the man does not turn up on the wedding-day.”77 Waley identifies thenegative resonance of the failed gathering and gives a literal context for the act of gathering.However, as I will go on to demonstrate, the activity of gathering plants before marriage may, at baselevel, have a less pragmatic association than collecting dyes for the wedding dress.

From:

superborb

Interesting that this interprets it as abandoned-at-the-alter, Baike says she's just missing her husband who is away / the pain of separation.

Baike also says the last stanza is praising the charm of gentlemen, so IDK about Baike's interpretations on this one lol

From:

x_los

芃芃黍苗、陰雨膏之。
悠悠南行、召伯勞之。

Tall and strong grows the young millet,
Fattened by the genial rains.
Very long was our journey to the south,
But the earl of Shao encouraged and cheered us.

我任我輦、我車我牛。
我行既集、蓋云歸哉。

We carried our burdens; we pushed along our barrows;
We drove our waggons; we led our oxen.
When our expedition was accomplished,
We knew we should return.

我徒我御、我師我旅。
我行既集、蓋云歸處。

We went along on foot; we rode in our chariots; -
Our whole host, and our battalions.
When our expedition was accomplished,
We knew we should return home.

肅肅謝功、召伯營之。
烈烈征師、召伯成之。

Severe was the work at Xie,
But the earl of Shao built the city.
Majestic was the march of our host; -
The earl of Shao directed it.

原隰既平、泉流既清。
召伯有成、王心則寧。

The plains and low lands were regulated; -
The springs and streams were cleared.
The earl of Shao completed his work,
And the heart of the king was at rest.

From:

x_los

Maybe a working song, for marching or making these earthworks?

From:

superborb

Baike says this was written by Zhou Xuan wang to praise Shao Mu gong (aka Shao Bo) for his construction of the city of Xie to help control the south. This poem follows a strict rhyme and structural pattern.

From:

x_los

隰桑有阿、其葉有難。
既見君子、其樂如何。

In the low, wet grounds, the mulberry trees are beautiful,
And their leaves are luxuriant.
When I see the princely men,
How great is the pleasure!

隰桑有阿、其葉有沃。
既見君子、云何不樂。

In the low, wet grounds, the mulberry trees are beautiful,
And their leaves are glossy.
When I see the princely men,
How can I be other than glad?

隰桑有阿、其葉有幽。
既見君子、德音孔膠。

In the low, wet grounds, the mulberry trees are beautiful,
And their leaves are dark.
When I see the princely men,
Their virtuous fame draws them close [to my heart].

心乎愛矣、遐不謂矣。
中心藏之、何日忘之。

In my heart I love them,
And why should I not say so?
In the core of my heart I keep them,
And never will forget them.

From:

x_los

So how are the trees and their placement like these men of high station, other than that the poet finds both attractive?

From:

x_los

The Book of Songs
http://www.readchina8.com/2009/1109/5.html

There are also love poems, let’s take “隰桑，xi sang, Mulberry on the Lowland”:

Beautiful mulberry trees on the low land,
Its leaves full and round.
Now I see my man,
I’m filled with delight.

Beautiful mulberry tres on the low land,
Its leaves fertile and soft.
Now I see my man,
With joy I feel wild.

Beautiful mulberry trees on the low land,
Its leaves deeply green.
Now I see my man,
When talk about love there is no end.

I love you by heart,
Why I dare not mention it?
I burry it deep in heart,
On which day can I forget?

I think you would agree that the feeling this poem projected is very sincere and we know that the girl will never forget her love.

From:

ann712

Mulberry trees are considered divine? A bridge between Earth and Heaven. Maybe the men of high station create a sort of heaven on earth?

From:

superborb

Baike says that in feudal times, scholars never read it as a love poem, but of course most modern people think of it as a love poem and specifically as women's poems.

Also in addition to the mulberry being a symbol of "the beauty of youth", it is an optimal place to have a tryst -- so Baike says the first three stanzas are her imagining a tryst.

From:

x_los

白華菅兮、白茅束兮。
之子之遠、俾我獨兮。

The fibres from the white flowered rush,
Are bound with the white grass.
This man's sending me away,
Makes me dwell solitary.

英英白雲、露彼菅茅。
天步艱難、之子不猶。

The light and brilliant clouds,
Bedew the rush and the grass.
The way of Heaven is hard and difficult; -
This man does not confirm [to good principle].

滮池北流、浸彼稻田。
嘯歌傷懷、念彼碩人。

How the water from the pools flows away to north,
Flooding the rice fields!
I whistle and sing with wounded heart,
Thinking of that great man.

樵彼桑薪、卬烘于煁。
維彼碩人、實勞我心。

They gather firewood of branches of the mulberry trees,
And I burn them [only] in a [small] furnace.
That great man,
Does indeed toil and trouble my heart.

鼓鍾于宮、聲聞于外。
念子懆懆、視我邁邁。

Their drums and bells are beaten in the palace,
And their sound is heard without.
All-sorrowful I think of him; -
He thinks of me without any regard.

有鶖在梁、有鶴在林。
維彼碩人、實勞我心。

The marabou is on the dam;
The [common] crane is in the forest.
That great man,
Does indeed toil and trouble my heart.

鴛鴦在梁、戢其左翼。
之子無良、二三其德。

The Yellow ducks are on the dams,
With their left wings gathered up.
That man is bad,
Ever varying in his conduct.

有扁斯石、履之卑兮。
之子之遠、俾我疧兮。

How thin is that slab of stone!
He that stands on it is low.
That man's sending me away,
Makes me full of affliction.

From:

x_los

Abandoned wife poem with mysterious xings.

From:

superborb

Baike:

Mao's commentary says this is about Zhou You wang and his promoting Bao Si to queen and deposing Queen Shen. In either case, women in marriage had an unequal position no matter what class they were in.

The white grass and white flowered rush are symbols of purity and the harmony of love.

The rice field being irrigated is the opposite of the feelings of the husband for his wife. Implying that people are out of place.

The mulberry not being able to be used = the narrator's virtue not being appreciated

The drums and bells are like, no secret can be held forever, thus people know she (Queen Shen) has been abandoned

The bird metaphor is between the white and meek crane and the greedy and sinister marabou. The marabou is a vulture, but it looks like a crane. The crane is considered a noble bird, but being in the forest = the loved person is far away.

From:

x_los

綿蠻黃鳥、止于丘阿。
道之云遠、我勞如何。
飲之食之、教之誨之、命彼後車、謂之載之。

There is that little oriole,
Resting on a bend of the mound.
The way is distant,
And I am very much wearied.
Give me drink, give me food;
Inform me, teach me;
Order one of the attending carriages,
And tell them to carry me.

綿蠻黃鳥、止于丘隅。
豈敢憚行、畏不能趨。
飲之食之、教之誨之、命彼後車、謂之載之。

There is that little oriole,
Resting on a corner of the mound.
It is not that I dare to shrink from the journey,
But I am afraid of not being able to go on.
Give me drink, give me food;
Inform me, teach me;
Order one of the attending carriages,
And tell them to carry me.

綿蠻黃鳥、止于丘側。
豈敢憚行、畏不能極。
飲之食之、教之誨之、命彼後車、謂之載之。

There is that little oriole,
Resting on the side of the mound.
It is not that I dare to shrink from the journey,
But I am afraid of not getting to the end of it.
Give me drink, give me food;
Inform me, teach me;
Order one of the attending carriages,
And tell them to carry me.

From:

x_los

What's the oriole doing?

"Inform me, teach me;" doesn't quite seem to fit?

From:

superborb

Baike seems to think the 'inform me, teach me' bit is the narrator longing for someone to sympathize and guide him, but also this Baike article seems lower quality than most, so an extra grain of salt here.

From:

llonkrebboj

I think it may not be the same yellow bird each time. The first line of each part is the dude seeing a bird (maybe very common in the area?) land and stop at each leg of his journey. The 'mound' is a biiiit misleading I guess. A 丘 is a hill. So, 1) at a bend in the road to/of the hill, 2) at a corner of a hill and 3) on the side of a hill. Meanwhile, he's like look at that bird! Now look at the issues I have. Wish I knew where I'm going and what I'm doing. The birb knows what's up in life. But I don't T_T

So if the first four lines of each section are like negativity central, the second four lines are the cheerleading, positive encouragement part. Maybe it should be sung or performed as a duet after all.

There is actually no 'me' in the text at this point. It's more like

// Feed and quench
and teach and guide
and order the carriage behind
telling them to let (the speaker) ride //

Very "you're exhausted and fretful bc your basic needs are not met and there's no one to guide you, but we are here now so don't be afraid anymore" sort of upbeat reassurance.

From:

x_los

That's a nice point, re: what the bird xing is doing!

From:

ann712

Orioles also symbolise joy or herald the coming of the spring. Maybe a symbol of that? I know there is joy to found but I’m tired, the journey to find it is wearying me, I need somebody to teach me how to find it.

From:

x_los

幡幡瓠葉、采之亨之。
君子有酒、酌言嘗之。

Of the gourd leaves, waving about,
Some are taken and boiled;
[Then] the superior man, from his spirits,
Pours out a cup, and tastes it.

有兔斯首、炮之燔之。
君子有酒、酌言獻之。

There is but a single rabbit,
Baked, or roasted.
[But] the superior man, from his spirits,
Fills the cup and presents it [to his guests].

有兔斯首、燔之炙之。
君子有酒、酌言酢之。

There is but a single rabbit,
Roasted, or broiled.
[But] from the spirits of the superior man,
[His guests] fill the cup, and present it to him.

有兔斯首、燔之炮之。
君子有酒、酌言醻之。

There is but a single rabbit,
Roasted, or baked.
[But] from the spirits of the superior man,
[His guests and he] fill the cup and pledge one another.

From:

x_los

'Of the gourd leaves, waving about,
Some are taken and boiled;'

so is it that--this guy doesn't have a lot, but he knows how to do it right, and so provides for his guests as well as he can?

From:

superborb

Baike thinks it's the host's modesty and the hospitality of ordinary people.

Interestingly, the Legge translation seems to give a sense of scarcity, but the way Baike describes the gourd leaves (bitter) and the rabbit (not one of the "six animals" that should be meat dishes (pig, cattle, sheep, chicken, fish, geese), so it's not elegant) makes it seem more like it's just that the food is crude and simple? OTOH, it also glosses the rabbit as just a rabbit head, which seems like not very much food. (The vernacular uses a more general rabbit meat.)

From:

llonkrebboj

I am VERY confused about 斯首 tbh because
- reading 斯 as 'this'
有兔斯首 becomes there is this head of a rabbit
- reading 斯 as 'tear'
有兔斯首 becomes there is a torn head of a rabbit
- reading 斯 as 'white' (and baidu links back that reading to this poem LMAO)
有兔斯首 becomes there is a white head of a rabbit

From:

superborb

Yeah, Baike's gloss on that line is ⑸斯：语助词。首：头，只。一说斯首即白头，兔小者头白。So it looks like the white head reading does originate here, but how???

From:

llonkrebboj

Oooo I think that reading makes sense! Lbr, he only has wine, gourd leaves and a white headed rabbit (or the head of a rabbit? I can't tell)! But then cooks it in 3 different ways, carefully twice each. Baked in mud, roasted and then roasted again like kebab. And all this flavoured only with gourd leaf. He's a poor man for sure!

Then as for the wine, we see the party as it progresses! The guy invites everyone to have a taste, pours out again to offer, then the guests drink and return the polite guesture and the last line they drink to each other.

Just bc you're poor doesn't mean you can't have a good time.

From:

x_los

This is a really good point about it as a description of the progression of the meal, with courses and toasts made from very little.

From:

x_los

漸漸之石、維其高矣。
山川悠遠、維其勞矣。
武人東征、不遑朝矣。

Those frowning rocks, -
How high they rise!
Over such a distance of hills and streams,
How toilsome is the march!
The warrior, in charge of the expedition to the east,
Has not a morning's leisure.

漸漸之石、維其卒矣。
山川悠遠、曷其沒矣。
武人東征、不遑出矣。

Those frowning rocks, -
How they crown the heights!
Over such a distance of hills and streams,
When shall we have completed our march?
The warrior, in charge of the expedition to the east,
Has no leisure [to think] how he wll withdraw.

有豕白蹢、烝涉波矣。
月離于畢、俾滂沱矣。
武人東征、不遑他矣。

There are swine, with their legs white,
All wading through streams.
The moon also is in the Hyades,
Which will bring still greater rain.
The warrior, in charge of the expedition to the east,
Has no leisure [to think] of anything but this.

From:

x_los

so the first couple xing's are a little 'what's the connection?', but this one is wild: "There are swine, with their legs white,
All wading through streams.
The moon also is in the Hyades,"

From:

superborb

Baike says that the boar wading through the waves might be an existing meteorological proverb, and might indicate a celestial phenomenon. So it might be describing common indications of torrential rain.

From:

x_los

苕之華、芸其黃矣。
心之憂矣、維其傷矣。

The flowers of the bignonia,
Are of a deep yellow.
My heart is sad;
I feel its wound.

苕之華、其葉青青。
知我如此、不如無生。

The flowers of the bignonia [are gone],
[There are only] its leaves all-green.
If I had known it would be thus with me,
I had better not have been born.

牂羊墳首、三星在罶。
人可以食、鮮可以飽。

The ewes have large heads;
The Three stars are [seen] in the fish-trap.
If some men can get enough to eat,
Few can get their fill.

From:

x_los

these are the weirdest xings yet, in the whole damn book

From:

superborb

Baike:

This is lamenting in barren years, people starving, while plants can live unrestrained lives. [??? If the plants are thriving, wouldn't people be able to eat them, surely the plants are also dying, as the flowers are all dead.] The ewe has a big head because it's so thin, there are only stars but no fish in the water. There also is a cannibalism accusation for lack of food to eat.

From:

vorvayne

Feat. Some CHOICES re translation. Getting to the point where I deeply need a half decent classical chinese dictionary, especially for the plant names because. Bignonia?? Really? What the fuck is a Bignonia: google doesn't really know. Pleco suggests 苕 is a sort of yam, which would make sense, but idk. I have some etymology stuff but need a better fast gloss to see if I'm on a half decent track.

Anyway on the other hand if it IS bignonia, apparently some of those are toxic to livestock, so I'd guess if there aren't any livestock people don't bother to weed them?

知我如此, 不如無生

Literal gloss here is easy:

"know I like this, better that not live"

So like - to be fair that's hard to render in English.

"If I'd known life would be like this, I'd rather not have been born."

I wonder where the last two lines are coming from? I do see the cannibalism thing there: 人可以食，鮮可以飽

Sortof like "people can eat, [but] few can eat their fill" but also, "people can be used as feed..." maybe.

鮮 as "few" is new to me and a bit of a weird extension from its other meanings but that's classical Chinese for you.

Ohhh on baidu they have the 苕 as "campsis grandiflora" which maybe does elucidate things: "Campsis grandiflora prefers moist, nutrient-rich soil and a position with full sun and support to climb. The dark green leaves have serrated edges." (Wikipedia)

Maybe an implication that SOMEONE is getting the nutrient rich soil and good conditions, but it isn't the people in the poem? This makes more sense if you follow me and - as much as I've read of it - baidu RE the second verse, where there's no implication that the flowers are gone, it's just that thing we've now read a hundred times where you describe different aspects of a plant to vaguely hint at your subject.

Edited Date: 2021-05-16 07:18 pm (UTC)

From:

x_los

何草不黃、何日不行。
何人不將、經營四方。

Every plant is yellow;
Every day we march.
Every man is moving about,
Doing service in some quarter of the kingdom.

何草不玄、何人不矜。
哀我征夫、獨為匪民。

Every plant is purple;
Every man is torn from his wife.
Alas for us employed on these expeditions!
How are we alone dealt with as if we were not men?

匪兕匪虎、率彼曠野。
哀我征夫、朝夕不暇。

We are not rhinoceroses, we are not tigers,
To be kept in these desolate wilds.
Alas for us employed on these expeditions!
Morning and night we have no leisure.

有芃者狐、率彼幽草。
有棧之車、行彼周道。

The long-tailed foxes,
May keep among the dark grass.
And our box-carts,
Keep moving along the great roads.

From:

x_los

yellow with the stirred-up dust of the road, or the seasons?

purple, then, with what?

You know if you'd asked me how many times I thought rhinos would appear in this book, I'd probably have said 'wait, were there rhinos in Ancient China??'

Last stanza a little oblique.

From:

x_los

Oracle PoemsRitual Awareness, Symbolism and Creativityin Shi Jing 詩經 Poetics
https://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/handle/2123/1527/02whole.pdf?sequence=2

野 But neither are we rhinos or tigers, who navigate this windsweptwilderness哀我征夫朝夕不暇 Alas for us campaigning soldiers, day and night we have no rest有芃者狐率彼幽草 The bushy [tailed] fox, he navigates these thick plants有棧之車行彼周道 But we have bamboo carts and trudge on the circuit road.The fox in this poem is presented without the details which I have previously discussed - namely,binome suisui or the location near a river. The fox (together with the rhinos and tigers), and its easein the thick plants of the wilderness, is juxtaposed with the situation of the campaigning soldiers inwhose voice the poem is spoken, they who are unaccustomed to the harsh surroundings. While theatmosphere of the poem is one of difficulty and arduousness, this is not a result of the fox image.Indeed, the fox and the other animals are seemingly able to transcend the difficulty of the situation.This treatment is significantly different from that found in either You Hu or Nan Shan, in which thefox imagery is inextricably linked to the human emotive atmospheres, not contrasted to it. He CaoBu Huang thus demonstrates that foxes do not, per se, necessitate a traditional anthropomorphicreading or symbolic association.

Foxes can evidently be exploited in the Shi Jing for figurative purposes, divorced from their ritualassociations, which are inscribed in particular accompanying phrases and scenes. In this poem, therole of the fox image is to act in juxtaposition with the human world, emphasising the differencebetween the situation of an animal which is naturally suited to the conditions and that of soldiers forwhom the harsh winter is foreign and unfamiliar. The figure, located from the initial couplet of thepoem, where xing imagery is usually found, is, if you will, an anti-analogy, a foil to the human world,which negates similitude. This is in direct opposition to the way in which the fox imagery operates inthe opening xing lines of You Hu and Nan Shan, where it is clear (and accepted) that the fox’ssituation has some sort of metaphorical or analogous connection to the human world (partly as aresult of its very presence in each poem’s opening lines).

[...]
This clear difference in treatment demonstrates that fox imagery in You Hu and Nan Shan isexploited for other implications, and that there must be other meaningful elements to the treatmentin those poems. As we have observed, that extra meaningful information is provided by a connectionto a ritual context - a contention that the negative evidence of He Cao Bu Huang would appear toconfirm, in that it provides a context which appears unconnected with ritual. Logically speaking,there would seem no obvious function for a ritual recalling the privations of a military campaign.The song does not display ritual echoes such as distinct repeatable physical actions, nor is its form(with five interrogative phrases in the first stanza and none in the second) evocative of repetitive andbalanced ritual diction. He Cao Bu Huang shows how an unadorned fox image in a poem without(actual or imitated) ritual resonances does not summon up the key notions of liminality or frustratedachievement. Those meanings are only accessible through connection to the imagery of foxes whichis found in the divinatory ritual tradition, and which is accompanied by a particular apparatus ofattendant detail (including the river and/or the suisui binome)

From:

superborb

Purple is actually black, the color of the withered grass.

From:

vorvayne

Yeah fun fact, the 玄 is like 莫玄习 / Mo Xuanyu,seems to be black but like, a found in nature sort of black. Often used it looks like for, like, mysterious/obscure... Unsure why the translation says "purple", wtf Legge my dude.

From:

x_los

Oh so in MDZS is that a case of Dickensian style Meaningful Naming, then?

From:

vorvayne

I'm a fool and typed it wrong, should be 莫玄羽

Anyway as far as I can tell from my adventures reading Japanese manga and Chinese up until now, because of how names in hanzi/kanji work, you kindof...have to make a deliberate choice to either have or not have a meaningful name. Like if the character's name is v generic that is also a choice, there's no way to not have it mean SOMETHING even if it's only 'wow those characters are so boring'*. It looks like in ancient China, names were Important and usually - I'm imagining here from well off people who could, you know, read - chosen for both luck/aspirations and poetry reasons. There's the Family Poem thing where each generation gets 1 character from a (short) poem in their given name....actually I've met someone who was literally named that way (cantonese speaker) so, yeah. Poetry in names, still a thing it seems.

But anyway, hunxi-guilai has done a lot of discussion on tumblr about the names in MDZS. Mo Xuanyu's is pretty clear: 莫 ‘[there is] no one', 玄羽 'black wings'. Which probably means more to you if you know the associated poetry but it's pretty evocative by itself, no?

*see e.g. SV's Shen Jiu, whose given name means 'nine'. Like they couldn't be bothered to name him properly...

From:

superborb

Baike:

The turbulent times of the last years of the Western Zhou and the early years of the Eastern Zhou, when there were invasions and so many conscripts away from home, treated as beasts (the rhetorical equiv of treated as cattle, I think?)

Baike says that the vegetation is destined to be yellow/black (i.e. wither) as the natural order, but people are not born for service. So this poem is the conscripts expressing their resentment at living in these conditions.

Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Minor Odes of the Kingdom, Decade of Du Ren Shi

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