"Zhou was an old country": in 'clan society' (unsure exactly what this means, presumably in the before nation state times?), Zhou was a tribe with the family name Ji. They united/allied with the Jiang family and grew in the northwest. Then Baike says some stuff about the early kings who established the foundation of the Zhou and led it to become independent of the Shang dynasty.
The appointment is what is often translated to "mandate of heaven" in English.
The gloss for 'ascends and descends' is highly opaque to me: 陟降：上行曰陟，下行曰降, which means, ascend descend: the direction of 'up' is advance/ascend/promote, the direction of 'down' is descend/surrender? I think it means one dynasty coming into power and one leaving.
The left/right is glossed as "the same as beside"
The hatchets are a particular archaic motif of alternating black and white decorative designs. Baike describes these clothes as those prescribed for sacrifice/rites. The Yin are the aristocrats of the Shang dynasty, which was the previous ruling dynasty -- and now subjects of the Zhou
"[Its kings] were the assessors fo God." is glossed as 'it can match the will of God'
I think that last bit is just saying that we don't know the will of the heavens, so you have to be cautious and virtuous to maintain the favor of the heavens.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Re: 235. 文王 - Wen Wang
Date: 2021-05-23 02:08 pm (UTC)"Zhou was an old country": in 'clan society' (unsure exactly what this means, presumably in the before nation state times?), Zhou was a tribe with the family name Ji. They united/allied with the Jiang family and grew in the northwest. Then Baike says some stuff about the early kings who established the foundation of the Zhou and led it to become independent of the Shang dynasty.
The appointment is what is often translated to "mandate of heaven" in English.
The gloss for 'ascends and descends' is highly opaque to me: 陟降：上行曰陟，下行曰降, which means, ascend descend: the direction of 'up' is advance/ascend/promote, the direction of 'down' is descend/surrender? I think it means one dynasty coming into power and one leaving.
The left/right is glossed as "the same as beside"
The hatchets are a particular archaic motif of alternating black and white decorative designs. Baike describes these clothes as those prescribed for sacrifice/rites. The Yin are the aristocrats of the Shang dynasty, which was the previous ruling dynasty -- and now subjects of the Zhou
"[Its kings] were the assessors fo God." is glossed as 'it can match the will of God'
I think that last bit is just saying that we don't know the will of the heavens, so you have to be cautious and virtuous to maintain the favor of the heavens.